Ó Súilleabháin, Mícheál (1950- )

Irish composer, performer, and academic. He has had parallel careers in the academic and performance worlds, with a concentration on Irish traditional music. A pioneer in writing for combined ensembles of traditional and classical musicians, his work Oileán/Island, a ‘concerto for Traditional Musician and String Orchestra’, was released in 1989.

Born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ó Súilleabháin studied music at University College, Cork, where he became a lecturer in music in 1975. In 1994 he was appointed first professor of music at the University of Limerick where he established the Irish World Music Centre, honouring different traditions of music and dance in the same academic and performance environment. He made nine commercial recordings between 1976 and 1999.