Thursday, February 02, 2006
Riverdance - Meteor Industry Award for Bill Whelan
Grammy award winning composer Bill Whelan is to be honoured with the prestigious Industry Award at the 2006 Meteor Ireland Music Awards to be held at The Point Theatre, Dublin this Thursday, 2nd February.
Bill Whelan has been a leading light in the Irish music industry for twenty six years. His work with Irish traditional music and musicians spans his career from 1980 when he was a member of the legendary Planxty to producing records for many folk artists including Andy Irvine, Patrick Street, Stockton’s Wing, Davy Spillane and Bulgarian/Irish band, East Wind. His production and arranging credits also include U2, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Richard Harris and The Dubliners.
Bill has worked extensively in theatre throughout his career; his adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore had successful runs at London’s Old Vic, Melbourne and Sydney and received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. In 1989 he was appointed as composer to the W.B. Yeats International Theatre Festival at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, since then he has written original music for 15 Yeats plays.
His specially commissioned orchestral work, The Seville Suite, received its European premiere performance at the Maestranza in Seville as part of the celebrations for Ireland’s National Day at Expo ’92. The last movement of this work was danced by Maria Pagés who later starred in Riverdance. His next large scale orchestral work, The Spirit Of Mayo, was first performed in 1993 by and 85-piece orchestra in Dublin’s National Concert Hall. Together with the choral group Anúna, this piece also featured a powerful Celtic drum corps and a 200 strong choir. His trilogy of pieces written for the Irish Chamber Orchestra titled, “Inishlacken”, “Carna”, and “Errisbeg” were inspired by the extraordinary views of the Connemara countryside and sea. Concert performances featured soloists Zoë Conway, Fionnuala Hunt, Michelle Mulcahy, Morgan Crowley and Colin Dunne.
Riverdance was originally composed for the interval act of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. It was an orchestral piece conceived for hard-shoe Irish dance and televised to a European audience of 300 million viewers. As a single, Riverdance spent 18 weeks at no.1 in the Irish charts and was a Top Ten hit in the UK. Bill was honoured with the 1997 Grammy Award for ‘Best Musical Show Album’ for his Riverdance record. The CD is a certified Platinum record in the US, Ireland and Australia.
In 1987, he wrote his first major orchestral suite commemorating the film music of the noted Irish composer Sean O’Riada, which was conducted by Elmer Bernstein and performed by the Irish National Symphony Orchestra. His own compositional work in film includes Lamb starring Liam Neeson, Sean O Mordha’s historical documentary series The Seven Ages, the Terry George/Jim Sheridan film Some Mother’s Son and the score for the film version of Dancing At Lughnasa starring Meryl Streep. His song "Quis Est Deus", performed by Charlotte Church and the Monks of Glenstal Abbey Choir, was featured in the animated classic "A Christmas Carol”.
He has recently written and recorded a new composition, “Emerald Tiger”, which appears on the album ‘Choreography’ by the classical violinist Vanessa-Mae. Bill is currently writing a new stage musical.
Bill will be presented with the Industry Award at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards Show on Thursday February 2nd which will feature performances by The Darkness, Jamie Cullum, Westlife, Damien Dempsey, The Sugababes, Bell X1, Gemma Hayes, McFly, Republic of Loose and Lifetime Achievement recipients The Pogues. The show will be presented by Patrick Kielty and broadcast on RTE2 on Sunday 5th February at 9pm.
Bill Whelan has been a leading light in the Irish music industry for twenty six years. His work with Irish traditional music and musicians spans his career from 1980 when he was a member of the legendary Planxty to producing records for many folk artists including Andy Irvine, Patrick Street, Stockton’s Wing, Davy Spillane and Bulgarian/Irish band, East Wind. His production and arranging credits also include U2, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Richard Harris and The Dubliners.
Bill has worked extensively in theatre throughout his career; his adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore had successful runs at London’s Old Vic, Melbourne and Sydney and received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. In 1989 he was appointed as composer to the W.B. Yeats International Theatre Festival at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, since then he has written original music for 15 Yeats plays.
His specially commissioned orchestral work, The Seville Suite, received its European premiere performance at the Maestranza in Seville as part of the celebrations for Ireland’s National Day at Expo ’92. The last movement of this work was danced by Maria Pagés who later starred in Riverdance. His next large scale orchestral work, The Spirit Of Mayo, was first performed in 1993 by and 85-piece orchestra in Dublin’s National Concert Hall. Together with the choral group Anúna, this piece also featured a powerful Celtic drum corps and a 200 strong choir. His trilogy of pieces written for the Irish Chamber Orchestra titled, “Inishlacken”, “Carna”, and “Errisbeg” were inspired by the extraordinary views of the Connemara countryside and sea. Concert performances featured soloists Zoë Conway, Fionnuala Hunt, Michelle Mulcahy, Morgan Crowley and Colin Dunne.
Riverdance was originally composed for the interval act of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. It was an orchestral piece conceived for hard-shoe Irish dance and televised to a European audience of 300 million viewers. As a single, Riverdance spent 18 weeks at no.1 in the Irish charts and was a Top Ten hit in the UK. Bill was honoured with the 1997 Grammy Award for ‘Best Musical Show Album’ for his Riverdance record. The CD is a certified Platinum record in the US, Ireland and Australia.
In 1987, he wrote his first major orchestral suite commemorating the film music of the noted Irish composer Sean O’Riada, which was conducted by Elmer Bernstein and performed by the Irish National Symphony Orchestra. His own compositional work in film includes Lamb starring Liam Neeson, Sean O Mordha’s historical documentary series The Seven Ages, the Terry George/Jim Sheridan film Some Mother’s Son and the score for the film version of Dancing At Lughnasa starring Meryl Streep. His song "Quis Est Deus", performed by Charlotte Church and the Monks of Glenstal Abbey Choir, was featured in the animated classic "A Christmas Carol”.
He has recently written and recorded a new composition, “Emerald Tiger”, which appears on the album ‘Choreography’ by the classical violinist Vanessa-Mae. Bill is currently writing a new stage musical.
Bill will be presented with the Industry Award at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards Show on Thursday February 2nd which will feature performances by The Darkness, Jamie Cullum, Westlife, Damien Dempsey, The Sugababes, Bell X1, Gemma Hayes, McFly, Republic of Loose and Lifetime Achievement recipients The Pogues. The show will be presented by Patrick Kielty and broadcast on RTE2 on Sunday 5th February at 9pm.
