Michael Holohan

Michael Holohan (born 27 March 1956) is an Irish composer.[1]

Biography

Michael Holohan was born in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was educated at O'Connell's Schools, University College Dublin (BA, 1978) and Queen's University in Belfast. He studied composition with Jane O'Leary, Eric Sweeney and Seóirse Bodley. He also attended masterclasses by Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis, Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, and Helmut Lachenmann in France.

Holohan was chairman of the Association of Irish Composers (AIC), 1987–9, and was later appointed chairman of the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda, where he lives since the mid-1980s.[2]

Holohan was elected to Aosdána, an Irish association of artists, in 1999. He is also a member and former Chair of the Toscaireacht of Aosdána.

Music

Holohan has composed for solo instrument, ensemble, orchestra, stage, choir and voice. He has also collaborated with a number of poets including Nobel prize-winners Seamus Heaney and Tomas Tranströmer, Ivan Lalic and Paul Durcan.

He has lived in Drogheda since 1983. His compositions have been performed and broadcast both at home and internationally. Career highlights in Drogheda include the performances of Cromwell at the "Drogheda 800" celebrations (RTECO, Lourdes Church, 1994); The Mass of Fire, Augustinian 700 anniversary (RTÉ TV live broadcast, 1995); No Sanctuary with Nobel Laureate and poet Seamus Heaney (Augustinian Church, 1997); Remembrance Sunday Service, at Drogheda Unification 600 (RTE TV live broadcast, St Peter's Church of Ireland) and two major concerts with The Boyne Valley Chamber Orchestra at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2018 and 2019.

Selected works

Orchestral
  • Cromwell (1994)
  • Leaves of Glass (1995)
  • Building Bridges (1995)

Ensemble
  • Triangulum (1977)
  • Macehead (1992)
  • A Snail in my Prime (2000) - with text by Paul Durcan

Choir
  • An Stoirm, Bagairt na Marbh & Sos (1981-4) - with texts by Seán Ó Riordáin
  • Anahorish & Oracle (1988) - with texts by Seamus Heaney
  • Mass of Fire (1995)
  • Quis est Deus? (2001)
  • In the Empty Hills (2009) - with text by Wang Wei

Voice
  • Kubla Khan (1974) - awarded RTÉ Young Composer of the Year 1974
  • Thomas McDonagh (1987) - with text by Francis Ledwidge
  • The Given Note (1989) - with text by Seamus Heaney
  • The Potter's Field (1990) - with text by Ivan Lalic

Solo
  • By a River (1985), for piano
  • Aoise (1988), for piano
  • The Road to Lough Swilly (2001), for uilleann pipes
  • Monaincha (2002), for piano

Stage
  • Running Beast (2007) - with text by Donal O'Kelly
  • Where a Single Footprint Lasts a Thousand Years (2009) - with text by Ernest Shackleton and Bill Manhire

Electro-Acoustic
  • The Source (1990)
  • July 23rd Dawn (1990)

Select discography
  • A River of Memories (1999) - co-produced by Breida Delaney
  • Fields of Blue and White (2010) - pianist, Thérèse Fahy
  • The Road to Lough Swilly (2019) - Mick O' Brien, uilleann pipes and The Boyne Valley Chamber Orchestra

References
  1. Smith, Adrian: "Holohan, Michael", in: The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. by Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 495–6; ISBN 978-1-906359-78-2.
  2. Smith (2013), as above, p. 495.
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