JOHN FEELEY
PhD, MA (CUNY), MA (Hon TCD.), FTCL, LTCL
Described by the Washington Post as 'Ireland's leading classical guitarist' and by Michael Dervan in the Irish Times as 'a trailblazer...when it comes to the guitar and guitar-playing in Ireland', Feeley studied music at Trinity College, Dublin, Queens College of the City University, New York, and The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he graduated with a PhD. He studied guitar with Oscar Ghiglia, Angel Romero and David Russel. He has taught at the American Institute of Guitar, Memphis State University and currently holds the post of Senior Lecturer at the Conservatory of Music, Dublin Institute of Technology.
In addition to his solo and chamber music concerts, Feeley has performed widely with orchestra -- with The American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has won a number of prizes in international competitions, including the Special Award for interpretation in the 1984 Mauro Giuliani competition, Italy.
In addition to his solo and chamber music concerts, Feeley has performed widely with orchestra -- with The American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has won a number of prizes in international competitions, including the Special Award for interpretation in the 1984 Mauro Giuliani competition, Italy.
Highly regarded for his performance of new works by Irish composers, he has had many works written for him, which include Guitar Concertos by Jerome de Bromhead, Eric Sweeney and Brent Parker; a Quintets for Guitar and String Quartet by Andrew Shiels and Brent Parker; Four Pieces by Jane O’ Leary; a solo Guitar Sonata and Flute and Guitar duo, In Winter Light, by John Buckley; a number of works by David Fennessy, John McLachlan and Ciaran Farrell. The American composer, Robert Newell, has also written an extended solo guitar work for him.
He is a regular performer at many international guitar festivals, including the Bath International Guitar Festival, the Dundee International Guitar Festival, the Dublin International Guitar Festival, the Wirral International Guitar Festival and the Walton's Guitar Festival of Ireland. He has made recordings with K-Tel, Gael-Linn Records, CBA Classics, Ossiain Records, Castle Communications, a highly acclaimed CD of contemporary Irish music with Blackbox Music, England and has recently released a CD of the music of Irish composer John Buckley with the German company, Celestial Harmonies. He has also recorded with the Chieftains and famous Spanish Soprano Montserrat Caballes.
He is well known for his own delightful guitar arrangements of Irish music which appear on several of his many recordings. Concerts have taken him around the world and include appearances at the Sydney Opera House, the Old Opera House, Frankfurt, the L'Arena in Verona, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Reviews of performances by John Feeley
email: john.feeley@dit.ie