Breanndán Begley, Mick O'Brien, ConTempo Quartet, IMO Quartet
Biography Breanndán Begley, Mick O'Brien, ConTempo Quartet, IMO Quartet
Mick O'Brien
is a highly regarded performer and teacher of the Uilleann pipes. Mick was born in Dublin into a very musical family, with all five boys playing Irish music. Dinny, Mick�s father is an accordion and whistle player and nurtured the love of traditional music in all the lads. At the age of nine, Mick started learning the pipes in the famous Thomas Street Pipers club in Dublin, which was also a meeting house for musicians from all over the country. Now much in demand as a tutor, Mick has travelled to Europe, Canada and the USA conducting master classes.
As a performer, Mick has broadcast on TV and radio extensively both as a soloist and with various artists with whom he has made numerous recordings. For the past five years he has performed and travelled with the Norwegian group Secret Garden and has recorded on their last two albums, Dawn of a New Century and Once in a Red Moon. He has recorded with Charlotte Church, The Dubliners, The Boys of the Lough, Altan and Charlie Lennon, to name a few and also performed on Braodway with the internationally renouned show Riverdance.
In 1996, Mick released his first solo album entitled May Morning Dew to much critical acclaim from the traditional music world. He has recently recorded another CD with a young Dublin fiddle player, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. It is a very traditional album with only pipes, fiddle and whistles used and it was released in Miltown Malbay, at the Willie Clancy Summer School in July'03.
Mick's music has crossed many boundaries and styles through the years, but it is as a traditional uilleann piper that he is best known. His traditional style shows great delicacy and subtlety, strong in rhythm and enlivened by his unique inflections and nuances, his performances always throw new light on even the most familiar tune. He lives in Dublin where he is married with three children and is a full time schoolteacher.
