".... Among the evening's soloists, Dowdall was, moment-by-moment, the most musically attentive and assertive...the closing item proved the highlight of the evening." Irish Times, 2006

William Dowdall, one of Ireland's leading musicians, combines a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher.

Born in Dublin, he trained in Cleveland, Ohio, where his teachers included Maurice Sharp of the Cleveland Orchestra, and his interest in new music was sparked by Donald Erb, composer in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. On returning to Ireland at the age of 21 he was appointed principal flute of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. From 1979 to 2004 he was principal flute of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed professor of flute at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2004.

He has given over 50 solo performances with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Irish Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared at all the major festivals in Ireland. He has been a member of the Daedalus Wind Quintet, Ulysses Ensemble, and the Ulysses Wind Quintet, which was a prizewinner in the Colmar International Chamber Music Competition in 1980. As a chamber musician he has also guested with the RTÉ Vanbrugh and Parisii string quartets and has partnered with John O'Conor. Solo performances abroad have taken him around Europe, and to the USA, China, and New Zealand. His work has been broadcast extensively by the Irish public service broadcaster, RTÉ, and he has also broadcast on BBC radio and television, Australian Television, and Shanghai Radio.

In addition to a wide-ranging repertoire, his interest in contemporary music led him to develop a workshop based on contemporary solo flute music by Irish composers, which has been presented in Europe to considerable acclaim. He has introduced Irish audiences to new works from the international repertoire, and has actively promoted the music of Irish composers abroad. Many Irish composers have written works for him and he premiered a new work by John Buckley for flute and orchestra with the RTÉ NSO in a six-concert tour in November 2006.

In the last year alone he has given four world premieres of works by Irish composers and has espoused the flute music of composers such as Bernstein, Boulez, Takemitsu, Henze, Var?se, and Maxwell Davies in Ireland. He recently gave the Irish premiere of Takemitsu's "I Can Hear the Water Dreaming" with the RTÉ NSO.

As a solo artist he has made critically acclaimed recordings for Goasco, Naxos, Marco Polo, Black Box, and Celestial Harmonies labels.

He plays on gold and platinum flutes by Brannen, a wooden flute by Abell, and an alto flute by Eva Kingma.

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', internationally acclaimed virtuoso John Feeley was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland. Feeley started his career playing popular music styles and at 17 was considered to be one of the finest musicians in Europe on electric guitar. He graduated in music from Trinity College, Dublin, and then went to the United States to continue his education, studying with a number of guitarists including Oscar Ghiglia, Angel Romero and David Russel. After completing a masters degree at Queens College of the City University, New York, he taught at Memphis State University for a number of years before returning to Ireland to take the post of Lecturer in Guitar 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.

Highly regarded for his performance of new works by Irish composers, he has had many works written for him, including A Guitar Concerto by Jerome de Bromhead; a Quintet for Guitar and String Quartet by Andrew Shiels; Four Pieces by Jane O'Leary; two concertos by Brent Parker; a solo Guitar Sonata by John Buckley; and an extended work for solo guitar by the American composer, Robert Newell.

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 and the Wirral International Guitar Festival. He has made recordings with K-Tel, Gael-Linn Records, CBA Classics, Ossiain Records, Castle Communications and has recently released a highly acclaimed CD of contemporary Irish music with Blackbox Music, England. He has also recorded with the Chieftains and famous Spanish Soprano Montserrat Caballes.

He is also 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.

Sample Programmes

Jacques Ibert Entracte

CPE Bach Solo Sonata in A minor for Flute
Poco Adagio
Allegro
Allegro

Eric Sweeney Walk/Don't

Mauro Giuliani Sonata op. 85 in A minor
Allegro
Adagio
Scherzo
Finale

Interval

Robert Beaser Mountain Songs
Barbara Allen
The House Carpenter

Isaac Albeniz Cadiz & Cuba for Guitar (arr. Feeley)

Ian Wilson Tern/Icarus

Astor Piazzola Histoire du Tango
Bordel 1900
Café 1930

Reviews

More Info

For further information on availability or artist fees or to discuss a booking please contact the Performance Programme Manager by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or telephone: 01 6719429.