William Michael Joseph Whelan (born 22 May 1950) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. The result, "

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995. Whelan has also arranged a symphonic suite version of ''Riverdance'', with its premiere performed by the

Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

in August 2014. A studio recording was released on CD (on the RTÉ lyric fm label) in 2018.

Biography

Whelan is a native of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

city, and was educated at Crescent College. He gained his Bachelor of Civil Law degree at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1973 and then went to

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

. In 2011, Whelan was awarded the UCD Foundation Day Medal in recognition of his outstanding achievements and his contribution to Irish music worldwide. While he is best known for his "

" composition and the theatrical show of the same name, Whelan has been involved in many ground-breaking projects in Ireland since the 1970s. In his autobiography, he especially mentions the major influence of James W. Flannery. As a producer he has worked with U2 (on their ''War'' album),

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

The Dubliners The Dubliners () were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in pers ...

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

, Andy Irvine &

Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...

, Patrick Street, Stockton's Wing and fellow Limerickman

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

. As an arranger and composer, his credits include: * Original music (1989–1993) for fifteen W.B. Yeats plays (three per season), which were produced by James W. Flannery for the Yeats International Theatre Festival held at

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

each September during that period. * ''The Seville Suite'' (1992), which was inspired by the exploits of Aodh Rua Ó Dónaill from The

Battle of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale (), also known as the battle of Kinsale, was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of the Nine Years' War� ...

in 1601 until his arrival in Galicia to the welcome of The Spanish Earl of Caraçena. In addition to the orchestra, ''The Seville Suite'' includes

Celtic Music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

Uilleann Pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

as well as Galician harp, whistles and pipes. * ''The Spirit of Mayo'' (1993) in honour of Mayo 5000. Performed by an 85-piece orchestra in Dublin's

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

and featuring a powerful Celtic drum corps and a 200 strong choir and choral group Anúna. * ''The Connemara Suite'' (2009), features the Irish Chamber Orchestra along with soloists Zoë Conway, Morgan Crowley, Colin Dunne (Dance Percussion) and Fionnuala Hunt. In theatre, Whelan received a

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

nomination for his adaption of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

's ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...

''. His film credits include, ''

Dancing at Lughnasa ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator. He re ...

'' (starring

Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...

), '' Some Mother's Son'', '' Lamb'' (starring

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

) and the award-winning ''At The Cinema Palace''.

Career timeline

Whelan's lifetime of musical endeavours include: * 1970 – Composes main theme for the film '' Bloomfield''. * 1978 – Member of the jazz-rock band Stacc, who release a single on CBS. * 1979 – Joins

on keyboards. * 1980 – Whelan rearranges and produces ''

What's Another Year "What's Another Year" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan with music composed and lyrics written by Shay Healy. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 held in The Hague, resulting in his first win at the contest, as wel ...

'' for Johnny Logan which wins the

that year. * 1981 – ''Timedance'', composed by Whelan and Dónal Lunny, and performed by

, features in the interval of Eurovision. ''Timedance'' released as a Planxty record. * 1983 – Whelan produces "The Refugee" on the U2 album ''

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

''. * 1984 – Film score for '' Lamb'', with

* 1985 – Produces and performs on Stockton's Wing's '' Live – Take One''. * 1987 – Composes ''The O'Riada Suite''. * 1987 – Whelan produces '' Hold Me Now'' for Johnny Logan which won the Eurovision Song Contest that year. * 1989 – Joins board of

Irish Music Rights Organisation The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) is a national performance rights organisation based in Ireland. It administers the performing right in copyright music on behalf of its members (who are Irish songwriters, composers and music publishers) ...

(IMRO), on which he serves continuously until 1997. * 1989–1993 – In collaboration with James W. Flannery writes original music for the Yeats International Theatre Festival held at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. * 1990 – Produces and plays keyboards on Andy Irvine's album '' Rude Awakening'', released in early 1991 on the Green Linnet Records label. * 1992 – Commissioned to compose ''The Seville Suite'', released on the Tara Music label. * 1992 – Produces and plays keyboards on the Andy Irvine/

album '' EastWind'', released on the Tara Music label. * 1992 – Produces and performs on Stockton's Wing's ''The Crooked Rose'' for the Tara Music label. * 1993 – Composes the orchestral work ''The Spirit of Mayo''. * 1994 – Composes ''

'' for interval segment of the Eurovision Song Contest. The segment is an unprecedented success and spins off into the long-running stage show. * 1995 – Invited to serve on the Government Task Force set up by Minister

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

. * 1996 – Composes original music for

Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish people, Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed three critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''My Left Foot'' (1989), ''The Field (1990 film), The Field'' (19 ...

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's film '' Some Mother's Son''. * 1997 – Receives a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Musical Show Album for ''Riverdance''. * 2000 – ''Riverdance'' opens on Broadway. * 2001 – Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from IMRO (

) * 2006 – Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Music Awards. * 2008 – Releases his

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

orchestral album ''The Connemara Suite'' on the Tara Music label. * 2010 – Joins the board of the National Music Education Programme. * 2011 – Inaugural inductee into IMRO Academy * 2022 – Whelan's autobiography ''The Road To Riverdance'' is published.

Discography

As a keyboard player, or as an arranger, he has contributed to these albums: * ''

The Woman I Loved So Well ''The Woman I Loved So Well'' is the fifth studio album by Planxty. Like their previous album, '' After The Break'', the album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios and released by Tara Records. Co-produced by band member Dónal Lunny and eng ...

'' (

) (1980) * '' Words & Music'' (

) (1983) * ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' ( Patrick Street) (1990) * '' Rude Awakening'' ( Andy Irvine) (1991) Green Linnet Records * ''

East Wind An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows in a westward direction. This wind is referenced as symbolism in culture, mythology, poetry, and literature. In culture and mythology In Islam, the east wind Saba holds religious signi ...

'' ( Andy Irvine &

) (1992) Tara Music * ''The Seville Suite'' (various artists) (1992) Tara Music * '' Riverdance: Music from the Show'' (various artists) (1995) * '' The Best of Patrick Street'' ( Patrick Street) (1995) * ''Some Mother's Son'' (various artists) (1996) * ''L'Imaginaire Irlandais'' (various artists) (1996) * ''Roots of Riverdance'' (various artists) (1997) * ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' (various artists) (1998) * ''Riverdance on Broadway'' (various artists) (2000) * ''Zoe Conway'' (Zoe Conway) (2002) Tara Music * ''A Christmas Carol'' (various artists) (2007) * ''The Connemara Suite'' (2008) Tara Music * ''Riverdance A Symphonic Suite'' (2018)

References

External links

*
''Bill Whelan file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Bill 1950 births Living people 20th-century Irish composers 21st-century Irish composers Alumni of King's Inns Alumni of University College Dublin Bodhrán players Grammy Award winners Irish male composers Irish keyboardists Irish male pianists Musicians from County Limerick Patrick Street members People educated at Crescent College Planxty members 20th-century Irish pianists 21st-century Irish pianists 1970s in Irish music 1980s in Irish music 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music 2020s in Irish music