Cormac de Barra is a

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

, singer and television presenter and is part of the Moya Brennan Band.

Biography

De Barra comes from a family of traditional musicians and singers from Dublin with roots in County Cork. He studied Irish harp with his grandmother, Róisín Ní Shé, in Dublin and went on to study concert harp in the US with Leone Paulson. Cormac's professional debut was a six-month tour in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan playing in the Irish Exhibition at Expo '90. While in Japan he gave a performance for Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in their palace at Akasaka, Tokyo. Also present at the recital was Irish Nobel Laureate,

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

. Cormac also spent six months in Seville, Spain, performing at Expo 92. He toured with a family group, with harpist Anne-Marie O'Farrell and as a solo artist from 1993 onwards, also finding time to work in theatre in Dublin both as a performer in W.B. Yeats' 'The Cúchulain Cycle' and as musical director of a production of 'Playboy of the Western World' at the Ambassador Theatre. He has also toured the UK, Europe, US and Australia with

Hazel O'Connor Hazel Thereasa O'Connor (born 16 May 1954) is a British singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous in the early 1980s with hit singles " Eighth Day", "D-Days" and " Will You?" She also starred in the 1980 film '' Breaking Glass''. Career ...

since 1998 in her autobiographical show 'Beyond Breaking Glass'. De Barra has also played with

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymou ...

and the Irish Harp Orchestra, Cathy Jordan of

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage ...

Liam Ó Maonlaí Liam Ó Maonlaí (born 7 November 1964 in Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician best known as a member of Hothouse Flowers. Ó Maonlaí formed the band in 1985 with his schoolmate Fiachna Ó Braonáin. Biography He attende ...

and with his brothers Fionán and Éamonn (a member of 'Slide'). De Barra has recorded with Galldubh,

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

and Brian Kennedy. Since winning the Féis Ceoil Harp Competition in 1989, something he refers to as his first big moment, he has performed as a solo musician for the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

(at the age of 17), played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with Hazel O'Connor and finished his first CD ''Barcó'' in 2003. As well as performing Cormac presented the traditional Irish music series, Flosc, on TG4, Ireland's

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

-language TV channel. Flosc was awarded Best Music Series by

Irish Music Magazine ''Irish Music'' is a monthly music magazine covering folk and traditional Irish music. References External links ''Irish Music'' official website Music magazines published in Ireland Magazines established in 1974 Monthly magazines published ...

in 2002. He is a presenter of the arts series Imeall on TG4. In 2003 Cormac joined his brother Fionán in

's band. In 2007 they were both part of the reunited line-up of Moya's family group, the world-famous

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

. Since 2009 he has also toured and performed with the singer and composer Julie Feeney. As well as these other groups, Cormac is also part of a family trio, Barcó, with his brothers Fionán and Éamonn. Recordings to date include the CDs Barcó and An Caitín Bán with the De Barra family, the harp duo CDs Double Strung and Duopoly with Anne-Marie O'Farrell and the flute and harp recording 'Music of Great Irish Houses' with Karin Leitner. Other collaborations include a duo CD with Máire Breatnach on fiddle and viola, and three CDs Down By the Sea, Songs of the Celtic Winter and Night Travels with the Celtic singer songwriter Ashley Davis in the United States.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Barcó'', (2003) - Cormac De Barra *''Double Strung'', (2005) - Cormac De Barra & Anne-Marie O'Farrell *''Music of Great Irish Houses'', (2007) - Cormac De Barra & Karin Leitner *''Tarraing Téad - Pulling Strings'', (2010) - Cormac De Barra &

Máire Breatnach Máire Breatnach is an Irish fiddle, violin and viola player. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has recorded five solo albums, participated in many collaborations, and developed didactic material for chi ...

*'' Voices & Harps'', (2011) - Cormac de Barra &

*''Affinity'', (2013) - Cormac De Barra &

*''Duopoly'', (2014) - Cormac De Barra & Anne-Marie O'Farrell *''An Caitín Bán'', (2015) - Cormac De Barra & the De Barra and Ó Tuama families *''Timeless'', (2019) - Cormac De Barra & Moya Brennan *''The Crannua Collective'', (2019) - Cormac De Barra & Éamonn De Barra, Moya Brennan, Dave Curley, Ashley Davis, John Doyle, Dave Curley, Colin Farrell, Cathy Jordan, Gawain Mathews and Mick McAuley

Appearances

With Hazel O'Connor

*''5 in the Morning'', (1998) *''Beyond Breaking Glass'', (2000) *''Acoustically Yours'', (2002) *''A Singular Collection'', (2003) *''Hidden Heart'', (2005)

With Moya Brennan

*'' Óró - A Live Session'', (2005) *'' An Irish Christmas'', (2005 & 2006) *''

Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

'', (2006) *'' Signature (Special Tour Edition)'', (2007) *'' Heart Strings'', (2008) *'' My Match Is A Makin''', (2010) - Cormac de Barra &

*'' Voices & Harps'', (2011) - Cormac de Barra & Moya Brennan *''Affinity'', (2013) - Cormac De Barra &

*''

Canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handb ...

'', (2017)

Other

*'' Christmassy'' (2017) - Brian Kennedy *'' Night Travels'' (2014) - Ashley Davis *'' Songs of the Celtic Winter'' (2012) - Ashley Davis *''

Clocks A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and th ...

'' (2012) - Julie Feeney *'' Down By the Sea'' (2010) - Ashley Davis *''On Song 2: Red Sails in the Sunset '', (2005) - Brian Kennedy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Barra, Cormac Irish harpists Irish male singers Living people Musicians from County Dublin Year of birth missing (living people)