Michael Holohan (born 27 March 1956) is an Irish composer.

Biography

Michael Holohan was born in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was educated at O'Connell School,

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 ...

(BA, 1978) and Queen's University in Belfast. He studied composition with Jane O'Leary, Eric Sweeney and

Seóirse Bodley Seóirse Bodley (; 4 April 1933 – 17 November 2023) was an Irish composer and associate professor of music at University College Dublin (UCD). He was the first composer to become a Saoi of Aosdána, in 2008. Bodley is widely regarded as one o ...

. He also attended masterclasses by

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

, and

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (; born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. Associated with the "instrumental musique concrète" style, Lachenmann is alongside Wolfgang Rihm as among the leading Germa ...

in France. Holohan was chairman of the Association of Irish Composers (AIC), 1987–9, and was later appointed chairman of the Droichead Arts Centre in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, where he has lived since the mid-1980s.Smith (2013), as above, p. 495. Holohan was elected to

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

, an Irish association of artists, in 1999. He is also a member and former Chair of the Toscaireacht of Aosdána.

Music

Holohan has composed for solo instrument, ensemble, orchestra, stage, choir and voice. He has also collaborated with a number of poets including Nobel prize-winners

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

and

Tomas Tranströmer Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long winters in Sweden, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer' ...

, Ivan Lalic and Paul Durcan. He has lived in Drogheda since 1983. His compositions have been performed and broadcast both at home and internationally. Career highlights in Drogheda include the performances of ''Cromwell'' at the "Drogheda 800" celebrations (RTECO, Lourdes Church, 1994); ''The Mass of Fire'', Augustinian 700 anniversary (RTÉ TV live broadcast, 1995); ''No Sanctuary'' with Nobel Laureate and poet Seamus Heaney (Augustinian Church, 1997); ''Remembrance Sunday Service'', at Drogheda Unification 600 (RTE TV live broadcast, St Peter's Church of Ireland) and two major concerts with The Boyne Valley Chamber Orchestra at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2018 and 2019.

Selected works

Orchestral

*''Cromwell'' (1994) *''Leaves of Glass'' (1995) *''Building Bridges'' (1995)

Ensemble

*''Triangulum'' (1977) *''Macehead'' (1992) *''A Snail in my Prime'' (2000) - with text by Paul Durcan

Choir

*''An Stoirm'', ''Bagairt na Marbh'' & ''Sos'' (1981-4) - with texts by Seán Ó Riordáin *''Anahorish'' & ''Oracle'' (1988) - with texts by Seamus Heaney *''Mass of Fire'' (1995) *''Quis est Deus?'' (2001) *''In the Empty Hills'' (2009) - with text by Wang Wei

Voice

*''Kubla Khan'' (1974) - awarded RTÉ Young Composer of the Year 1974 *''Thomas McDonagh'' (1987) - with text by Francis Ledwidge *''The Given Note'' (1989) - with text by Seamus Heaney *''The Potter's Field'' (1990) - with text by Ivan Lalic

Solo

*''By a River'' (1985), for piano *''Aoise'' (1988), for piano *''The Road to Lough Swilly'' (2001), for

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 ...

*''Monaincha'' (2002), for piano

Stage

*''Running Beast'' (2007) - with text by Donal O'Kelly *''Where a Single Footprint Lasts a Thousand Years'' (2009) - with text by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

and Bill Manhire

Electro-Acoustic

*''The Source'' (1990) *''July 23rd Dawn'' (1990)

Select discography

*''A River of Memories'' (1999) - co-produced by Breida Delaney *''Fields of Blue and White'' (2010) - pianist, Thérèse Fahy * ''The Road to Lough Swilly'' (2019) - Mick O' Brien, uilleann pipes and The Boyne Valley Chamber Orchestra

References

External links

Michael Holohan
at the Contemporary Music Centre
Michael Holohan
at Aosdána {{DEFAULTSORT:Holohan, Michael 1956 births 20th-century Irish classical composers 20th-century Irish male musicians 21st-century Irish classical composers 21st-century Irish male musicians Irish classical composers Irish male classical composers Living people Composers from Dublin (city) People educated at O'Connell School People from Drumcondra, Dublin