Composers

Format: 2024

Patrick Brennan was born in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Pianist and composer John Wolf Brennan was born in Dublin. He studied music at the University of Fribourg, and piano, conducting and organ at the Musikhochschule Lucerne in Switzerland.

Éna Brennan is a Dublin-based composer, arranger, violinist and graphic designer, originally from Brussels. Since moving to Dublin she has obtained a B.A.

Brian Bridges is a composer, researcher and electronic musician from Dublin, currently based in Derry, where he has been lecturing at Ulster University since 2008.

Dr Melanie Brown is a music graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and has an M.A. in Composition from NUI Maynooth. In 2011 she was awarded her PhD in Ethnomusicology at the University of Limerick.

Irene Buckley holds a BMus and a PhD in Composition from University College Cork and an MA in Music Technology from Queens University Belfast.

John Buckley was born in Templeglantine, Co. Limerick. He studied flute with Doris Keogh and composition with James Wilson, Alun Hoddinott and John Cage.

Linda Buckley is a composer from the Old Head of Kinsale currently based in Glasgow.

Neil Burns currently divides his time between Derry, Donegal and his native Down. He studied at the University of Ulster where he received a first class Honours degree in music in 2005.

Belfast-born David Byers studied composition with Raymond Warren at Queen’s University Belfast and then, as Manson Scholar in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music (London), with James Iliff.

The Irish composer Greg Caffrey read music at Queen’s University Belfast where he studied composition under Piers Hellawell and James Clarke. He was awarded a B.Mus.

Eoin Callery is an Irish artist and researcher creating music, sound art, and installations.

Pages

This section introduces the music of Irish composers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is intended as a good starting point for anyone not familiar with Irish contemporary music.

Each composer's page provides a photo, a biography, most recent works added to CMC's collection and other information. You can also purchase CDs and scores by each composer, access features about the composers, or view any upcoming events which include their music.

An Irish composer is defined as anyone who was born or is permanently resident in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. 

For any Irish composers interested in registering with CMC, please see our guidelines on how to apply.