John Feeley
“He
is a bolder, more imaginative interpreter than most of our younger guitarists
with an especially appealing ability to impart a gently fluid momentum to the
line” Joseph Horowitz, New York Times.
”John Feeley has a talent of a high order - he is a
stylish player, an intelligent musician with technical security in plenty”
Classical Guitar, England.
”John Feeley is a sensitive player whose
technical command seems effortless, even in the most dazzling passages,
allowing the music its full expression” The Irish
Times.
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 Senior 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 Quaret 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.
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