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The possibility that we are in a golden age of traditional music, is reinforced by the release of Liam O'Connor's exceptional solo album The Loom. O'Connor has long been a thoughtful, considered fiddle player who wears his acquaintance with the musicians who came before him with equal parts pride and
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Now only 23 years old, a fiddle solo of three reels half way through the set was, in a word, breathtaking. we teetered with O'Connor on the very edge of the melody as he stretched our concepts of the aesthetics of traditional music – expanding the melody, reducing it, compacting it, going forward,
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from The
Ferryman pub in Dublin. On the program, O'Connor performed several reels in front of a live audience, accompanied by guitarist John Blake, as well as a separate performance with his father Mick on flute and siblings Darach on fiddle and Aoife on concertina. The program also featured
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in
January 2009 which was described by Siobhán Long of The Irish Times as "Exceptional musicians who marry technical prowess with a marvellous sense of adventure and history". In 2013, O'Connor was commissioned to record and compose music for inclusion in
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and was funded through the Arts
Council of Ireland DEIS scheme. Due to his experience in historic collections and contemporary traditional compositions, O'Connor was asked write a foreword to the P.J. Giblin Collection and to Connie O'Connell's
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Possibly one of the most exciting fiddle players on the music scene since the emergence of Seán Keane and
Frankie Gavin more than 30 years ago. He has an exceptional natural ability and the standard of his playing defies logic given his age.
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pulling back. This was dangerous music executed in a risky environment, with no accompaniment, no safety net, and there was no cutting short lest he run out of ideas. O'Connor has the potential to have a serious impact on fiddle playing.
369:. Around the same time, O'Connor formed a duet with Dublin uilleann piper Seán McKeon, a collaboration that would continue on for many years. In January 2007, O'Connor and McKeon performed in a showcase concert at the
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The youngest of four children, O'Connor followed in his siblings' footsteps and took up the fiddle at the age of 6, taking lessons from Dublin fiddler, SĂ©amus
Glackin. Liam also became acquainted with the
619:. In the episode, O'Connor demonstrates some of Keane's technique and style, and talks about his contribution to the tradition of Irish fiddle playing. In June of that year, O'Connor was featured on the
305:. O'Connor later gave up football because of the risk it posed to his music playing career due to its physicality, in particular citing an incident when he had to turn down an invitation to play with
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under their DEIS scheme where the archiving and recording of the transmission of the tradition from older masters to younger musicians was central. He spent time with and conducted interviews with
641:(episode 5). On the show, O'Connor chats about growing up in a house full of music and being fascinated by ITMA since he was a teenager, as well as his plans for his upcoming role as director.
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In 2018, O'Connor formed a new duet with concertina player Cormac Begley, as well as performing with McKeon and Hill, and embarking on a tour of the US. He commissioned a new bow from expert
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470:, John Dwyer, Peadar O'Loughlin, Sean MacIarnán, among others during this project. In 2009, O'Connor secured a first-class honours in a graduate diploma in Irish Folklore at the
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and his daughter Aoife on fiddle, flute player Emer Mayock and singer
Antaine Ă“ Farachain. In 2017 O'Connor featured in a short film by Myles O'Reilly about Dublin fiddler
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described it as a "mind-bogglingly good album full of 'wow' moments from beginning to end". Writing in The Irish Times, Siobhán Long gave it a five-star rating and wrote:
603:, O'Connor's father pays tribute to Potts with a few words before O'Connor himself pays homage to the Dublin fiddler by playing a reel in the distinctive style of Potts.
226:, North County Dublin, Ireland. His father, Mick O'Connor, is a well-known flute player, researcher and leader of the Castle CĂ©ilĂ Band. His father grew up in
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Noel Burke which was part-funded by Music
Network Capital Scheme. In September of that year, O'Connor was nominated for the Best Folk Instrumentalist at the
377:, the concert was described as having "provided the outstanding moment of the festival". In the same review, Quinn remarked of O'Connor's solo performance:
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and
Charlie Lennon. Other major influences on his playing include fiddlers such as SĂ©amus Glackin, Vincent Harrison, along with recordings of Tommy Potts,
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O'Connor started performing as a soloist from a young age and as a teenager he was invited to perform as a duet with established masters such as
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and John Kelly. Numerous fiddlers that were friends of the family would regularly call around to the house in
Baldoyle including
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O'Connor has served as a board member of ITMA and the Gradam Ceoil TG4 Selection Panel, and as honorary secretary of
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Re-creating P.W. Joyce: from 19th century manuscripts to an interactive online audio-visual resource
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hosted by Aoife Nic
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O'Connor has taught as a guest lecturer on undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the
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Liam O Connor Re-Creating P.W. Joyce ITMA PORT Project funded by Arts Council of Ireland
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568:(The Folklore of Ireland Society). In June 2019, he was appointed director of ITMA.
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In March 2019, O'Connor made a guest appearance on season 8, episode 1 of the TG4
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UCD Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore and the National Folklore Collection
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as "one of the outstanding fiddle-players of his generation".
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Tell Us A Bit About Tommy Potts [Featuring Liam O'Connor]
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Aspects of oral tradition in the Life and Works of P.W. Joyce
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In April 2017, O'Connor released his debut solo album called
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O'Connor worked as a researcher of traditional songs in the
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and was a neighbour and friend of renowned fiddle player,
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NĂ Bhaoill, Niamh; O'Connor, DĂłnal (24 March 2019).
1096:"Liam O'Connor's exceptional solo album 'The Loom'"
576:In March 2013, O'Connor presented episode 4 of the
361:In 2005, O'Connor featured as a guest performer on
312:because he was incapacitated by a football injury.
634:. The program was later made available as part of
559:Tommy Potts – Traditional Fiddle Music from Dublin
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373:. In a review of the festival by Toner Quinn of
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218:O'Connor was born into a musical family in
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285:Outside of music, O'Connor was a talented
1289:Liam O'Connor on The Rolling Wave podcast
981:"Making the most of a shared inheritance"
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348:. At the time, O'Connor was described in
587:performances from players such as piper
1356:Alumni of Marino Institute of Education
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206:(ITMA). O'Connor has been described by
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1361:Alumni of University College Dublin
1310:Liam O'Connor Gradam Ceoil TG4 2002
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1231:Aoife Nic Cormaic (23 June 2019).
1067:"'The Loom' is all they say it is"
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1386:21st-century Irish folk musicians
1279:Archive material of Liam O'Connor
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1176:Myles O'Reilly (11 August 2017).
1036:Long, Siobhán (30 January 2009).
979:Long, Siobhán (19 January 2009).
340:. When he was 17, he was awarded
301:– the third-tier competition for
955:"TG4 Young Musician of the Year"
911:"Liam O'Connor & John Blake"
446:In 2006, O'Connor was awarded a
1283:Irish Traditional Music Archive
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1179:Tell Us A Bit About Tommy Potts
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597:Tell Us A Bit About Tommy Potts
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272:All-Ireland fiddle competitions
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293:at under-age level and later
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1065:Neely, Daniel (April 2017).
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1132:. Dublin. 20 September 2018
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874:. An Spidéal. 13 June 2019
753:Young Musician of the Year
476:Scoláracht Máire MhicNéill
342:Young Musician of the Year
262:and James 'Lad' O'Beirne.
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1016:The Journal of Music
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539:Na PĂobairĂ Uilleann
508:BĂłithrĂn na Smaointe
462:, Vincent Harrison,
404:1913 Dublin lock-out
375:The Journal of Music
329:, concertina player
297:in the final of the
280:DIT College of Music
208:The Journal of Music
1371:Irish male fiddlers
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371:Temple Bar TradFest
1233:"The Rolling Wave"
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659:(with Seán McKeon)
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1241:. Retrieved
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1207:'SĂ© Mo Laoch
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1203:"Seán Keane"
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1341:1984 births
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1237:RTÉ Radio 1
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691:To the City
645:Discography
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551:Tommy Potts
460:Peter Horan
393:Stailc 1913
363:Noel Hill's
236:Tommy Potts
144:liamoconnor
126:Independent
69:Occupations
1335:Categories
1075:. New York
850:References
843:Nominated
617:Seán Keane
535:P.W. Joyce
456:Seán Potts
422:subtlety.
282:, Dublin.
268:concertina
252:Seán Keane
240:Ennistimon
214:Early life
99:Instrument
87:director (
81:researcher
683:Noel Hill
450:from the
428:bow maker
331:Noel Hill
196:collector
78:collector
43:, Ireland
1104:. Dublin
1046:. Dublin
989:. Dublin
793:The Loom
665:The Loom
584:GeantraĂ
493:for the
442:Research
411:The Loom
220:Baldoyle
75:Musician
37:Baldoyle
1326:YouTube
1315:YouTube
1304:YouTube
1281:in the
1274:Discogs
1243:21 June
1216:21 June
1186:21 June
939:20 June
827:Result
784:Result
739:Result
624:program
595:called
448:bursary
402:on the
192:fiddler
139:Website
84:teacher
1285:(ITMA)
1161:6 June
1136:6 June
1108:4 June
1079:6 June
1050:6 June
1021:6 June
993:6 June
964:4 June
935:. fonn
917:4 June
878:4 June
824:Award
781:Award
736:Award
709:(2013)
696:(2013)
687:(2005)
667:(2017)
661:(2009)
650:Albums
541:, the
316:Career
291:Dublin
232:Dublin
224:Fingal
157:Parent
119:Labels
103:Fiddle
48:Genres
818:Year
775:Year
730:Year
321:Music
184:Irish
1245:2020
1218:2020
1188:2020
1163:2020
1138:2020
1110:2020
1081:2020
1052:2020
1023:2020
995:2020
966:2020
941:2020
919:2020
880:2020
832:2018
800:Won
789:2017
757:Won
744:2002
681:(by
632:ITMA
525:and
478:and
395:, a
352:as:
333:and
89:ITMA
55:Folk
34:1984
31:Born
1324:on
1313:on
1302:on
1291:on
1211:TG4
1129:RTÉ
959:TG4
578:TG4
557:CD
555:RTÉ
537:at
397:TG4
254:of
146:.ie
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