John Feeley is a classical guitarist and teacher from Ballinasloe, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. He has been 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'.

Feeley is internationally renowned as a performer and teacher and he is regularly found performing and teaching around the world with appearances at such festivals as the Guitar Festival of Ireland, Bath International Guitar Festival, the Dundee International Guitar Festival, and the Wirral International Guitar Festival.

Feeley has won numerous awards including the Special Award for interpretation in the 1984 Mauro Giuliani

Mauro Giuliani

Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani was an Italian guitarist, cellist and composer, and is considered by many to be one of the leading guitar virtuosi of the early 19th century.- Biography :...

 competition, Italy. He has appeared as a soloist with The American Symphony Orchestra

American Symphony Orchestra

The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski, then aged 80. Following Maestro Stokowski's departure, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was appointed Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1973-1978. Music Directors during the early...

 at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra

The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is the concert music orchestra of Raidió Teilifís Éireann...

, the Ulster Orchestra

Ulster Orchestra

The Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall...

, the Irish Chamber Orchestra

Irish Chamber Orchestra

The Irish Chamber Orchestra is a Irish classical music ensemble, administratively based at the University of Limerick. The ICO primarily gives concerts at the University Concert Hall, Limerick and at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin...

 and the Contempo Quartet. He performs regularly in duet with the flautist William Dowdall.

Feeley is a particular champion of Contemporary Irish Music and in this capacity he has commissioned most of Ireland's leading composers including Seoirse Bodley

Seóirse Bodley

Seóirse Bodley is an Irish composer and former associate professor of music at University College Dublin . He has been Saoi of Aosdána since 2008.-Biography:...

, John Buckley Jerome de Bromhead, Jane O¹Leary, Brent Parker and Eric Sweeney

Eric Sweeney

Eric Edwin Sweeney was an English footballer. His regular position was as a forward. He was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside. He played for Charlton Athletic and Manchester United.-External links:*...

.

Feeley has made numerous recordings for labels including K-Tel

K-tel

K-tel International is an "As-Seen-On-TV" company, which is most noted for its compilation music albums, such as "The Super Hits" series, "The Dynamic Hits" series and "The Number One Hits" series...

, Gael-Linn Records

Gael-Linn Records

Gael Linn Records is an Irish record label, run by the Irish language promotion organisation Gael Linn.Gael Linn released records by many of the world's most renowned Gaelic and Irish Traditional musicians known today...

, CBA Classics, Ossian Records, Castle Communications

Castle Communications

Castle Communications was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane and Jon Beecher. The company was acquired by the American music distributor Alliance Entertainment in 1994 and in 2000 it was absorbed into Sanctuary Records Group...

 and Black Box

Black box

A black box is a device, object, or system whose inner workings are unknown; only the input, transfer, and output are known characteristics.The term black box can also refer to:-In science and technology:*Black box theory, a philosophical theory...

. Feeley has a great interest in traditional Irish and Scottish music and in this capacity he has recorded with The Chieftains

The Chieftains

The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...

 and published arrangements of traditional melodies through Ossian

Ossian

Ossian is the narrator and supposed author of a cycle of poems which the Scottish poet James Macpherson claimed to have translated from ancient sources in the Scots Gaelic. He is based on Oisín, son of Finn or Fionn mac Cumhaill, anglicised to Finn McCool, a character from Irish mythology...

.

Feeley is Professor of Guitar at the DIT College of Music Dublin and as such he is responsible for nurturing a number of top quality young classical guitarists. His past students include all current members of the Dublin Guitar Quartet

Dublin Guitar Quartet

The Dublin Guitar Quartet is an Irish music group that specialises in the performance of contemporary classical music, particularly music associated with minimalist composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt....

, along with Redmond O'Toole

Redmond O'Toole

Redmond O'Toole is an Irish classical guitarist. He is amongst a handful of musicians performing on a Brahms guitar. His former teachers include Oscar Ghiglia, Paul Galbraith, Graham Devine and John Feeley...

, Michael O'Toole

Michael O'Toole

Michael O'Toole is an Irish guitarist.He studied for many years with John Feeley in the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and also spent two years studying with the renowned Cuban virtuoso Ricardo Iznaola in Denver, Colorado...

 and Alec O'Leary

Alec O'Leary

Alec O'Leary is the Director and founder of the Guitar Festival of Ireland and is widely regarded as one of the foremost guitarists of his generation...

 director of the Waltons Guitar Festival of Ireland. Composers Benjamin Dwyer, Ciaran Farrell

Ciarán Farrell

Ciarán Farrell is an Irish composer who has been active in his field since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1997...

, David Fennessy, and David Flynn

David Flynn

David Flynn is an Irish composer and musician with a number of major awards and commissions to his name. His recent music is noteworthy for merging the influence of traditional Irish music with contemporary classical music and jazz...

, all of whom have written music for Feeley, were also guitar students of his.

Discography

As Soloist

E-Motion - 20th-Century Irish Composer Series
Black Box Classics
ASIN: B00003XAJ2

Celtic Classics
Ossian
ASIN: B000EQ5NFC

Sreanga Oir
Gael Linn
ASIN: B00004C4LZ

Romanza Classical Guitar
Marble Arch
ASIN : B0000274BH

John Feeley
Gael-Linn
Catalogue No: CEF 109

'Serenade' - Raymond Burley and John Feeley
CBA Classics

In Winter Light: Music for Guitar and Flute by John Buckley
With William Dowdall (Flute)
Celestial Harmonies
ASIN: B0002IVO00

As Guest Artist

Secret Garden - White Stones
Philips CD 731453460522

Agnes Browne
Original Movie Soundtrack composed by Paddy Moloney
DECCA U.S.
Catalog No.: 466939

Paddy Moloney - Silent Night: A Christmas in Rome
Wicklow Entertainment, 1999
BMG - Wicklow, 1999 | 09026-63250-2

Various Composers - 100 Relaxing Classics - Most Peaceful Melodies Of All Time
PBXCD557

Sources