A line-up of top trad talent has been announced for Gradam Ceoil TG4 2023. Known as ‘the Oscars of traditional music’, the live concert and awards show will take place at the University Concert Hall, Limerick on Sunday 23rd April, promising a night of foot-stomping entertainment.
The concert will be broadcast live on TG4 at 9.30pm on Sunday next.
Musician 2023 will be awarded to Mick O’Brien. Mick will be joined on stage by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and he will also perform with his family Fidelma, Aoife and Ciara Ní Bhriain. Mick will be presented with his award by Peter Browne.
Piper and tin whistle player Mick O’Brien was born in Dublin in 1961 and began learning to play the pipes at age 9 from Leo Rowsome, Seán Seery and Mick Touhey at the Thomas Street Pipers’ Club. He later attended classes at Na Píobairí Uilleann and became inspired by the playing of Patsy Touhey. His father, the influential accordion player Dinny O’Brien, was also a significant source of inspiration. Throughout his career, he has conducted masterclasses on the pipes across Ireland, Europe and the US, and performed regularly as a solo artist and with other musicians including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and also with Norwegian groups Vamp, Hanne Krogh, and Secret Garden.
He is also a successful recording artist and has featured on recordings with The Dubliners, Altan and Charlie Lennon, as well as his own albums May Morning Dew (1996) and The Ancient Voice of Ireland (1999). His 2003 record Kitty Lie Over with fiddle player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is widely recognised as a major contribution to traditional music in recent decades, as is their 2011 album Deadly Buzz. In recent years, O’Brien has performed as part of a trio with flute player Emer Mayock and fiddle player Aoife Ní Bhriain. The group has released two albums – Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts (2013) and More Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts (2021) – as part of a project focused on music collected by James Goodman in the southwest of Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century.
Full list of this year’s Gradam Ceoil TG4 2023 recipients include: Musician – Mick O’Brien; Young Musician – Méabh Smyth; Singer – Síle Denvir, Lifetime Achievement – Fintan Vallely; Composer – Maurice Lennon; Music Group – Mick, Louise & Michelle Mulcahy; Outstanding Contribution- Frank McArdle.
2023 Gradam recipients, who represent the crème de la crème of traditional music and song, will be joined in live performances on stage by their own special musical guests, including Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Fidelma, Aoife & Ciara Ní Bhriain, Colm Mac Con Iomaire & Kaitlin Cullen-Verhaus, Ryan Molloy & Tiarnán Smyth, Seamus O’Kane, Tiarnán Ó Duinnnchinn, Caoimhe Mulligan, Sheena Vallely & Róisín Chambers, Paddy Callaghan, Róisín, Patricia, Siobhán & Eileen mc Ardle, Róisín Ann Hughes, Louise Hunter & Katie Boyle, Ciara Brennan, Chris Dawson, Charlie Lennon and Brian Lennon.
The highly anticipated live awards show, which will be hosted by TG4 presenter, Páidí Ó Lionáird, will also feature live performances from the seven Gradam Ceoil 2023 recipients, who will be recognised for their talent and contribution to traditional Irish music.
A range of VIP guest presenters will also take to the stage to present the recipients with their awards these include, Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer Breda Smyth, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Peter Browne, Bríd Harper, Antóin Mac Gabhann and Anna Ní Ghallachóir.
Tickets for TG4 Gradam Ceoil Awards 2023, are available from Gradam Ceoil TG4 2023 Tickets
For more information, visit www.gradam.ie or connect with Gradam Ceoil on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag, #Gradam
Pic: Mick O’Brien – credit Maurice Gunning
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