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Jane O'Leary (born 13 October 1946) is an American-born Irish musician and composer who has been living in Ireland since 1972.

Biography

Jane O'Leary (née Strong) was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She graduated summa com laude from Vassar College and studied with Milton Babbitt at Princeton University, where she received a Ph.D. in composition. She lectured at Swarthmore College for a year and moved to Ireland in 1972.^[1]

O'Leary's music has been performed internationally at concert venues including, in the U.S., the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center, Chicago Cultural Center and Carnegie Hall. She is the founder (in 1976), artistic director and pianist of the ensemble Concorde, which regularly performs contemporary music. In 1981, she was one of the founders of the organisation 'Music for Galway' and served as its chairperson from 1984 to 1992. Other honorary positions included membership of the board of directors of the National Concert Hall, Dublin (1986–1996), member of the Irish Arts Council (1998–2003), chairperson of the Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin, and others. Since 1981 she has been a member of Aosdána, Ireland's academy for creative artists.^[2] Since 2006, O'Leary teaches composition at the Dublin Institute of Technology Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin.^[3] She received the Marten Toonder Award in 1994 and received an honorary doctorate from NUI Galway in 2007.^[1]

Selected compositions

Orchestral

From the flatirons (1985)
The petals fall (1987)
Sky of revelation (1989)
Mirros Imaginings (1991)
Islands of Discovery (1991)
Here, There (and Everywhere) (2002)
Strings alive (2007)

Chamber music

Quartet (1969) for clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, cello
Concortet (1979) for flute, violin, cello, harpsichord
String Quartet (1983)
Variations (1984) for flute and piano
Piano Trio (1992)
Silenzio della terra (1993) for flute and percussion [marimba & tom-toms]
Duo (1994) for violin and cello
Mystic Play of Shadows (1995) for string quartet
Into the Wordless (1998) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Why the Hill Sings (2004) for viola and piano
In the Stillness of Time (2004) for string quartet
Piano Quintet (2005)
Sunshowers (2007) for alto flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion
riverrun (2008) for saxophone quartet
in a flurry of whispering (2011) for alto flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano
the echo of all that's happened (2014) for alto flute, clarinet & string quartet
The Passing Sound of Forever (2015) for string quartet
as if one (2016) for viola and cello

Solo instrumental

Piano Piece I (1974)
Piano Piece II (1980)
Reflections (1986) for piano
Forgotten Worlds (1987) for piano
Cartoline dalla Sicilia (1987) for piano
When the Bells Have Stopped Ringing (1989) for piano
Four Pieces for Guitar (1993)
Within/Without (2000) for clarinet
Awakening (2002) for percussion
Breathing Spaces (2010) for piano
No. 19, versions for violin (2012) and viola (2013)
Five Bagatelles (2013) for piano
A Palette of Preludes (2015) for piano

Vocal

Poem from a Three-Year Old (1976) for soprano, flute, clarinet
Three Voices: Lightning, Peace, Grass (1977) for soprano, oboe, piano
Filled Wine Cup (1982) for mixed choir
A Woman's Beauty (1991) for speaker, flute, percussion, dancer
Dream Songs (1996). Two versions, a) for female choir and piano; b) for female choir and small orchestra
Soundshapes (2006) for voice, alto flute, clarinet, violin
Clara (2013) for speaker, clarinet, bass-clarinet

Recordings

Silenzio della Terra, performed by Concorde, on: Contemporary Music from Ireland Vol. 1, Contemporary Music Centre CMC CD01 (CD, 1995).
Silenzio della Terra, Duo, performed by Concorde, on: Celtic Connections, Capstone Records CPS-8640 (CD, 1997).
Four Pieces for Guitar, performed by John Feeley, on: e-motion, Black Box Music BBM 1002 (CD, 2008).
Cartoline dalla Sicilia, performed by Catherine Nardiello (piano), on: Women Composers Vol. I, Catherine Nardiello CN-115 (CD, 2000).
Within/Without, performed by Paul Roe (clarinet), on: Containers (Galway Arts Festival 2000) (CD, 2000).
Mystic Play of Shadows, performed by Quartetto Paul Klee, on: Niccolò NIC 1047 (CD, 2001).
Piano Quartet; a piacere ...; Why the Hill Sings; In the Stillness of Time; something there; Mystic Play of Shadows, performed by ConTempo Quartet, Vanbrugh Quartet, Jane O'Leary (piano), members of Concorde, on: In the Stillness of Time: Music of Jane O'Leary, Capstone Records CPS-8789 (CD, 2007)
Forgotten Worlds, performed by Isabelle O'Connell (piano), on: Reservoir, Diatribe Solo Series DIACDSOL 001 (CD, 2010).
a piacere ..., performed by Paul Roe (clarinet), on: Between, Diatribe Solo Series DIACDSOL 002 (CD, 2010).
Duo, performed by Laura Chislett Jones (flute) and John Feeley (guitar), on: Islands. Contemporary Irish Solo & Instrumental Works for Guitar, Overture Music (no label code) (CD, 2010).
Reflections II, performed by Concorde, on: Reflections, Navona Records NV 5835 (CD, 2010).
Forgotten Worlds, performed by Hugh Tinney, on: RTÉ lyric fm CD 153 (CD, 2016).
A Way Through; No. 19; Murmurs and Echoes; A Winter Sketchbook; ... from hand to hand ...; The Passing Sound of Forever, performed by Andreja Malir (hp), Concorde, RTÉ ConTempo Quartet, on: Navona Records NV 6068 (CD, 2017).

Bibliography

Axel Klein: Die Musik Irlands im 20. Jahrhundert (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1996)
Benjamin Dwyer: "An Interview with Jane O'Leary", in: B. Dwyer: Different Voices. Irish Music and Music in Ireland (Hofheim: Wolke Verlag, 2014), p. 112–132.

References

^ ^a ^b "Jane O'Leary". Contemporary Music Centre. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
^ Byrne, James Patrick; Coleman, Philip; King, Jason (2008). Ireland and the Americas: culture, politics, and history, Volume 3. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781851096145. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
^ "Jane O'Leary". Retrieved 17 October 2010.