John Feeley facts for kids

John Feeley (born 24 May 1955) is a famous Irish classical guitarist. He is also a teacher and helps edit guitar music.

John Feeley's Life Story

John Feeley was born in Ballinasloe, a town in County Galway, Ireland. He started playing the guitar with popular music. By age 17, many people thought he was one of Europe's best electric guitar players!

After finishing his music degree at Trinity College Dublin, he moved to the USA. There, he studied with famous guitarists like Oscar Ghiglia and David Russell. He earned a master's degree from Queens College, City University of New York.

Later, he taught at Memphis State University in Tennessee. Today, he teaches at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin. Many of his students have become successful musicians. This includes members of the Dublin Guitar Quartet and composers like Benjamin Dwyer and Ciarán Farrell. These composers have even written music for John Feeley to play!

In 2006, John Feeley earned a special advanced degree called a doctorate from Maynooth University. For this, he wrote a big paper about classical guitar music by Irish composers.

Performing and Recording Music

John Feeley has played at many important music events. These include the Guitar Festival of Ireland and the Bath International Guitar Festival. He has won several awards, like a special prize in the 1984 Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy.

He has performed as a solo artist with big orchestras. These include The American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Ireland. He also often plays music with the flutist William Dowdall.

John Feeley really loves and supports new Irish music. He has asked many top Irish composers to write new pieces for him. Some of these composers are Seóirse Bodley and John Buckley. He is also very interested in traditional Irish and Scottish music. He has even recorded with the famous Irish band The Chieftains.

The Washington Post newspaper called him 'Ireland's leading classical guitarist'. The Irish Times newspaper said he was "a trailblazer" for guitar playing in Ireland.

His Music Albums (Discography)

John Feeley has released many albums. Here are some of them:

• e-motion. Contemporary Works for Guitar (1998): This album features modern pieces for guitar by composers like Ciarán Farrell and Eric Sweeney.
• in winter light (2004): On this album, he plays with flutist William Dowdall. It includes music by John Buckley.
• Islands. Contemporary Irish Solo & Instrumental Works for Guitar (2010): This album has modern Irish guitar music. It includes works by David Fennessy and Seóirse Bodley.

He also has earlier recordings, which include his own versions of traditional Irish music for guitar:

• Celtic Classics
• Sreanga Oir
• Romanza
• John Feeley
• Serenade (with Raymond Burley)

Music Books He Has Edited

John Feeley has also helped publish music books. This means he prepared the music for others to read and play.

• Scottish Music for Solo Guitar, two books (2005)
• Contemporary Irish Music for Classic Guitar Solo (2012)