MÍCHEÁL Ó
SÚILLEABHÁIN
IN PERFORMANCE

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is a pianist with a uniquely Irish piano style which he established with the issue of his first recording in 1975 on the Gael Linn label.

Since then each recording has brought this style further, especially The Dolphin's Way  (Virgin Records 1987) which established his sound internationally.  At this point his music continued to spill over into orchestral formats, especially for piano and string orchestra with the Oilean/Island recording (Virgin 1989). 

His concerts range from solo piano through piano and Irish traditional percussion (most frequently with the bodhrán and bones player Mel Mercier) to piano, string orchestra, and Irish traditional soloists. At times he has extended this ensemble to include jazz soprano saxophone (with Kenneth Edge). He directs the ensemble from the piano keyboard. 

His piano repertoire ranges from traditional dance tunes, through Irish slow airs, to Irish 17^th and 18^th century harp music. 

Additional performance formats include the playing live to screen of his music (composed 1994) for the silent movie Irish Destiny (1925). This is scored for piano and chamber orchestra (strings, woodwind, timpani). Extracts from the score may be heard on the recording Becoming. A DVD of the film with the original score is was released in 2006, published by the Irish Film Institute.