“O’Reilly’s voice ranges from tenderly introspective to utterly beautiful in a disc which offers a commendably refreshing interpretation” - HMV CHOICE REVIEW of “LOVE SO KINDLY”
"Having performed in many countries throughout the world and in some beautiful spaces, from the strawberry fields of Ottawa, Canada, Bantry Bay, on the South Coast of Ireland to the gold gilt decorative cornice clad columns of Carnegie Hall, I have come to cherish the gift of my voice as a means to carry something invisible and intangible to others that often finds a way into the listening heart.”
BACKGROUND & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Róisin O’Reilly, a native of Cavan, attended the Conservatory of Music in Dublin (DIT) for eight years. She performed with the Conservatory of Musi outside Ireland including in Carnegie Hall in New York and the Tchaikovsky Concert in Moscow.
In 1996 she was invited by Micheal McGlynn, founder of Anuna, to join the renowned Celtic choral group. For the next seven years, Róisín recorded and toured with Anuna worldwide including Scandinavia, Norway, the UK, Canada, Sweden, Italy, France, Morocco and many other countries.
In 2002 Róisín was one of the first artistes to be signed, by Bill Holland, to Universal Classics and Jazz, London, and recorded the album“Love So Kindly” which reached No 3 in the Irish charts - an album mainly of traditional Irish songs but also included the beautiful song called “The Edge of The Moon” which was given to her by the late Christy Hennessey having worked with him that year in London.
On “Love So Kindly” her rendition of “Mná na hEireann” captured audiences in the UK where she performed many times including at St David’s Hall, Cardiff with Aled Jones.
In 2004 Róisín was a featured soloist on Liam Lawton's platinum-selling album “Another World” singing, There is a Heart” which became the single of the album. Over the next four years, Róisin continued to work with Liam as a soloist and also featured on the album“Time” 2005. She toured with Liam nationwide as a soloist including in the highly successful “Song of a Celtic Soul” (2006) which was set in Dublin and at a special concert performance in Carnegie Hall, New York in 2007.
She features on 6 platinum Irish selling albums; Deep Dead Blue, Anuna (1999); “Cynara”, Anuna (2005); Anthem (2000) with Ronan Hardiman; composer of Lord of the Dance; Another World, Liam Lawton (2004); Time, Liam Lawton (2005); and Song of a Celtic Soul, (2006).
Róisín also featured on six successful Universal Music compilation collections including; “Summer Classics” (2004); “The No 1 Classical Album” (2004); “Songbird” (2004); “Over the Rainbow” (2005); “A Classic Christmas” (2006); and “Celtic Dreams” (2007)
Róisín has recorded several shows for US airplay including a show with members of the traditional Irish group Dervish and the late Paddy Moloney from The Chieftains. She was a member of the group which formed "Faith of Our Fathers” in 1996 recording two albums and performing the album at New Jersey Performing Arts Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York 1996.
MOST RECENT WORK
Hush, Be Still, A Christmas Lullaby (Brendan Graham/ Róisín O'Reilly) December 2021
Yann Derrien Santiago De Compostella (2018), a recording and release on the theme of the "Pilgrim Soul”.
In 2019 Róisín wrote and performed a piece of work called “The Listening Heart of Winter”, a combination of Winter songs, poetry, narration and video. She collaborated with the Russian pianist Katerina Speranskaya, well known Irish guitarist Ewan Cowley and Mihai Cucu, the renowned visual artist from Romania.
“O Holy Night” (2020), a special recording and release for Syrian Refugee Children in south Lebanon which raised over EU45k since December 2020.
INITIATIVE - Raises €60k for Syrian Refugee Children
During Covid-19 lockdown, in October 2020 Róisín took on the initiative to fundraise for a school in south Lebanon to educate Syrian refugee children displaced by war. Róisín had heard Fr William Stuart, a native of Howth, speak about the children’s circumstance in such Lebanon and his story moved and inspired Roisin to take action.
“In the absence of being able to do a concert to raise funds I had the idea to record a Christmas carol and within of hearing of another lockdown went into the studio and recorded “O Holy Night” with guitarist Ewan Cowley."