John Finucane, Artistic Director
John Finucane has performed at music festivals throughout Ireland and has, given concerts in Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Canada and China. He has performed many premières, including works by Robert Lamb, James Wilson and Gerald Barry.
As a conductor John has worked with the RTE NSO and RTE Concert Orchestra, in which he used to be principal clarinet. He has conducted premières by Michael Alcorn and Piers Hellawell with the Ulster Orchestra and has premiered new works by Raymond Deane, John Buckley and others with Opera Theatre Company. He has also conducted the Orchestra of St. Cecelia, Surrey Sinfonietta and Washington DC Youth Orchestra. He is director of the Hibernian Orchestra and for almost 25 years he was conductor of Dublin Youth Symphony Orchestra, with whom he toured widely in Europe, North America and, most recently, China. He also directed the first Irish performance of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges.
As a clarinettist, John has made several appearances at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the Festival in Great Irish Houses. He has been principal clarinet in the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) since 1995 and is also on the teaching faculty of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Past engagements included a recital with pianist Hugh Tinney in St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle in February 2006 and a nationwide tour with the NSO of Weber's first concerto under Gerhard Markson. Last year, he recorded a television performance of Weber's Concertino with the RTÉ NSO as part of the series, Symphony Sessions.
In addition to performance, John has appeared regularly as a broadcaster on RTÉ Lyric FM, most notably writing and presenting programs on Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and introducing a daily item featuring music from the RTE NSO subscription series. John's most recent CD, Clarinet Variations, which includes recordings of the Françaix and Stanford clarinet concertos, has recently been released on the Lyric FM label.
