The Road to Riverdance: Bill Whelan in conversation with Philip King

Bill Whelan has composed music for theatre, film and orchestra. His 1997 Grammy Award winning music Riverdance, continues to be performed around the world. The Riverdance show, seen to date by 22 million people, will this year embark on a 25th anniversary international tour.

Whelan’s 2022 memoir The Road To Riverdance (Lilliput) is a deeply reflective and impeccably crafted account of his journey in music and the unfolding of his talent, recounting his youth in Limerick City, his time as a student at University College Dublin and onwards through the fateful emergence of the career that led to the global phenomenon of Riverdance the Show.

In this unique event Bill Whelan will be in conversation with the Pulitzer Prize winning American novelist Richard Ford; and the acclaimed musicians Zoë Conway and John McIntyre will perform selections of Whelan’s compositions.

‘Bill has written a warm, affectionate hymn to Irish music and to the men and women who gave it to the world. He is one of those rare figures who changed how Ireland felt about itself and how the world saw Ireland. He is one of our ‘greats’.’ - Fergal Keane

‘Like the rest of Ireland and probably most of Europe, the Eurovision performance of Riverdance in 1994 totally took my breath away. I’m delighted to read this beautifully written account of his early life and subsequent success.’ - Andy Irvine

More about Bill Whelan

A native of Limerick, Bill Whelan has composed music for theatre, film and orchestra. His 1997 Grammy Award winning music Riverdance has toured as a celebrated show, seen to date by 22 million people.His orchestral work, The Seville Suite was specially commissioned for Expo ’92 and continues to be widely performed with recent performances by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, at the NCH Dublin and the Clifden Arts Festival in Connemara. Whelan's The Spirit Of Mayo, written for orchestra and choir was first performed in 1993 at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

His musical settings of the literary works of Irish writers have been performed widely at home and abroad and include the poetry of WB Yeats, Paul Muldoon, Derek Mahon, Tom McIntyre, Frank McGuinness and Paul Durcan. As a producer in the studio he has worked with U2, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Richard Harris, The Dubliners, Planxty, Andy Irvine, Davy Spillane and Bulgarian/Irish band, East Wind. His music for film includes scores for Dancing At Lughnasa, Some Mother’s Son, and Lamb. A member of Áosdána, he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music and the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates. His memoir The Road to Riverdance was published by Lilliput Press in 2022.

More About Philip King

Philip King, co-founder of South Wind Blows, is a curator and producer of bespoke cultural events. A film director, writer, musician, broadcaster, commentator and contributor to national and international forums on the role and contribution of culture and arts in a world where we are more connected and more isolated than ever before.

In 1987, with writer and director Nuala O’Connor he produced, for BBC Television, the groundbreaking, and National Primetime Emmy award winning series ‘Bringing It All Back Home – the story of Irish Music and America’. In 1993 Philip was nominated for a Grammy award for his music documentary ‘Rocky World’ about the Canadian musician Daniel Lanois. He has since continued to produce and direct film, television and cultural events such as, Ceiliúradh at the Royal Albert Hall, commissioned by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, Glaoch: A President’s Call, filmed in Aras An Uachtaráin, Notre Dame: A Welcome Home, The Gloaming: Moment to Moment, Gabriel Byrne: Stories from Home and more. In 2018, Philip was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from UCC and is an adjunct professor at the Department of Humanities at DCU. 

Most notably, Philip co-created Ireland’s best-known music series, Other Voices, with Oscar-winning musician Glen Hansard. Now in its twenty second  year, Other Voices continues to grow and evolve.

Philip is the Executive Producer  of the 2024 feature film ‘That They May Face The Rising Sun’ which is out now in cinemas across the UK and Ireland.

More about Zoë Conway and John McIntyre

Zoë Conway and John McIntyre, working as duo, have to date released two acclaimed albums: Live in Concert, a collection of their European performances, and their acclaimed debut duo album, Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You), for which they commissioned twelve leading Irish composers to compose an individual piece specifically for Zoë and John, for fiddle and guitar, with the aim of creating a snapshot of contemporary traditional Irish music. The renowned composers who took part in the project were Liz Carroll, Steve Cooney, Frankie Gavin, Andy Irvine, Charlie Lennon, Donal Lunny, Máirtín O’Connor, Peadar Ó Riada, Mícheál Ó Súilleabhán, Tommy Peoples, Niall Vallely and Bill Whelan.

Born in Dundalk, Zoë Conway trained in both classical violin and traditional Irish fiddle-playing. She has performed with many other artists including Riverdance, Damien Rice, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and Rodrigo y Gabriella. She also has a stature in Ireland classical music; her crossover discipline has led to appearances as a soloist with acclaimed orchestras such as The Irish Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, BBC

Symphony Orchestra and German WDR Symphony Orchestra; pieces recited include her own compositions and works composed for her by world renowned Irish composer, Bill Whelan.

John McIntyre grew up in the Cooley Mountains in Louth where he took up guitar at eight years of age. He began his career as electric guitarist with the successful indie band The Revs with whom he performed on many stages and festivals including Oxygen, and Slane, and Reading; the Revs also toured extensively tours in Australia, across Europe, in Australia and in the US. He studied classical guitar and piano, and from early childhood was immersed in the language, songs and traditional dance music of south west Donegal - his father's homeplace.

Listowel Writer's Week: where readers celebrate, and writers find their flow

Listowel Writer's Week is Ireland's oldest literary festival, and one of its most prestigious. Famously hospitable, the beautiful North Kerry town of Listowel is internationally renowned as a wellspring of literary inspiration and heritage. The 2024 Listowel Writer's Week Festival programme, exploring the theme Mother Nature, has been curated by the poet Martin Dyar.

See writersweek.ie for more details and the full 2024 festival programme

Disclaimer. Please be aware that many events at Listowel Writer's Week will be recorded and photographed for promotional and archival purposes. Your presence constitutes consent to be filmed and photographed. Thank you.