THE TOWER SEMINAR SERIES – New Music for the Irish Harp and Electronics

Presenter: Úna Monaghan
Chair: Professor Mel Mercier

Úna Monaghan is a unique, ground-breaking Irish artist,
whose music explores the interface of traditional music
and electronics. She performs with harp and electronics,
combining traditional music with bronze sculpture, sound
art and movement sensors. Úna has held artist residencies
at the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, the Institute for the
Public Life of Arts and Ideas Montréal, and the Future Music
Lab at the Atlantic Music Festival, USA. Úna also works as a
live sound engineer specialising in Irish traditional music,
and experimental, electronic and multichannel music, a role
in which she travels worldwide. She is a director of the Irish
Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, and a co-founder of
FairPlé, advocating for gender balance in Irish Traditional and
Folk Music. Úna released a solo album of her compositions
for harp and electronics, named “For”, in 2018. She is
currently working on a suite for solo traditional musicians
and electronics named “Aonaracht”, continuing her interest in
making connections between traditional musicians, listeners,
electronic sound and field recording. She is the recipient of
the inaugural Liam O’Flynn award, presented by the Arts
Council Ireland and the National Concert Hall, Dublin.