Music At UCC

The Department of Music at UCC was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Desi Wilkinson. Desi was a gifted and acclaimed flute and whistle player, singer, educator, and academic. A decade ago, we had the privilege of hosting Desi as the UCC / Arts Council Traditional Artist in Residence for 2015-16. He greatly contributed to the university during his residency and he was a valued colleague who was extremely popular with both students and staff. We offer our sincere condolences to Desi's family and to his wider community of friends, musicians, and colleagues.

Suaimhneas síorraí dá anam uasail.

Beautiful performance and presentation by Eva McMullan and the UCC Choir (featuring soloist Sally Cole) this week at the world café on "AI and Us - Community Engagement in a Changing Technological Landscape"!

Eva presented different initiatives community engagement initiatives undertaken by the UCC School of Film, Music and Theatre after the performance

An Erasmus+ project led by Natalie Koutsougera of PANTEION UNIVERSITY - ΠΑΝΤΕΙΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ and our own Ophelia McCabe of University College Cork. Info and sign up below!

🎭 We’re offering a free 8-session online training for people engaged with building community in LGBTI+ and women’s scenes and culture. Over May and June, we’ll cover how we protect each other, tell our own stories, fund our work, and pass what we know forward.

🤜🤛 The training is for you if you’re an activist, cultural worker, or someone who wants to make entertainment and culture better.
🆓 Free & online | 8 sessions | May-June 2026
📌 EQF Level 2-3 | In English

🔗 Link in bio/first comment
The training is part of Module 1: Community Engagement & Adult Education, part of the project “UFemTP: Empowering Education and a Multimedia Platform”. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

🇧🇬
💡 Знанието може да промени всичко.
🎭 Предлагаме безплатно онлайн обучение от 8 сесии за хора, които градят ЛГБТИ+ и женски общности в сферата на развлеченията и културата. През май и юни ще разгледаме как да се пазим взаимно, да разкажем историите си, да финансираме работата си и да предаваме знанията нататък.
🤜🤛 Обучението е за теб, ако си активист/ка, културен/на работник/чка или просто си част от сценичния и културен живот.
🆓 Безплатно | Онлайн | 8 сесии | май-юни 2026
📌 EQF ниво 2-3 | На английски 🔗 Линк в биото/първия коментар

🇬🇧
💡Knowledge changes everything.
🎭 We’re offering a free 8-session online training for people engaged with building community in LGBTI+ and women’s scenes and culture. Over May and June, we’ll cover how we protect each other, tell our own stories, fund our work, and pass what we know forward.
🤜🤛 The training is for you if you’re an activist, cultural worker, or someone who wants to make entertainment and culture better.
🆓 Free & online | 8 sessions | May-June 2026
📌 EQF Level 2-3 | In English
🔗 Link in bio/first comment

The training is part of Module 1: Community Engagement & Adult Education, part of the project “UFemTP: Empowering Education and a Multimedia Platform”. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

📣📣📣The Department of Music student end-of-year recitals take place from the
4th to 7th May 2026.

For full schedule and locations please see following link (or link in bio):
https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/music/events/recitals-2026.html
All welcome!!

And for staff and students in Music, we will also have our annual 'Open Mic' end of year party in Cyprus Avenue from 8.30pm on Wednesday 6th May!!!! 💃🕺

🎶📯🥁🎹🎻🎸🎤🎧🎻

The Department of Music's FUAIM Lecture Series continues Tuesday, 21st April at 4pm with
Sacred, Alluring, and Dangerous: Music and the In-Between
by
Professor Sean Williams
Evergreen State College, Washington

Join us in Ó Riada Hall, Music Department, Sunday's Well Road, Cork
With Q & A after the presentation.

Abstract:
In this talk, ethnomusicologist Sean Williams draws from her long-term interest in the in-between to offer a talk on the application of a single theoretical issue—liminality—to musical research, listening, performing, and writing. This talk will highlight musical expressions, particularly song traditions, in connection to important cultural keystone species of the sea; transgressive aspects of performing in an endangered language; and the position of the migrant never fully at home in one place or another. In each case, it is precisely the marginalized people—musicians, intersectional folks, immigrants, poets, multilingual people, spiritual intermediaries, and other people on the edges—whose identity is more central than marginal. By focusing attention on how musical practices can offer systems of access and cross boundaries through musical intermediaries, the talk may allow participants to consider their own work through a different lens.

Bio
Sean Williams is Professor of Ethnomusicology and Irish Studies at The Evergreen State College in Washington State, where she has taught interdisciplinary connections to music for 35 years. Her research has leaned strongly on her interests in Irish-language singing, Brazilian samba, and Sundanese music of West Java. She has written and/or edited nine books, including the award-winning Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song-Man (with Lillis Ó Laoire), two cookbooks, and textbooks on world music and Irish traditional music.
Web: https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/music/

📣FUAIM is back for the final week of the Spring Friday Lunchtime Concert Series.

And who better to play us out of the Spring 2026 series than the wonderful

UCC Choir and Crosshaven Community Choir directed under the direction of Dr. Eva McMullan-Glossop
with special guest, Majella Cullagh (soprano)
accompanied by Padraig Wallace,
joined by the UCC Concert band conducted by Ross O’Hea.

⏰Please join us in the Honan Chapel, UCC this Thursday 2nd April at the usual time of 1:10pm.
Bígí linn! Fáilte roimh chách! All welcome!
The concert will also be livestreamed on UCC’s YouTube channel (search MusicatUCC to find us!) or via link in bio.

Please note that this week’s concert takes place on Thursday 2nd April at the usual time of 1:10pm to accommodate Good Friday. Please note also that the venue for this week’s concert is the magnificent Honan Chapel on the main UCC campus. Limited seating.

UCC Choir
Directed by Dr. Eva McMullan-Glossop, the University College Cork Choir comprises students from the UCC School of Music and Theatre as well as staff members from across the University. A firm favorite in the FUAIM concert series, the Choir performs regularly both on and off campus and is known for its innovative collaborations with prominent solo artists, including John Spillane, Iarla Ó Lionárd, Cara O’Sullivan, Karan Casey, Cónal Creedon, Brian Kennedy, Paddy Casey and Lisa Lambe, as well as with the legendary Cork band, The Frank and Walters.

Majella Cullagh
Majella Cullagh is one of Ireland’s foremost international opera singers. Majella has an impressive discography of over forty recordings including Rossini’s Le Siege de Corinthe (Naxos), Mercadante’s Zaira (Opera Rara) and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Chandos). Majella joined the vocal faculty of the MTU Cork School of Music in 2020 and has adjudicated at competitions and conservatoires in the UK and Ireland. She is a member of the board of directors at Cork Opera House.

Her repertoire spans baroque to bel canto, verismo to contemporary music.

For full details see link in bio.

Zhang Mengwei in her doctoral robes at Tuesday's Conferring Ceremony. Congratulations also to Liang Yaoshen, whose PhD was conferred in absentia.

The Department of Music's FUAIM Lecture Series continues Thursday, 26th March at 11am with

Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer
By
Gary Carner – JAZZ Independent

Join us in Ó Riada Hall, Music Department, Sunday's Well Road, Cork
With Q & A after the presentation.



Abstract:
This talk, the author’s first in Ireland, will touch upon Adams’s Irish roots, his work in the UK from 1969 to 1986, aspects of his personality that shaped his career, his dazzling instrumental virtuosity, and how his life intersected with some of the greatest writers and musicians of his time. Sections of the author’s Adams biography will be read to illustrate both the saxophonist's artistic achievements and breadth of influence. Recordings and videos of Adams in performance in the UK, some extremely rare, will be presented.


Bio
Gary Carner is considered the foremost authority on saxophonist and composer Pepper Adams (1930–1986). From 1984 until Adams’s death, Carner collaborated with Adams on his memoirs. Carner’s research on Adams’s career, collated at pepperadams.com, spans five decades. Carner has written two books about Adams, and has also produced all forty-two of Adams’s compositions for Motema Music. He currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Sources
Pepper Adams official site
Pepper Adams. n.d. Pepper Adams. https://www.pepperadams.com/
Interview with Gary Carner
Carner, Gary. n.d. “Interview with Gary Carner, Author of Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer.” Jerry Jazz Musician. https://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/interview-with-gary-carner-author-of-pepper-adams-saxophone-trailblazer/



Web: https://www.ucc.ie/en/fmt/music/