Mel Mercier

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Mel Mercier at the Craiceann Bodhrán Festival 2017

Mel Mercier (born December 23, 1959 in Dublin ) is an Irish percussionist , composer , theater musician and university lecturer . He holds the Chair of Performing Arts at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick .

life and work

Mercier is the son of Irish musician Peadar Mercier and Nuala McGann. One of his siblings is the film and theater director and author Paul Mercier .

He studied music at University College Cork , received a Bachelor of Music (BMus) there in 1989 and continued his studies at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, where he graduated in 1991 with a Master of Fine Arts in World Music .

Musician and composer

Mercier is a bodhrán player and has mastered numerous other percussion instruments. He works closely with numerous musicians of various styles, including the Irish pianist and composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin , with whom he has performed and recorded since the early 1980s.

Working for the stage

In June 2016 - on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Irish Easter Rising - he developed the theater production Sacrifice at Easter together with the writer Patrick McCabe and the director Pat Kiernan . The premiere took place in the form of a multi-station drama by the Corcadorca Theater Company at the Cork Midsummer Festival .

In January 2019 the album "Testament" was released with compositions written for the theater.

Teaching

From 1992 to 2016, Mercier was a faculty member in the Music Department at University College Cork . There he was appointed head of the School of Music and Theater in 2009 and a university professor in 2015. In 2011 he received his doctorate (PhD) from the University of Limerick . In 2016 he was appointed to the Chair of Performing Arts at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick.

Awards

  • 1997: Fleischman Prize, University College Cork
  • 2013: Nomination for the Tony Award , Best Sound Design category for The Testament of Mary

Web links

Commons : Mel Mercier  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irish Independent : The cruel business of theater , June 2, 2002, accessed June 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ Ceolas: More Bodhrán Performers , accessed June 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ Cork Midsummer Festival : Sacrifice at Easter ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.corkmidsummer.com archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Corcadorca Theater Company production advance notice, June 17 to July 2, 2016, accessed June 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ Mel Mercier: Testament review , irishtimes.com, accessed February 20, 2019
  5. ↑ The Journal of Music : Mercier Appointed Chair of Performing Arts at Irish World Academy , February 24, 2016, accessed June 25, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Mercier, Mel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish percussionist, composer, theater musician and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin