“Composer Dave Flynn has assembled a formidable collective of musicians.....melding traditional and classical music with a twist”
​Irish Times

'Simply unforgettable....if you ever get a chance to see them play together; pay any price you can afford!'
​ Irish Examiner

IMO BIO

​Dave Flynn's Irish Memory Orchestra is the only orchestra in the western world who always perform from memory. Ireland’s living music tradition soars into the 21st Century with this outstanding ensemble where ancient Celtic horns mix with strings, winds, pipes, concertina, voices and a swinging rhythm section. Led by multi-award winning composer Dave Flynn and conducted by Bjorn Bantock, The Irish Memory Orchestra regularly collaborates with some of the most renowned traditional Irish musicians including Martin Hayes, Liz Carroll & Máirtín O'Connor.

The IMO was founded in 2012 as a vehicle for Flynn’s genre-jumping works like The Clare Concerto and Music for the Departed. Members include leader Niamh Varian-Barry (ex-Solas), flautists Eimear McGeown & Aisling Agnew, harpist Anne-Marie O'Farrell and Ensemble Eriu’s Jack Talty, Neil Ó Loclainn, Maeve O’Hara and Matt Berrill.

The Orchestra has played to capacity houses nationally and internationally including Moscow Catholic Cathedral and South Korea's Sori Festival; they have performed in collaboration with Martin Hayes and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at Ireland's National Concert Hall, and have been awarded an Allianz Business to Arts Award for the ESB Concert in a Cavern.
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2018 season highlights include headline performances at London’s Cadogan Hall, Skibbereen Folk Festival and Cork Folk Festival. 

Outreach & education

IMO outreach programmes cross generations and backgrounds, educating hundreds of musicians from Ireland to the USA. IMO Apprentice Schemes engage local communities in ways that truly make a difference. The IMO recently developed methods for integrating blind and vision-impaired musicians into the orchestra. This was done in collaboration with the National Council for the Blind, Clare Arts Office and 3L, with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland. They will continue this work in 2019 through a new composition called The Vision Symphony.

"A lengthy fiddle solo  visits an atmospheric landscape, which  Martin Hayes depicts with Impassioned sincerity. Flynn’s score then bursts with  energising force before reaching its electrifying conclusion."  Irish Independent

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