Mark brings down the house at the National Concert Hall
Twenty-nine year-old uilleann piper Mark Redmond from Gorey was given a prolonged standing ovation at the National Concert Hall on St Patrick’s night, after his note-perfect and stirring performance of Shaun Davey’s ‘ The Brendan Voyage’.
The 45-minute solo piece for uilleann pipes has been played by Liam O’Flynn for the past 30 years, and Mark was asked to step in just two weeks ago, when Liam had to pull out due to health issues.
Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra David Brophy has worked with Mark before, and appeared genuinely thrilled with Mark’s performance, giving him a big hug afterwards, and calling him back onto stage to take another bow.
‘It was like a dream come true,’ said Mark. ‘I was familiar with the piece as I had the CD, but I never performed it before, and I had never actually sat down and learned it note for note.’
While Mark has played on stage with orchestras before, this was his first time in such a prominent spotlight. ‘I was absolutely thrilled to be asked and I didn’t want to let David down,’ he said, adding that he hadn’t played with the National Symphony Orchestra before, and they were very supportive.
The performance was broadcast live on RTÉ Lyric FM on Friday night. His parents Margaret and Johnny were watching from the audience as was a good crowd of supporters from Gorey. Also in the audience was the composer Shaun Davey and his wife Rita Connolly. ‘He really enjoyed it,’ said Mark. ‘He said that for the first time in 30 years, it was fresh again for him.’
It was a long day for Mark, as he played at the televised St Patrick’s Day Mass in the University Church, St Stephen’s Green, earlier in the day.
Mark has been inundated with congratulatory calls, texts, and emails since the performance, but he’s not resting on his laurels as he has two weeks of study for his PhD to catch up on.
View Mark’s performance on YouTube by searching for RTÉ Lyric FM and following the link to the Friday Concert March 17th 2017 (soloist). He comes on stage at 1 hour, 6 minutes and 30 seconds into the link.