Biography
Maurice Lennon is a name recognised by many people in the now vast world that is Irish Music. Maurice began playing traditional music at the age of 13. At the age of 17 he won the Senior All Ireland Fiddle Championship, following in the footsteps of such great players as Seamus Connolly, Brendan McGlinchy and Liz Carroll. He was later followed by players such as of Desi Donnelly, Eileen Ivers, and Martin Hayes.
The 1980’s were to prove an exciting time for Maurice, he was a co-founder of 'Stockton's Wing', who went on to attain almost super-group status, in addition to which he had the great pleasure of sharing the same stage with a host of world renowned artists including, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., Stephan Grapelli, Michael Jackson, as well as performing and appearing in the superb Irish film, "The Field", which featured Richard Harris, Sean Bean, John Hurt, and Tom Berringer amongst others.
Since ending his long time love affair with "The Wing" Maurice has been concentrating on developing his first real love of composing music and writing lyrics. His recent compositions have featured on Daniel O'Donnell's Greatest Hits album, and have been performed by the 'Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Louisiana choir. His composition 'If Ever You Were Mine' has been recorded by ‘Cherish the Ladies’ and ‘Natalie McMaster’. Working with such diverse producers as Bill Whelan, John Ryan, Shaun Davey, P.J.Curtis, Steve Cooney and now with Donal Lunny, Maurice is setting his sights on working as a producer in his own right.
Performance is still a very integral part of Maurice's music. In recent years Maurice has performed as a special guest musician with Ireland's award winning singer Sean Keane. In the summer of 2001 Maurice was approached by the Ragus group from the Aran Islands to produce their new album and become the musical advisor. This music developed into a phenomenally successful live show, which had a two-month sell-out run in Dublin's premier venue, Vicar Street. In addition to producing their album, Maurice also wrote a piece for the show and the album called 'Island Memories', of which reviewers wrote "ex-Stockton's Wing fiddler Maurice Lennon contributed some fine new compositions …" and "there are a number of original compositions from founder member of Stockton's Wing, including a piece he wrote for the show called 'Island Memories'."
The next few years will hopefully see Maurice open more new doors, continue to entertain, and above all, touch people with what surely is "a gift". Maurice intends to do a number of dates around Ireland, performing with the full band. The story of Brian Boru is so strong; that Maurice expects it could be the ideal show for Music Festivals around the world this summer. Rumors have it they may even be headed to Japan for a concert to coincide with the Irish soccer team's appearance at the world cup finals.
His Web Site - http://www.mauricelennon.com/
This set of tunes begins with 'The Road to Garrison', a reel composed by fiddle player Maurice Lennon, who is joined here by his brother Brian on flute, and Tim Edey on guitar.
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