Former Head of Media at UCC says 'forget the retirement do, I'll just have some music please'
Former Head of Media and PR at UCC and harpist, Ruth Mc Donnell, decided against the traditional retirement do and opted instead to commission a piece of music.
And what a piece of music it turned out to be.
Ruth invited UCC alumnus Dr Fiachra Ó Corragáin to write the new harp piece, 'Air to St Finbarr' because she passed by the statue of St Finbarr on a daily basis for over 30 years and decided to commission a work in his honour.
“One of the most satisfying parts of my job was to invite artists like Ó Corragáin to produce new works to mark special occasions in the University calendar. We were delighted with his composition and performance on the harp of Planxty Prince Charles which commemorated the Prince’s visit to UCC and Cork last year.”
Ó Corragáin holds a PhD in musical composition and was conferred as the youngest music doctoral graduate in UCC's history. He recently composed and produced the music for a new production of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé in An Taibhdhearc theatre which was performed in the Galway International Arts Festival.
Other recent works include a collection of singles and music videos reinventing traditional Irish songs, and a forthcoming archival project digitising Edward Bunting's first collection of harp music.
Sit back and enjoy the beauty.
