Neil Martin to receive Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at NI Music Prize

Belfast composer, cellist and uilleann piper Neil Martin is set to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at this year's NI Music Prize ceremony, taking place at Ulster Hall in Belfast on November 11.

"I am deeply honoured to receive this award and feel that I share it with so many of the great artists who have had such a bearing across my life," said Martin. "I know how lucky I am to have been in their orbit."

The Outstanding Contribution to Music Award recognises individuals whose work has made a lasting impact on music and the wider music community.

"Neil Martin is an exceptional musician and composer whose contribution to music deserves to be celebrated," said Charlotte Dryden, CEO of the Oh Yeah Music Centre, organisers of the NI Music Prize. "His ability to move so naturally between musical worlds, from traditional Irish music to classical composition, theatre and contemporary collaborations, is remarkable.

"What makes Neil particularly special is not just the extraordinary body of work he has created, but the way he brings people, traditions and ideas together. His influence reaches far beyond his own performances and compositions, and his work has helped connect music from this part of the world with audiences internationally."

Martin's catalogue of original compositions includes the choral symphony OSSA, no tongue can tell, a concert for uilleann pipes written for Liam O'Flynn, Sweeney, an orchestral work inspired by Seamus Heaney's writing and dall'ombra, a violin concert in which his daughter, Maebh, was a soloist.

He has collaborated with a range of artists, including Christy Moore, Liam O'Flynn, Wynton Marsalis, Nicola Benedetti, Sam Shepard and more. As a musician, composer and producer, he has contributed to more than 100 albums.

He is set to release a collaborative album, North of Here, with Mary Dillon and Dónal O'Connor, in November. This has been previewed with single 'The Verdant Braes of Screen', shared on October 19.

In 2014, Martin was invited by President Michael D. Higgins to arrange, conduct and perform music at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the first state visit by an Irish president to Britain.

His collaboration with dancer and choreographer Jean Butler on this is an Irish dance premiered in New York in 2015, while his work with the West Ocean String Quartet received international recognition - with their recordings played aboard the International Space Station.

Martin has also written work for screens, including the score for documentary film Lost Lives, while his theatre compositions have featured in productions on Broadway and in London's West End.

He continues to make contributions to Belfast's music community, including his involvement with Belfast TradFest and the All-Ireland Fleadh in August.

This year's NI Music Prize marks the 15th anniversary of the awards. The ceremony is part of the Sound of Belfast festival, which runs from November 5 to 15.

Tickets for the event are available here.

'The Verdant Braes of Screen' is available to listen to on Bandcamp here.

 

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