Julie Feeney
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Julie Feeney is an Irish composer, singer, musician and songwriter. Her self-produced debut album, 13 songs, won her the Choice Music Prize in 2006 and she subsequently signed with major label, Sony BMG(U.K). [1]
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[edit] About
From Co. Galway, she graduated from University College Cork in music and psychology and from Trinity College Dublin in 2002 with masters degrees in psychoanalysis and music and media technologies. She also spent time at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, in addition to earning her primary teaching qualification at St.Patrick’s College of Education in Drumcondra where she later lectured in music education. She published three CD-ROMs for music in primary schools.
She has worked as a professional choral singer and composer; singing worldwide with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland (specialising in contemporary and Early music), and performing with the BBC singers, Riverdance, Lord Of The Dance (lead soloist), and Anúna. She has composed music for the Crash Ensemble, Icebreaker, Corp Feasa Contemporary Dance Company and for a short film 'Nun', which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2005. She composed a song cycle version of her album for the Ulster Orchestra with whom she performed solo at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast and the performance was broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster. She has conducted the string section of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert where she had orchestrated the scores.She has worked as a performance artist with Loose Canon Theatre Company and recently in ‘Slat’ at Galway Arts Festival. She has made 2 music videos for 2 songs from ‘13 songs’, one directed by Maria Mozchnacz for the song ‘Aching’ and one directed by Vittoria Colonna for ‘Fictitious Richard’ which was made before being signed to Sony BMG (U.K).
She will be the featured composer in a documentary to be aired on TG4 next year. The subject matter is 'Cosan Dearg' a contemporary dance piece resulting from the collaboration between Julie, choreographer Fearghus O Conchuir and theatre director Jason Byrne. She has performed extensively on RTE radio and television, TV3, TG4 and BBC Northern Ireland as well as BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour. She also has her own record label called Mittens which is named after her mother's favourite cat.
[edit] 13 songs
The self-produced debut album won the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year in 2006 and garnered glowing 4 and five stars in major U.K. and Irish press. A multi-instrumentalist, Feeney plays eleven instruments on 13 songs, including keyboards, alto recorder, treble recorder, harmonium, accordion, violin, harmonica, melodica, xylophone and a clock. However, according to The Irish Times of 5th September 2005, "the most impressive sound is Julie's sustained vocal note on Aching, which clocks in at a lung-bursting 28 seconds...
The New York Times called it "a charming, urbane and dreamy record while The Observer said "this album marks the blossoming of a major talent". The Evening Standard said it was "...a beguiling mix of the baroque...and the hypnotic avant-garde..."
The RTE Guide stated that "13 songs" is unquestionably one of the most refreshing Irish debuts in recent years". The Tuam Herald described it as " ... adult contemporary ... highly sophisticated, European music and Julie's clear, high vocals paint abstract pictures of love, life and friendship from a twenty-something perspective."
Finally, the Sligo Weekender again drew attention to her voice: "By far the most impressive aspect of Feeney's musical spectrum is her voice. With little rivalry for purity, it ranges from infant-like wonder ("Judas") to quite sexy and sultry (Under My Skin). The album opens with one of the top three tracks on the album "Aching". Julie sings "I'm aching for you", just three times on the single, but each one weighs in at 20 to 28 seconds long, a phenomenal achievement for any voice."
