Cathal Breslin

Cathal Breslin is a concert pianist originally from Derry, Northern Ireland, now living in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. Has performed extensively in recitals, as a concerto soloist and a chamber musician in concert halls throughout Europe, the U.S., and Asia.[1] He is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the Arizona State University School of Music in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in the United States. He is an exclusive Yamaha Performing Artist. In 2008 he founded the Walled City Music Festival with his wife, American flautist Dr. Sabrina Hu.[2][3] It has featured artists such as the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All Stars, BBC Ulster Orchestra, Sir James Galway, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Augustin Dumay, Anne Akiko Meyers, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jan Vogler, Raphael Wallfisch, Jeffrey Zeigler, Jonathan Lemalu, Brodsky Quartet, Fitzwilliam Quartet, Houston Winds, Jeremy Denk, Awadagin Pratt, Svetozar Ivanov, Kirill Troussov, Ye-Eun Choi among many others.[4]

He has performed as soloist with many orchestras, including the Turin Philharmonic in Italy, Greensboro Symphony in North Carolina, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Jackson Symphony Orchestra in TN, Ulster Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and with conductors such as Vladimir Altschuler, Barry Douglas, Christian Gansch, Giovanni Battista Rigon, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Niklas Willén, Stephen Bell, David Brophy, Gearóid Grant, Courtney Lewis, Peter Shannon, and Matthew Coorey.

Venues of his solo recitals include Carnegie Hall,[1] Wigmore Hall in London, Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts, Tianjin Grand Theater, El Ateneo in Madrid, Palacio Foz in Lisbon, Zala Bulgaria in Sofia, Chopin Society in Warsaw, National Concert Hall Dublin, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Beijing University, Beijing Central Conservatory, and concert halls in Ningbo, Qingdao, Chongqing, Nanjing, Suzhou in China, Ohtaki Hall in Tokyo, and many venues in Hong Kong. He has played duo recitals with flutist Sir James Galway, violinists Augustin Dumay, Anne Akiko Meyers, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Kirill Troussov, cellists Jan Vogler, Raphael Wallfisch and Jeffrey Zeigler, oboist Nicholas Daniel, and chamber music with the Brodsky Quartet, Houston Winds, Ceruti Quartet, and the Coull Quartet. As a member of the flute-cello-piano trio, Trio Festivale, along with Dr. Sabrina Hu (flute), Gerald Peregrine (cello), he tours internationally on a regular basis.

His competition wins have included at the 2007 Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli/ Milan, Italy,[5][6] at the 2007 Iowa International Piano Competition in the U.S.,[7] at the 2004 Carlet International Piano Competition in Valencia, Spain, and at the 2004 Grand Konzerteum International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece, and the 2003 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition,[8] at which he won the Brennan prize and the John Field prize.[9]

His live performances have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (including on "In Tune" and "Recital"), BBC Radio Ulster, RTÉ Ireland, RTHK Hong Kong, RTVE Spain, and on television in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Spain and Ireland. He recorded extensively for the European Broadcasting Union, solo sonatas for the Mozart Project 2006 and the Takemitsu Riverrun Piano Concerto with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra for the Poets and Literature Series 2010. These recordings have been broadcast worldwide throughout the EBU network. In addition, CD releases have included the complete piano works of Philip Hammond, and Sean O'Riada's Nomos for piano and orchestra, recorded as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

He was educated at the Royal College of Music in London with John Barstow (1997–2001), receiving a BMus (Hons) Degree with Distinction. From 2001 to 2003 he studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Kathryn Stott, Benjamin Frith and Alexander Melnikov, graduating with a Masters of Music with Distinction, Postgraduate Diploma and Professional Performance Diploma.[10] From 2003 to 2005 he was at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Madrid with Joaquín Soriano. From 2005 until 2008 he was a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan as a Fulbright Scholar,[5] graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance, studying with Arthur Greene. For three years he was visiting faculty in piano performance, collaborative piano, and chamber music at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth and at the Queen's University in Belfast. From 2013 to 2019, he was an Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Piano Studies at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, University of Memphis in Tennessee.[11] In 2019, he began a position as Assistant Professor of Piano at Arizona State University School of Music, part of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in the United States.

Personal

Cathal Breslin was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. His father, William ("Willie") Breslin, was a History Teacher, well-known Civil Rights Leader and Chairman of the Labor Party in Northern Ireland.[12][13] In 2008, William Breslin was awarded a medal by the Irish President, Mary McAleese, in a ceremony in Derry honoring the impact of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement. His mother, Gloria Breslin, née Sweeney, was a local Bookkeeper for lawyers and other companies. In 2006, Cathal Breslin married American Flutist, Dr. Sabrina Hu,.[14]

References
  1. "Cathal Breslin plays Carnegie Hall". Derry Journal. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  2. Hammond, Philip (30 July 2010). "Finding the right key to city's success". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  3. "Walled City Music Festival". Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. "WALLED CITY MUSIC". Walledcitymusic.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  5. "Derry pianist Cathal takes another step towards stardom". Derry Journal. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. "Lolita Lisovskaya Wins 2007 Iowa Piano Competition". Iowa Piano Competition. 10 March 2007. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  8. "Cathal earns National concert date". Belfast Telegraph. 12 June 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  9. O'Kelly, Pat (24 May 2003). "Prestigious piano prize goes to Finland". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  10. "Soloists". National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Labour and civil rights activist". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  13. "City civil rights campaigner dies". News.bbc.co.uk. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  14. "Sabrina Hu". sabrinahu.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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