Lecture
Saturday 11 May 2024 @ 3–4pm
Tickets: €10
Booking on Eventbrite.

In this public lecture, Toner Quinn explores some of the ideas in his new book, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music, which was published on 1 February 2024.

This talk is presented by the OPW as part of the 2024 cultural programme at Farmleigh House.

About Toner Quinn
Toner Quinn is a musician, writer, editor, publisher and lecturer. Born in Galway in 1974 and raised in An Cheathrú Rua in Conamara and Bray, Co. Wicklow, he began learning traditional Irish fiddle with the late Tom Glackin and subsequently studied music in Waterford and publishing at the University of Stirling in Scotland. In 2000, he founded the Journal of Music, the Irish music publication that won the 2010 Utne Independent Press Award for arts coverage.

As well as editing the Journal of Music, Toner is highly regarded as a writer on music and, through his essays and articles, has made a significant contribution to public discussion around Irish music over the past two decades. He was also Project Officer for the Special Committee on the Traditional Arts, which produced the report Towards a Policy for the Traditional Arts in 2004, and, in 2014, he was commissioned by the Arts Council to research the Irish harp, which led to the publication Report on the Harping Tradition in Ireland.

In 2013, Toner released a fiddle duet album with Malachy Bourke on the Ergodos label, Live at the Steeple Sessions, which was selected by the Irish Times as one of the traditional music albums of the year. He is also the editor of Desmond Fennell – his life and work, a collection of essays on the late Irish writer.

In February 2024, Toner published a collection of his writing on music, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music – and other essays, described in the Irish Times as ‘a richly textured, all-embracing compendium … a formidable collection … Collecting so many well-argued pieces in one place underscores the heft of Quinn’s writing.’

Since 2008, Toner has been a part-time lecturer in publishing at the University of Galway.

Tickets €10 on Eventbrite.