‘Land of Winter’, composed by Denehy and performed by the composer's longtime collaborators Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson, was nominated for two Grammys: Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Born in Dublin, Donnacha Dennehy studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music before undertaking study at Trinity College Dublin studying composition with Hormoz Farhat, analysis with Michael Taylor and counterpoint with Joseph Groocock. He pursued his doctoral studies in the United States, before later returning to Ireland to take up a lecturing position in music technology in Trinity College’s Department of Music.
Renowned for his compositions internationally, Dennehy is also a member of Aosdána, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of artists.
Donnacha Dennehy. Photo: Hugh O'Conor.
In 1997 he founded, with the conductor and pianist Andrew Synott and the clarinettist Michael Seaver, the Crash Ensemble, an ensemble of young players performing amplified music from minimalist, post-minimalist, electroacoustic and multimedia traditions. Many well-known artists have performed with the Crash Ensemble including Kate Ellis, Gavin Friday, Julie Feeney, Íarla Ó Lionáird (The Gloaming), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) and Beth Orton. Dennehy is now the Crash Artistic Partner.
Dennehy’s music has featured in festivals and venues around the world, such as the Edinburgh International Festival, Royal Opera House London, Carnegie Hall New York, Kennedy Center, and many more prestigious venues. The composer has received commissions from Dawn Upshaw, the Kronos Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Bang On A Can, Third Coast Percussion, Icebreaker (London), the Doric String Quartet (London), Contact (Toronto), Lucilin (Luxembourg), Orkest de Ereprijs (Netherlands), Fidelio Trio, Percussion Group of the Hague, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, BBC Ulster Orchestra and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players among others.
Trinity’s Music Department is Ireland’s oldest and most internationally renowned venue for the study of music and other notable alumni include Amie Doherty, Evan Kennedy, Lisa Murray, Derek Bell, Niall Doyle, Deborah Kelleher, Kerry Houston, Eleanor McEvoy, Eimear Noone, and Fergus Sheil.
In a 2005 interview with the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland, Dennehy said he wrote two orchestral works when he was a student in Trinity College citing fellow alumnus Fergus Sheil who is the founding Artistic Director of Irish National Opera: “Fergus Sheil set up the orchestra and we wrote for it. That was great.”
Dennehy was also central to the establishment of Trinity College Dublin’s Music Composition Centre in 2012 alongside Evangela Rigaki. Speaking at the launch in 2012, Dennehy said:
“A large amount of Ireland’s most successful composers now come from Trinity, and it is an area that is continuing to grow in College. The centre will highlight this original research and creativity by hosting concerts and events throughout the academic year. Music composition is in a very healthy and exciting state in Ireland at the moment. It can be quite an adventure, and we are thrilled that Trinity is at the centre of it.”
The Centre for Music Composition holds regular public talks and discussions in the Trinity Long Room Hub as part of its Music Composition Centre seminar series.
Dennehy was appointed a Global Scholar at Princeton University in the Autumn of 2012. He was also appointed composer-in-residence for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in Texas (2013-14). He joined the music faculty at Princeton University in 2014 where he now serves as Professor of Music.
Dr. Justin MacGregor, Head of Trinity’s School of Creative Arts congratulated Dennehy on his Grammy award:
"The School of Creative Arts could not be more delighted by this major international achievement by our graduate, Donnacha Dennehy. Music has always been a core part of both College and our School and this recognition is one that points to the talent and commitment of both our current students and all our graduates that make us proud every day."