Mick Moloney

Mick Moloney

Michael "Mick" Moloney (b. November 15, 1944) is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He gained early fame as a member of Irish group The Johnstons and The Emmet Spiceland but has since performed and recorded with a variety of groups and individuals, including Eugene O'Donnell and Séamus Egan, and Marie & Martin Reilly; he also worked closely with The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. In all, he has produced and performed on over forty albums. He also founded Green Fields of America, an organization that promotes traditional Irish-American music. In 1992, Moloney received a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. For his work in public folklore, he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA, the highest honor a traditional artist can receive from the United States. In 1999, he was named "best tenor-banjo player" by Frets magazine. He has taught at several institutions in the United States and is currently a Global Distinguished Professor of Music and the Irish Studies at New York University, where his field of expertise is Celtic music in the United States. He serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Irish-American Studies at the City University of New York.

Founded in 2000 by Professor Mick Moloney, The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra (or WSHSO, for short) is a New York institution. Based at New York University and made up of musicians from the City’s Irish music community, the WSHSO plays traditional Irish music, with a focus on older tunes, tunes with history, and tunes with interesting stories attached.

Awards

• 1999 National Heritage Fellowship
• 2000 Pew Fellowships in the Arts

External links

• MickMoloney.com, official website.
• NYU Music Department page.
• "Exploring Broadway's Early Irish Period", interview on NPR's Fresh Air (March 20, 2006).