Irish Memory Orchestra

The only ensemble of its kind in the world, the Irish Memory Orchestra was founded by Dave Flynn as a vehicle for his award-winning compositions, Always performing from memory, the IMO has wowed audiences from London to Moscow, Clare to Korea with its ground-breaking approach to orchestral music. The IMO has a core of 20 world-class musicians, conducted by Bjorn Bantock and led by Niamh Varian-Barry. This outstanding ensemble blends ancient Celtic instruments with orchestral strings, winds and brass, electric guitars and a jazz-tinged rhythm section. The Irish Memory Orchestra regularly collaborates with some of the most renowned traditional Irish musicians including Liz Carroll, Mary Bergin & Máirtín O'Connor. 2018 season highlights included headline performances at London’s Cadogan Hall, Skibbereen Folk Festival and Cork Folk Festival. The orchestra has played to capacity houses both nationally and internationally including Moscow's Catholic Cathedral and South Korea's Sori Festival. They have performed in collaboration with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra at Ireland's National Concert Hall. In 2015 they were awarded an Allianz Business to Arts Award with the ESB for the ESB's Concert in the Cavern. 2019 saw the culmination of a world-first project, when the IMO were joined by 26 talented blind and vision-impaired musicians to premiere Dave Flynn's 'Vision Symphony' in glór.