In Dublin of October 4^th 2013 President Michael D. Higgins launched The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland at an event attended by hundreds of people spanning the diverse gamut of Irish music.  This two-volume work, published by University College Dublin Press, was edited by Professors Barra Boydell and Harry White, assisted by a team of subject editors and dozens of contributors.  The contribution of Queen’s University to musical culture is summarised in an excellent subject article by QUB Lecturer in Musicology Aidan Thomson.  The Encyclopaedia also contains an article on QUB’s Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music. However, a closer read of these comprehensive volumes reveals that the contribution of the University to Irish musical culture cannot be summarised adequately in two entries.  The list of contributors from the University, and the number musicians, composers, and scholars who have been affiliated with the University who are the subject of articles in the Encyclopaedia, is truly impressive and is a cause for celebration.

Among the contributors/editorial advisors from current QUB faculty are Ann Buckley (Research Fellow, English) Martin Dowling (Lecturer, Irish Traditional Music) Maria McHale (Teaching Assistant, Musicology) Suzel Ana Reily (Reader, Ethnomusicology), Jan Smaczny (Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music), Aidan J. Thomson (Lecturer, Musicology) and Yo Tomita (Professor of Musicology). 

 Contributions from former students include Elise Crean (PhD, Musicology), Alison Dunlop (PhD, Musicology), Roy Johnston (PhD Musicology), Ian Mills (PhD Musicology), Michael Lee (PhD Musicology) Gordon Ramsey (PhD Ethnomusicology), Adrian Scahill (MA Musicology), Ruth Stanley (PhD Musicology), and Fintan Vallely (MA Ethnomusicology)

 Subject articles about past and present faculty include Michael Alcorn (Professor of Composition), John Blacking (Professor of Ethnomusicology), Ciaran Carson (Professor of Poetry), Anthony Carver (Senior Lecturer in Musicology), Ricardo Climent, (Lecturer in Music Technology), Philip Cranmer (Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music), Donald Davison (University Organist and Head of Department of Statistics), Martin Dowling (Lecturer, Irish Traditional Music), David Greer (Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music) Piers Hellawell (Professor of Composition), Ivor Keys (Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music), Sarah McCleave (Lecturer, Musicology), Michael McGuffin (Performance Tutor), Simon Mawhinney (Lecturer in Composition), Kevin O’Connell (Lecturer in Music), Fiona Palmer (Senior Lecturer in Music), Jan Smaczny (Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music), Aidan J. Thomson (Lecturer, Musicology), Yo Tomita (Professor of Musicology), Kevin Volans (Composer in Residence), Raymond Warren (Professor of Composition), Paul Wilson (Senior Lecturer in Composition), and Ian Woodfield (Professor of Musicology).

 Subject articles about current and former students of the University include Elaine Agnew, Harry Grindle, Philip Hammond, Robbie Hannan, Fionnuala and Úna Hunt, Elaine Kelly, Deirdre Mackay, Joe McKee, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, and Jim Samson. 

Dr Martin Dowling - School of Creative Arts