Ronan Browne

Early years

Browne was born in Dublin in 1965 into a very strong musical background. His grandmother, Delia Murphy, was renowned for recording and popularising many Irish songs in the 1930s and 1940s. Musicians such as Séamus Ennis, Willie Clancy and Denis Murphy were regular visitors to Browne's family home over the years. He began playing the pipes at the age of seven and was quickly taken under the various wings of the old masters, his main influences being pipers Willie Clancy, Johnny Doran and Séamus Ennis, whilst fiddlers Denis Murphy and Tommy Potts also played a strong role in forming his early style.

Career

Browne has toured extensively in Europe and in the US, as well as playing in Russia, India, Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Japan. He gives master classes throughout the world.

He has been involved in over 75 album recordings since his first venture into the studio in 1982 and has collaborated with many of the top artists playing traditional Irish music, classical, pop, jazz and Country. These include people such as Anúna, Donal Lunny, Finbar Wright, Alan Stivell, The Indigo Girls, Tommy Hayes, Sean Tyrrell, Bill Whelan, Elvis Costello, Nightnoise, Michael Kamen, Paul Brady, Bill Laswell, Sinéad O'Connor, Peter Gabriel and Deep Forest.

After releasing the easy-listening album Celtic Moods in 1997, Browne released a solo traditional CD The Wynd You Know in 2001, with Claddagh Records. 2005 saw the release of a third solo CD Salute to the Brave, mostly of his own modern compositions.

Duet with Peter O'Loughlin

To this day Browne's friendship and musical collaboration with Peter O'Loughlin is fêted as one of the most enduring partnerships in Irish music. Their strong combination of mid-19th century flat-pitch uilleann pipes and tuned-down fiddle, playing the old dance music of Ireland, makes for a rare and thoroughly enjoyable evening's entertainment. Their 1988 duet album with Claddagh Records, 'The South West Wind was received with critical acclaim, and in 2002 they released an even more popular 2nd CD called 'Touch Me if You Dare'. They have recently recorded a third album which awaits release. With Arts Council DEIS funding, they recently recorded a series of interviews of Peter recalling his personal knowledge and friendship with many of the important musician and singers of the 20th century.

Cran

Browne is a member of the group Cran with Seán Corcoran and Desi Wilkinson. Cran has released five CDs and tour worldwide. The core of their repertoire is native Irish material – dance music or slow airs on flute and pipes, and vocals ranging from the highly ornamented sean-nós songs of Conamara to the rollicking port a' bhéil or mouth music of Donegal. Their Hiberno-English song repertoire (songs from Ireland in English) covers the entire gamut from the old story-telling "long ballads" to lively comic songs of "pure divilment and rascality". They also include material from the related Scots-Gaelic tradition and from the other Atlantic Celts, the Bretons.

Cran have released five CDs: [The Crooked Stair (1993, reissued 2005); Black Black Black (1998); Lover’s Ghost (2000); Music from the Edge of the World (2002); Dally and Stray (2014)].

Over the last 20 years, Browne has established a duet with fiddle player Kevin Glackin, who regularly joins Cran for recordings along with Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (Bothy Band).

Riverdance

Browne was the original piper for the Eurovision interval performance of Riverdance in 1994 and his recording has featured in almost every show since. He chose not to join the teeming cast when the show went on the road, preferring instead to concentrate on his personal projects and to leave the touring to pipers with more time on their hands. This left him in a position to concentrate on Cran, the Afro Celt Sound System.

Afro Celt Sound System

In the mid-1990s, Browne was asked if he would like to join a project which was starting up revolving around Peter Gabriel's 2nd "World Music Recording Week". Musicians converged from all over the planet to ramble from project to project being recorded in up 7 recording setups in Real World Studios. Out of this intense meeting of musicians was born the Afro Celt Sound System which went on to become Real World's most successful venture. It was a meeting of African and Irish musicians in the convivial company of some of the top London programmers.

The Afro Celts toured the world and Browne remained with the band for the first two albums, writing and recording in various locations between Ireland and England. Tracks were licensed for countless documentaries, ads and films, the strangest of which was Farrah Fawcett sculpting nude in a Playboy video to the sound of Browne's opening track on the 1st Afro Celt CD!

Performances

Browne has played many prestigious concerts in Ireland and abroad as a solo musician and has also been a guest member to a wide variety of groups.

Although best known as a traditional musician, Browne is also keenly interested in exploring other musical genres particularly in film and television. He has written and performed music for fashion shows in London and Paris by designers Lainey Keogh and John Rocha.

Teaching

Browne has been teaching the pipes, flute and whistle worldwide for the last 25 years and has recently developed a much sought-after music appreciation/listening class. In 2005 an Arts Council DEIS grant enabled him to make his class completely portable and has proved a huge addition to his teaching capabilities.

Film Music and Television

Along with Michael Kamen, Browne composed the soundtrack for the documentary film The Dolphin's Gift, directed by Kim Kindersley. More recently, the two of them collaborated on the score to Circle of Friends, the film dramatisation of Maeve Binchy's novel.

Browne has also contributed music to the film soundtracks of Robin of Lcksley, Rob Roy, Fierce Creatures, The Secret of Roan Inish, Streets of Gold and Gangs of New York.

On Anjelica Huston's Mrs. Browne, Browne was Traditional Irish Music Director.

He composed and recorded scores for the audio-visual displays at the National 1798 Visitor Centre in Enniscorthy, at the Waterford Treasures museum and at King John's Castle in Limerick city.

TG4, the Irish TV station, commissioned Browne to write the music for the daily news program Nuacht, a six-part drama series Geibheann and the drama An Gaeilgeoir Nocht. Browne appears regularly on Irish music and magazine programmes on national television and radio. He has also played for numerous television advertisements.

He appeared on ABC Network's 65 million-audience Good Morning America playing the Uilleann Pipes with Dónal Lunny, Nollaig Casey and Arty McGlynn. He played on the theme music to the six-part series Bringing It All Back Home – an independent television programme dealing with the influence of Irish music on American folk and contemporary music.

Browne featured on Hummingbird's Rivers of Sound, which explored many aspects of traditional Irish music.

Theatre

Browne worked with Tommy Hayes, on the writing and performance of music for the Abbey Theatre productions of The Playboy of the Western World and Macbeth. He joined forces again with Tommy and dancer Cindy Cummings to give off-beat improvised performances.

The Olympia Theatre performance of The Tailor and Ansty with Anna Manahan and Frank Kelly saw Browne playing music and acting a small role.

Browne's version of the Blasket Island air Port na bPucaí was chosen by Limerick's Daghda dance group for their part in the huge Famine commemoration held in Millstreet in 1997.