Mary Dullea

Professor Mary Dullea joined the Music Department in 2015 as Director of Performance.  As a solo and chamber music pianist, international venues she has performed at include London’s Wigmore Hall, Casa da Musica (Porto), Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Phillips Collection Washington D.C., SubCulture York City, Johannesburg Music Society and National Concert Hall Dublin.  Festival appearances include City of London, Cheltenham, St. Magnus International Festival, Belfast International Chamber Music Festival, Brighton, Huddersfield, Corsham, Aldeburgh, Fuse Leeds and Sound Scotland as well as Belfast Festival at Queens, West Cork Music, Reggello International Festival, Lodi Festival (Italy), TRANSIT Festival (Leuven) and National Arts Festival (South Africa).  Her frequent broadcasts include BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, RTHK, RTE Lyric FM, WNYC and Radio New Zealand.  Concerto appearances include National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra and KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.

A sought-after interpreter of new music, Mary’s expansive repertoire covers the standard piano literature as well as an ever-increasing amount of 20th- and 21st- century compositions, many of which are dedicated to her. She has commissioned and premiered works from composers as varied as Michael Finnissy, Johannes Maria Staud, Donnacha Dennehy, Ann Cleare, Anna Clyne, Gerald Barry– notably with her piano trio, The Fidelio Trio and with violinist, Darragh Morgan.

Since 2008 she has been the curator of Soundings (an annual UK/Austrian collaborative new music festival) at the Austrian Cultural Forum London.  In February 2015 she served on the jury of ‘Schubert und die Musik der Moderne’ International Chamber Music Competition in Graz, Austria.  She is the Artistic Director and founder of ‘Chamber Music on Valentia’, an annual chamber music festival in Co. Kerry, Ireland which she founded in 2014.

Mary’s own studies were at The Royal College of Music, London on the Edith Best Scholarship with Yonty Solomon and Goldsmiths University of London (MMus in Contemporary Music Studies).  Her PhD in Performance from The University of Ulster focused on repertoire incorporating the use of the inside and the outside of the piano.

Mary’s CD releases include on labels NMC, Delphian Records, Altarus, Col Legno, MNR, Naxos, Convivium, Lorelt and Divine Art. Her most recent CD releases include Gerald Barry solo and chamber music on Mode Records, E. J. Moeran chamber music on Resonus Classics distinguished Chinese composer Xiaogang Ye's chamber music also on Resonus Classics.

2025 sees the recording of 3 albums of solo piano reperotire, mainly premiere recordings by Irish composers from 20th and 21st centuries. This is an element of a major project at the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin, investigating and disseminating the solo piano archive and working with a digital platform. She has particular interests in the performance of extended techniques and especially within ensemble settings.

www.marydullea.com