Eimear Quinn

Eimear was born and grew up in Dublin to musical parents. Her first musical influence was classical music. Eimear started singing at the age of 4 in the church choir. She took piano lessons from the age of 10 and singing lessons from 15. Eimear Quinn performed with the group Anúna in 1995 and 1996. She said: “We travelled to some wonderful places and performed in wonderful venues. My favourite gig would have to be a midnight outdoor concert in Catalonia for the Troubadour festival in September 1996.” In 1996, Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest again. With 162 points, Quinn finished first with the song ‘The Voice’ by Brendan Graham. Eimear stated: “Even though all the polls said that the Irish song would win, I still didn't believe it until it happened.’ Also in 1996, Eimear Quinn released her first solo album, ‘Winter, Fire and Snow’ featuring only four songs, ‘Winter, Fire and Snow’, ‘Black is the Colour’, ‘I Know My Love’ and ‘The Lowlands of Holland.’ ‘The Voice’ was a song focused on Eimear’s soprano with some percussion, flutes and violins. Brendan Graham, author and composer of ‘The Voice’, met Eimear at a concert in 1995 where she performed his song ‘Winter, Fire and Snow’. Eimear then began touring, performing in Australia, America and all over Europe in venues including The Royal Albert Hall, The Sydney State Theatre and the Vorst National Brussels. She also made many television appearances and also presented Television and Radio programming for RTÉ and TV3. Eimear has collaborated with a number of international composers on a range of musical and television projects. These have included performing and co-writing the score to Belgian drama series STILLE WATERS with Steve Willaert. She has also worked with CARLOS NUNEZ, the Galician piper and performed with Sir George Martin in Dublin. Eimear continued to tour in Ireland both as a solo performer but also with other artists such as Liam Lawton. Eimear performed 'Voice Of An Angel' on Liam's platinum selling album 'Another World'. 2006 was the 10th anniversary of Eimear's Eurovision win. To celebrate this she released the album 'Gatherings', a collection of music she had recorded over the previous decade. This was Eimear’s third solo disc and followed ‘Winter Fire and Snow’ and ‘Through The Lens of a Tear’; a song cycle on the legend of Tristan and Iseult, co-composed with Pól Brennan. In December of 2006, Eimear was honored to appear at ‘Ireland’s Finest in Concert’ a gala celebration of the 25th anniversary of the National Concert Hall, along-side Irish artists such as Sharon Shannon, the Chieftains, Paul Brady, Sir James Galway and Brian Kennedy. This was broadcast on RTE television and has been released as a DVD. In 2007, Eimear was chosen as by National University of Ireland to promote the studying of Music at NUI Maynooth in a nation-wide campaign. Also in 2007 she worked with the award winning film-maker, Philip King to complete a critically acclaimed documentary on the subject of her music and collaboration with Belfast-born composer, Neil Martin for RTÉ ONE Television. The latest album release, in December 2007, is ‘O Holy Night’ a collection of carols, ancient chants and new compositions from Eimear, who has also produced and arranged the album. ‘O Holy Night’ was inspired by the overwhelming reaction to her performance of ‘O Holy Night’ live on Ryan Tubridy’s Radio 1 show the previous year. Eimear’s work as a composer is gaining both momentum and acclaim. Eimear is married and lives in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.