The Arts Council, in association with the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences (UCC) and the School of Music and Theatre (UCC), has appointed the internationally renowned performer and teacher Desi Wilkinson as the Traditional Artist in Residence at University College Cork for 2015-2016. Wilkinson will deliver a series of concerts, workshops and seminars over the course of his one-year residency, which began in October 2015.

Desi Wilkinson is an internationally acclaimed Irish traditional musician with wide ranging experience of professional music performance. Known for his eclectic musical interests, Desi is an experienced and popular performer and teacher. Originally from Belfast, Desi has a distinctive Ulster style and technique but with influences from the flute traditions of Sligo and Roscommon. He plays concert flute, tin whistle, fiddle, bagpipes and clarinet and he has a strong interest in traditional song. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists from the world of Irish traditional music and has played at national theatres and festivals throughout Europe, North America and Japan. A founder member of the group Cran, Desi has recorded and toured extensively with the group and has also released two solo albums.

During the 1990s Desi was involved in several international music projects, including Hent St Jakez (the story in music and words of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage) and The West Wind (a fusion of musical traditions, sponsored by La Villette in Paris and the theatre Quartz in Brest, which took place during L'Imaginaire Irlandaise). Other significant projects include La Traversée (2001), Senegal to Donegal (2002) and Buffalo in the Castle (2009) in which connections between Irish music and American 'Old Timey' music were explored.

Prior to his appointment as Traditional Artist in Residence in UCC, Desi worked as a full time lecturer at the International Centre for Music Studies at Newcastle University. He has published several articles about the social and aesthetic aspects of Irish traditional music and his book on the dance music and socio political world in Brittany entitled Call to the Dance was published in 2015 (Pendragon Press, New York).

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