Mick Moloney

Mick Moloney
File:Mick Moloney.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Michael Moloney
Born	(1944-11-15) 15 November 1944
Origin	Limerick, Ireland
Genres	traditional Irish, Folk
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, folklorist, arts presenter
Instruments	Vocals, tenor banjo, mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar
Years active	1964-present
Associated acts	The Johnstons, Green Fields of America, The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra
Website	http://www.mickmoloney.com/

Michael "Mick" Moloney (born November 15, 1944) is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He gained early fame as a member of Irish group The Johnstons and The Emmet Spiceland but has since performed and recorded with a variety of groups and individuals, including Eugene O'Donnell and Séamus Egan, and Marie & Martin Reilly; he also worked closely with The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Mick also served as the artistic director for several major arts tours including The Green Fields of America, an ensemble of Irish musicians, singers and dancers which toured across the United States on several occasions. In all, he has produced and performed on over forty albums, and acted as advisor for scores of festivals and concerts all over America.

In 1992, Moloney received a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. For his work in public folklore, he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the NEA, the highest honor a traditional artist can receive from the United States. In 1999, he was named "best tenor-banjo player" by Frets magazine. He has taught ethnomusicology, folklore and Irish studies courses at the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, and Villanova Universities, and currently teaches at New York University in the Irish Studies program.

Founded in 2000 by Professor Mick Moloney, The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra (or WSHSO, for short) is a New York institution. Based at New York University and made up of musicians from the City’s Irish music community, the WSHSO plays traditional Irish music, with a focus on older tunes, tunes with history, and tunes with interesting stories attached.

Mick Moloney is the author of “Far From the Shamrock Shore: The story of Irish American History Through Song” released by Crown Publications in February 2002 with an accompanying CD on Shanachie Records. He has hosted three nationally syndicated series of folk music on American Public Television; was a consultant, performer and interviewee on the Irish Television special “Bringing It All Back Home”; a participant, consultant and music arranger of the PBS documentary film “Out of Ireland”; and a performer on the PBS special “The Irish in America: Long Journey Home.”

Awards

• 1999 National Heritage Fellowship
• 2000 Pew Fellowships in the Arts
• 2013 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad

External links

• MickMoloney.com, official website.
• NYU Music Department page.
• "Exploring Broadway's Early Irish Period", interview on NPR's Fresh Air (March 20, 2006).