Brian Dunning

Brian Dunning
Flutes, whistles, electric guitar, voice, accordian, additional percussion
(January 1952 – 10 February 2022)

During his 30 year professional career, Brian Dunning has appeared on numerous releases for
Windham Hill Records, Hearts of Space and Celtic Heartbeat as a composer and player, with the
acclaimed contemporary Celtic band, Nightnoise, in collaboration with keyboardist, Jeff Johnson ,
as a solo artist and as a leader with his band ,Puck Fair.

Dublin born, Dunning studied with the legendary Doris Keogh at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and also with James Galway. As the recipient of the first scholarship ever awarded to a jazz musician by the Irish Arts Council, he studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music.

He has played with the Stan Tracey Octet, Melaton, Van Morrison, Mary Black, Jimmy McCarthy, Jaco Pastorius, Georgie Fame, Bobby Lamb, Bobby Rosengarden, Leroy Vinnegar, Louis Stewart, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine, Thin Lizzy, Carlos Nunez, Noel Kelehan, James Galway and the Chieftains, as well as orchestral work with the RTE Concert Orchestra, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Charles Dutoit and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 2004 he played with Nigel Kennedy and the Irish Chamber Orchestra in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Dingle.

He composed the score for a short film by Rachael Dowling called " The Intruder"which was broadcast on RTE. Other film compositions include the score for a animated short by Eileen Fleming called " Diarmuid and Grainne" yet to be broadcast. Additional music for a documentary on the Irish Antartic Expedition by Vinnie Hyland. Last year he composed the music for a short film on Ireland which was shown on a loop in the Irish stand at the World Expo in Japan. A tune composed by Brian and Jeff Johnson from their album "Byzantium" is featured in the movie "Gangs of New York"

He has also performed at many festivals around the world, including numerous appearances at the Cork Jazz Festival. Last year he played in Barcelona at the Millenia Festival as a guest of Catalan singer Lidia Pujol. In September of this year he played at the Convergencie Festival in Bratislava Slovakia with Puck Fair.