Biography

Irish composer Ciarán Farrell was born in Dublin, Ireland, and graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1997. Growing up he studied piano and clarinet at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and later the guitar at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama. He also took classes with Ennio Morricone at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy.

He has worked with and received commissions from the BBC, RTÉ lyric fm, RTÉ Performing Groups, the Ulster Orchestra, Craig Ogden, The Smith Quartet, Duo Ahlert & Schwab, Gerard McChrystal, John Feeley, Damien Kelly, Redbrick Duo, Cois Ceim, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, and Codetta amongst others.

Ciarán has also worked on a number of TV/Film productions including the internationally broadcast series Divine Magic, and Eyes on the World. Andre Singer (MD of Cafe Productions) wrote of Ciarán on the completion of Divine Magic, '...a hugely ambitious undertaking which composer Ciarán Farrell took into his stride. I look forward to working with him again, although I suspect he will be in too great demand in the future.' Other production companies worked with include C4, Discovery, RTÉ, TG4, Littlebird, and Non-Fiction Films.

His most recent ventures include a new music project entitled, 'Opium Jazz', and features some of ireland's top musicians. The first EP released under this project title was called, 'Stealing Beauty' (2018), and was followed in 2020 by a second, sister EP entitled, 'Willow'. 

In December of 2022 he launched a new YouTube series, 'Guitar by the Fire'. The pieces in this series have one main guitar part, with an optional accompaniment part then that can be added if desired. The pieces draw from stylistic elements of bluegrass, blues, and country music.

He has been the recipient of numerous music bursary and commission awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. His work is performed and broadcast regularly, both at home and abroad. He was elected to Aosdána in March, 2015.

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