Martin Hayes with the NSO

Gavin Maloney conductor 

A major new collaboration between the renowned Irish fiddle player and composer Martin Hayes and the National Symphony Orchestra centring around a reimagining with orchestra of Martin’s acclaimed 2023 ‘Peggy’s Dream’ album which he recorded with the Common Ground Ensemble and which was dedicated to the memories of his mother, Peggy, and his long-time musical collaborator, Dennis Cahill. 

This concert marks Martin’s first performance with the National Symphony Orchestra and is his most extensive orchestral collaboration to date. ‘Peggy’s Dream’ will be presented in new arrangements for orchestra commissioned by the National Concert Hall from Common Ground Ensemble musicians Cormac McCarthy, jazz pianist; Kate Ellis, cellist; and Kyle Sanna, guitarist and composer. 

Martin Hayes: “Over the years, I have come to regard traditional Irish music firstly as music, and secondarily as Irish and traditional. That might seem like a trivial distinction to some, but for me, it is a way of viewing this music as a universal expression without boundaries, freely interacting with other musical genres. 

“Traditional Irish music is a treasury of melody, and the symphony orchestra is the apotheosis of harmony. For most of my life, I have been fascinated by the harmonic possibilities that surround traditional music’s single line of melody. I have sought out many collaborators over the years in pursuit of these possibilities, including my most recent collaborators in the Common Ground Ensemble: Cormac McCarthy, Kate Ellis, and Kyle Sanna, who have made arrangements for the orchestra of our debut recording, ‘Peggy’s Dream.’ I imagine this collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra as a moment where the uncompromised melodies of traditional music are elevated and transformed by their immersion in the rich, beautiful harmonic layering that only a great symphony orchestra can offer.” 

Praised by the Irish Times as a musician with an “insatiable appetite for adventure”, Martin Hayes is regarded as one of the most significant talents to emerge in the world of Irish traditional music. He is the founder of the musical supergroup The Gloaming, The Common Ground Ensemble, and the Martin Hayes Quartet. He is the artistic director of Masters of Tradition, an annual festival in Cork, Ireland, and a co-curator for the Marble Sessions at the Kilkenny Arts Festival. 

 Martin has performed in venues such as the Barbican, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Cologne, Philharmonie de Paris, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, and Usher Hall, Edinburgh. He has created collaborations in the classical, folk and contemporary music worlds with musicians such as Bill Frisell, Ricky Skaggs, Jordi Savall, Brooklyn Rider and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He has performed on stage with musicians such as Sting and Paul Simon and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. 

The concert takes place as part of the NCH’s 2025 St Patrick’s Weekend celebrations.