Matt Cranitch

Departmental Tutor

Matt Cranitch, who lives in Cork, is renowned as a fiddle-player and teacher, both at home in Ireland and abroad. He has performed extensively with various groups at concerts and festivals, as well as on radio and television. He has also presented lectures, master-classes and workshops on various aspects of Irish music, particularly fiddle-playing.

He has a particular interest in the music of Sliabh Luachra, which is located in the south-west of Ireland, and which has a distinctive style and repertoire of traditional music. He has successfully completed a Ph.D. on the fiddle-playing style of this region at the Irish World Music Centre, University of Limerick, where he also teaches traditional music performance. In recognition of his work on the music of Sliabh Luachra, he was awarded a ‘Government of Ireland Senior Research Scholarship’ in 2002.

Matt is a regular contributor to radio and television programs as a performer and commentator on matters relating to traditional music. He is traditional music consultant for TG4, the Irish-language television service. “An exceptional musician and an authority on Irish fiddle-playing, Matt Cranitch has been a major force in Irish music since the early 1970s.” – The Rough Guide to Irish Music. In 2003, he received the ‘University College Cork Hall of Fame Award’ in recognition of the contribution he had made to Irish traditional music.