Celebrated by the New York Times for the “power and grittiness” of his music, composer, conductor and guitarist Dave Flynn is a musician of international renown. Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, he redefined orchestral music by creating the cross-genre Irish Memory Orchestra: a “formidable collective of musicians” (The Irish Times)—and the first and only orchestra in the Western world to perform exclusively by memory.
Growing up with a love of classical music, Flynn has gone on to eschew easy definitions and form a signature all his own. Amalgamating orchestral, jazz, rock and folk elements with deft and deep understanding, his compositions have been performed by the likes of the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Crash Ensemble, New Juilliard Ensemble, Smith Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, ConTempo Quartet, Vanbrugh Quartet, ConTempo Quartet, Dublin Guitar Quartet, Laura Snowden, Craig Ogden, John Feeley and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Published by Reed Music, Frisbee Publications, and Mel Bay (2020’s Complete Works for Solo Guitar), Flynn’s work is regularly featured by broadcasters around the world—including WNYC’s John Schaefer, who dedicated a special edition of New Sounds to Flynn’s work in 2009; and an extensive live interview to commemorate the US launch of his First Hand Records release Irish Minimalism in 2021.
Privileged to perform and record with some of the world’s best musicians across several genres, Dave Flynn has played at prestigious venues including MoMa (New York), Moscow Cathedral and Ireland’s National Concert Hall. Touring his acclaimed music worldwide, Flynn has performed in Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and all over Europe including Germany, the UK, Russia, Estonia, Romania, France, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Flynn is a regular collaborator with renowned traditional Irish musicians including Martin Hayes, Liz Carroll, Paddy Glackin, Tommy Peoples, Mick O’Brien, and Máirtín O’Connor. In 2019 he became the first Composer-in-Residence at Ireland’s state guest-house Farmleigh and led the ground-breaking world premiere of The Vision Symphony by the Irish Memory Orchestra and 26 blind/vision-impaired musicians at the multi-disciplinary arts centre glór.
