Bernard Geary
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Born in Gurranabraher near Cork, Geary was largely self-taught,[1] although he did study at University College Cork from 1952 until 1955, where the professor of music was Aloys Fleischmann. An early influence was the music of Benjamin Britten.[2] His first compositions to attract attention, including the String Quartet No 1 and Provocation for string orchestra, appeared in 1960. Four years later came the first of many orchestral pieces, the Variations on Amran Dochais (Song of Hope), which was first performed at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin on 9 February 1964 by the RTE Symphony Orchestra.[3]
Geary married Leonora McCarthy in 1962 and there were four children. The family moved from Cork to Dublin in 1970. From 1976 until 1998 Geary was head of music at Cabinteely Community School in the suburbs of Dublin, where he composed dramatic and choral works for the school's orchestra and choir.[3]
Later works include In Praise of a City (1985), revived at the opening gala concert of the Cork International Choral Festival in 2018,[4] The Painted Wood for orchestra (1988), and the large scale choral cantata Sankt Nik'laus Komm in unser Haus (1993). In 1997 a concert of his works was held at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.[5] Recordings of his piano music (played by Anthony Byrne) and choral pieces were issued in 2000.[6]