Album Notes

'Jolt' is the first release from the Dublin based collaboration, 'Farrell Kelly'. Guitar virtuoso Damien Kelly and composer Ciarán Farrell have teamed up to present this hair raising, yet beautiful new music for the classical guitar that will leave you breathless.

Damien Kelly is one of Irelands foremost guitarists and has been playing guitar since the age of eleven. In 2009 he completed a MMus in performance at the DIT Conservatory of Music in Dublin with John Feeley and he also spent 12 years studying guitar with Marion Hyland at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He also completed a BA in Applied Music at the Dundalk Institute of Technology.

He has had many achievements in his short career to date. He has won all the major competitions in Ireland for classical guitar including the contemporary music cup and the senior guitar competiton. He has also won numerous awards and scholarships from the Royal Irish Academy of Music in both guitar and piano. Damien performs regularly at home and abroad both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. He is currently based in Dublin, Ireland.

Composer Ciarán Farrell also hails from Dublin, Ireland and graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1997 with an honours degree in music.

He has received commissions from the BBC, RTÉ lyric fm, RTÉ Performing Groups, Craig Ogden, The Smith Quartet, Gerard McChrystal, John Feeley, Feeley/Dowdall duo, Katie McMahon, Concorde, Cois Ceim, Irish Modern Dance Theatre and Codetta amongst others.

Ciarán has also worked on numerous 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. In addition he has written music for numerous commercials including the highly successful Heineken and Shell campaigns.

His music has been recorded and broadcast worldwide.

He currently lives and works on the picturesque peninsula of Howth, just north of Dublin city, where he derives much inspiration from its’ great natural beauty and peaceful surroundings.