Recently, both students and faculty from West Virginia University teamed up to perform and record the music of Mary McAuliffe for a CD from the Delos label. The reason? WVU piano professor, Lucy Mauro says, “We really liked her music, so we wanted to record it.” Fair enough.
McAuliffe had written a set of songs for Mauro and tenor, Donald George, and the pair fell in love with McAuliffe’s compositions.
Much of the music on Return to Old Ireland: Music of Mary McAuliffe is an evocative representation of the migration of thousands of Irish to America during the Great Famine of the 1840s, as well as a “calling home” of Ireland to those who have long since left the Emerald Isle.
Several forces of students and faculty from WVU shine on these recordings, including: the West Virginia University Choir; the West Virginia University Studio Orchestra (Jeffrey Blake Johnson, conducting); oboist Cynthia Anderson; violinist MikylahMcTeer; violist Andrea Houde; cellist William Skidmore; pianists Lucy Mauro and Sora Lee; and narrator Lee Blair. The CD also includes special guests–tenor Donald George and the Michael O’Neal Singers are wonderful additions to the album.
To purchase the album and to find more information, click here. Or listen to the interview and hear selections from the album by clicking the audio player above.