Macdara Ó Seireadáin was born in Dublin, Ireland, and is a first-class honours graduate from both the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. While studying concert clarinet with John Finucane at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, he was also awarded the Briscoe Cup as an outstanding student of the year in 2008. Over the next few years, Macdara became a prize-winner and in 2010 won the first Freemasons Young Musician of the Year competition in Ireland, followed by performing as a soloist with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Uelzen Kammerorchester in Germany. In 2013, after a personal invitation from Gustav Kuhn, Macdara became the principal clarinetist in the Tiroler Festspiel Erl orchestra in Austria. He has also played with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Philharmonisches Orchester Kiel, Staatsoper Hannover, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of the Kammersymphonie Hannover. Macdara is a renowned chamber musician and has performed with musicians such as John O'Conor, Ailish Tynan, Johannes Peitz, Sharon Kam, and most recently the Apollon Musagete Quartet at the "Great Music in Irish Houses" festival in 2014. In addition, he is also the Artistic Director of the established Ficino Ensemble in Dublin, specialising in chamber music and performing rarely heard masterpieces. Macdara would like to acknowledge the support of Music Network, the Arts Council, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in helping to acquire a Vurlitzer clarinet set.
