James Joseph (J.J.) Sheridan (26 September 1951 in

Borris-in-Ossory Borris-in-Ossory (, or the 'Burgage of Osraige') is a village in west County Laois, Ireland. Bypassed by the M7 motorway on 28 May 2010, the village is situated on the R445 road close to the County Tipperary border between the towns of Mountrath ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

–31 December 2014 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was an Irish pianist, composer, arranger and music historian who specialized in preserving and recording Irish music.James Sheridan Obituary
Reprinted from Irish Voice, 14 January 2015

Education and career

Sheridan attended the

Royal Irish Academy of Music The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which ...

where he studied piano with John O’Sullivan and Valerie Walker, as well as composition with A.J. Potter. He also attended the

London College of Music London College of Music (LCM) is a music school in London, England. It is one of eight separate schools that make up the University of West London. History LCM was founded in 1887 and existed as an independent music conservatoire based at Gr ...

. His compositions include "Saint Canice's Mass" (1969, published when he was only 18) and other choral works, and a huge output of piano arrangements and transcriptions of "ancient" Irish music. He emigrated to the United States in 1980 and lived for many years in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. It was Sheridan's ambition to honor and preserve Irish music through his concert appearances and recordings. In 1988 he founded Trigon Recordings as a vehicle for preserving Irish music, especially the works of

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ga, Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin ; 167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, ...

Edward Bunting Edward Bunting (1773–1843) was an Irish musician and folk music collector. Life Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist ...

Patrick Weston Joyce Patrick Weston Joyce, commonly known as P. W. Joyce (1827 – 7 January 1914) was an Irish historian, writer and music collector, known particularly for his research in Irish etymology and local place names of Ireland. Biography He was born i ...

and George Petrie. In 2006 Sheridan released a highly praised collection of Ireland's greatest slow airs titled ''Soul of the Irish Piano''.Stars Of The South - 2011: J.J. Sheridan

Irish America Magazine ''Irish America'' is a bi-monthly periodical that aims to cover topics relevant to the Irish in North America including a range of political, economic, social, and cultural themes. The magazine’s inaugural issue was published in October 1985. ' ...

An eight-disc set, ''The Complete Works Of Turlough O’Carolan'', was released in 2007. This was the first and still the only complete edition of all 214 pieces by the great eighteenth-century Irish harper known as "the last of the bards."The Complete Works Of Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738)
by J.J. Sheridan, CD Baby In 2011 Sheridan received

Irish America ''Irish America'' is a bi-monthly periodical that aims to cover topics relevant to the Irish in North America including a range of political, economic, social, and cultural themes. The magazine’s inaugural issue was published in October 1985. ' ...

’s Stars of the South award which honors notable Irish people in the southern United States. He died in New York City on 31 December. 2014.The death has occurred of J. J. Sheridan
RIP.ie

References

External links

Sheridan discography
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, James Joseph 1951 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Alumni of the University of West London Irish musicians Irish composers Musicians from County Laois Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Irish emigrants to the United States