Ronan Hardiman (born 19 May 1961 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

composer, famous for his

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

s to

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows '' Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', '' Feet of Flames'', and '' Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 mi ...

's dance shows '' Lord of the Dance'', '' Feet of Flames'' and ''

Celtic Tiger Live ''Celtic Tiger Live'' or more often known ''Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger'' or just ''Celtic Tiger'' was an Irish dance show. History Michael Flatley, known for Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and Feet of Flames, created ''Celtic Tiger'' whi ...

''.

Early life

Hardiman was born in Dublin on 19 May 1961. His father was an Irish broadcasting executive. Hardiman listened to rock & roll and pop as a child. He has 3 sisters and 1 brother, and they all play traditional musical instruments. He attended St. Kilian's German School and the Royal Academy of Music.

Career

In 1978, at the age of 17, Hardiman began working as a clerk at the Bank of Ireland, a position he held for 12 years. He occasionally performed in local bands. In 1990, he quit his job and then began composing material based on Irish traditions for radio and television. He wrote the theme music to the documentary My Riviera. His TV work included commissions for the title music for RTÉ Irish National Television Network News, and the original score for the natural history series ''Waterways'', He also wrote music for commercials for Guinness and the Irish National Lottery. In motion pictures, Hardiman earned acclaim for his score to the 1996 feature ''My Friend Joe'', which garnered the Crystal Bear for Best Children's Film at the Berlin Film Festival. Also in 1996, Hardiman was contacted by Michael Flatley, who needed a soundtrack to his new show, ''Lord of the Dance'', quickly. The show was an international hit. In 1997, Hardiman release his debut solo

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''Solas'', and a year later he resurfaced with ''Feet of Flames''. His 2000 release, ''Anthem'', blended the Celtic music sounds that he was famous for with more pop influences. The track "Ancient Lands" from ''Anthem'' was used by the 2002 Olympic men's figure skating champion,

Alexei Yagudin Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin ( rus, Алексей Константинович Ягудин, , ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪ̯ kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪt͡ɕ ɪ̯ɪˈɡudʲɪn, Ru-Alexei Konstantinovich Yagudin.ogg; 18 March 1980) is a Russian former co ...

, in his program "Overcome".

Other work

In 2016, Hardiman wrote Sunlight, along with

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

and

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter, best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; he is the band's oldest member. Westlife has since relea ...

. This was Byrne's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Discography

*1993 - ''Celtic Classics 1'' *1996 - ''Celtic Classics 2'' *1996 - ''Ancient Lands'' - MCA *1996 - '' Lord of the Dance'' *1997 - ''Solas'' *1999 - '' Feet of Flames'' *2000 - ''Anthem'' *2006 - ''

Personal life

Ronan's sisters include the notable neurologist

Orla Hardiman Orla Hardiman (BSc MB BCh BAO MD FRCPI FAAN) is an Irish consultant neurologist. She was appointed Professor of Neurology by Trinity College University of Dublin in 2014, where she heads the Academic Unit of Neurology, housed in Trinity Biome ...

and the filmmaker Neasa Hardiman. He lives in Dublin, with his wife, Helen, and they have 1 daughter and 1 son.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardiman, Ronan 1961 births Irish male songwriters Living people Musicians from County Dublin