William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 13 May 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Mary Kennedy, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1994 contest with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. It was the third consecutive contest to be held in Ireland – the first and only time in the history of the event that a country has hosted three editions in a row – and the second consecutive edition to be held in the Point Theatre in Dublin.
Paul Harrington is an Irish musician, who, with Charlie McGettigan, won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in 1994.
Secret Garden is an Irish-Norwegian band specialised in new instrumental music, led by the duo consisting of Irish violinist and singer Fionnuala Sherry and Norwegian composer, arranger and pianist Rolf Løvland.
The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group who formed in Blackpool in 1974 as the Nolan Sisters, before changing their name in 1980. From 1979 to 1982, the group had a run of hits, including "I'm in the Mood for Dancing", "Gotta Pull Myself Together", "Who's Gonna Rock You", "Attention to Me" and "Chemistry". They are one of the world's biggest selling girl groups. They were particularly successful in Japan, becoming the first European act to win the Tokyo Music Festival with "Sexy Music" in 1981, and won a Japanese Grammy in 1992.
Anúna is a vocal ensemble formed in Ireland in 1987 by Irish composer Michael McGlynn under the name An Uaithne. Taking the current name in 1991, the group has recorded 18 albums and achieved a high level of international success, including a significant role in Riverdance from 1994 to 1996. Almost all of their repertoire is composed or arranged by McGlynn. Despite having been based in Ireland since their foundation and providing training to many Irish singers, McGlynn announced in December 2022 that the group would cease public performance in Ireland, while continuing in Northern Ireland and beyond.
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once. However, all of Ireland's victories were decided by juries only, in the era before public voting became the norm in 1998.
Rolf Undsæt Løvland is a Norwegian composer, lyricist, arranger, and pianist. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the Celtic-Nordic group Secret Garden, in which he was the composer, producer, and keyboardist. He began composing at an early age and grew up studying at the Kristiansand Music Conservatory, later receiving his master's degree from the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo.
Angèle Dubeau, is a Canadian classical violinist. She has devoted a large part of her career to making classical music accessible to a wide audience, but also frequently plays works by contemporary composers.
Tara Blaise is an Irish female pop, folk, and rock singer. The eldest of six children, Blaise was born in London, but at the age of three moved with her family to Ireland and grew up in Aughrim County Wicklow.
Máire Breatnach is an Irish fiddle, violin and viola player. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has recorded five solo albums, participated in many collaborations, and developed didactic material for children, mostly in Irish.
"Nocturne" is a song performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden and the winning entry for Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995. It was the second time Norway won the contest, after it had won in 1985 with Bobbysocks! song "La det swinge". For their performance at the contest, the Secret Garden duo of Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland featured three guest musicians: Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim, Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle, and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder.
Once in a Red Moon is the fourth studio album by Secret Garden, excluding the compilation album Dreamcatcher, a Best Of.
Cora Venus Lunny is an Irish violinist, composer, singer, and actress. She is the daughter of Irish musician Dónal Lunny and German photographer Julia Buthe.
Maria Doyle-Cuche is an Irish singer who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. In 2016, she auditioned for The Voice of Ireland, and was selected by coach Una Foden in the audition round. In 2020, she took part of The Voice France, in which she went to the semi-finals coached by Lara Fabian. Since the age of nine, Maria has been 95% legally blind. She is the author of an autobiographical book in French entitled "On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur".
Dawn of a New Century is the third album by Irish-Norwegian duo Secret Garden, released by Philips Records in 1999.
Songs from a Secret Garden is the first international album by Secret Garden. Released in 1996, it includes the Norwegian winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, "Nocturne".
White Stones (released 15 April 1997 by Mercury Records – 534 605-2 is the second album by Secret Garden.
Songs From Before is the solo debut from Fionnuala Sherry of the New Instrumental duo Secret Garden. The album was self-released in Ireland in November 2010. and was released in June 2011 in North America by Hearts of Space Records, an independent record label owned by Valley Entertainment. The album contains mainly interpretations of traditional Irish song.
Anne Bushnell was an Irish jazz and blues singer and cabaret performer.
