Jamie Duffy at NCH review: Whether he decides to be Ireland’s answer to Hans Zimmer, the future is bright

Jamie Duffy

National Concert Hall, Dublin

★★★★☆

“Classical music can feel very boxed off for a certain group of people, and that shouldn’t be the case”, 22-year-old Monaghan pianist Jamie Duffy said with conviction at Dublin’s National Concert Hall on Tuesday night.

The rising star is playing his second sold-out gig this month at the venue tonight, kicking off with two brand new compositions, Resonance and Circles, filled with ominous, vibrating low notes and cinematic minor keys.

His hands fly along the open Steinbach with such ease that it’s difficult to believe a career in music wasn’t in his original plans.

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The show opens with a video montage of the young musician, reflecting on the whirlwind journey the former Queen’s University politics student has been on in recent times.

His self-penned piano composition, Solas, has been streamed over 69 million times since February 2022, after a chance TikTok upload saw the instrumental track go viral.

It’s since earned him a record contract with independent Irish label Rubyworks, who boast artists such as Hozier, Wyvern Lingo and David Keenan among their signed talent.

Duffy is just back from a trip to New York to film a video, and has been penning songs for his upcoming debut album with a number of well-known composers, he says.

On stage, the unassuming musician is warm, relaxed and witty in between songs, as he demonstrates an already-distinctive signature sound that combines classical, Irish and modern influences with his own unique twist.

Into The West, a song inspired by historical mass emigration of the Irish to the United States, sees its original cello part replaced tonight by violin played by Jenny Feeley to stirring effect.

While on recent single Eyrie, Duffy moves from behind the piano to impress instead with his virtuosity on the tin whistle while support act Ciana O’Muireadhaigh fills in on keys.

It’s a reminder of what a truly magical and transformative instrument the whistle can be, which the rising star describes as “his favourite really”. “This is my baby,” he says, in advance of one of the highlights of an impressive show.

Another change of pace comes as Duffy plays a song his grandfather once wrote for his grandmother’s 16th birthday in a touching tribute.

This is the song that changed my life completely. It’s the reason I’m here

He admits to being “nervous” to unleash his perfectly serviceable vocals for a change.

Later, on a cover of the Irish folk song The Galway Shawl, Duffy’s grandfather joins him on stage to play guitar and provide backing vocals. Music, it appears, runs deep in this family’s veins. “You really can’t beat these songs, honestly,” the young musician notes.

The night’s closer is, naturally enough, the classical earworm and viral hit that is Solas. A song that overtook Hozier’s Take Me to Church as the most streamed debut single by an Irish artist of all time. A feat made all the more impressive that it was achieved by a piano instrumental.

“This is the song that changed my life completely”, Duffy states with admirable self-awareness. “It’s the reason I’m here. It’s probably the reason why you’re here.”

Whether he decides to be Ireland’s answer to Clean Bandit, Hans Zimmer or the next Yo-Yo Ma, the future is most certainly bright.