Dublin pianist Thérèse Fahy receives French arts award

The Dublin pianist, Thérèse Fahy, has been made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

The highest of three grades in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the award is given to those who have made a significant contribution to artistic or literary creation and who have helped to spread arts and culture in France and further afield.

The French ambassador to Ireland, Stéphane Crouzat, presented the Dublin pianist with the award during a ceremony at the ambassador’s Dublin residence on Friday evening.

A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, a Fulbright scholar, and a French government scholar, Ms Fahy is a senior professor of the piano faculty of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.

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Known for her affinity for French music, last year Ms Fahy performed a series of concerts celebrating the music of Claude Debussy in Dublin, the Irish Cultural College in Paris, and the house where Debussy was born in St Germain en Laye.

She is known from her performances of Olivier Messiaen’s piano music, having given the Irish premieres of Reveil des Oiseaux, and Visions de l’Amen. Her performances of the solo works of Messiaen have been described by The Irish Times as a “tour de force”.

She has performed compositions by Irish composers including Bill Whelan, Raymond Deane, Siobhán Cleary, Michael Holohan, Gráinne Mulvey, and Benjamin Dwyer.

Ms Fahy has had regular recital and concerto appearances in Europe and the United States, and has made numerous broadcasts for both RTÉ and BBC.