Aidan O’Rourke
Aidan O’Rourke is a fiddler, composer and producer based in Edinburgh. He is one third of Lau and has various solo projects and collaborations.
Lau came together in 2006 and have ventured a new sound in progressive, politically-charged folk music. The trio have released five studio albums, multiple live albums and EPs and a 2017 retrospective charting their first decade. They won Best Group at the BBC 2 Folk Awards an unprecedented four times.
In life outside Lau, Aidan joined The Caledonia Ramblers aged 14 in 1989; formed the duo Tabache with Claire Mann in 1994; was press-ganged into Blazin’ Fiddles in 1998; founded the quartet Kan with whistle player Brian Finnegan in 2010; formed a duo with jazz pianist Kit Downes in 2016 and joined Donal Lunny's new collective Atlantic Arc in 2017. He plays with Brighde Chaimbeul and produced her debut album The Reeling in 2018.
Solo albums include Sirius (2006), An Tobar (2008), Hotline (2013), 365: Vol 1 (2018), Vol 2 (2019) and Best of 365 (2020). Aidan was named Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2014. As a composer he has written for Scottish Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sage Gateshead, Celtic Connections, the Tolbooth in Stirling, An Tobar, Cottier Chamber Project, Capella Nova and is three-time awardee of the PRSF New Music Biennial commission at London’s Southbank Centre. In 2017 he wrote the official opening music for the new bridge across the Firth of Forth (the Queensferry Crossing).
Aidan wrote the music for the first ever feature-length Gaelic cinematic documentary, Iorram, which premiered at Glasgow Film Festival in 2021. The Guardian called the film “a feast for the ears”.
As curator, he has co-directed multiple editions of Lau-Land festival in Edinburgh (Queen’s Hall, Summerhall), Glasgow (CCA), London (King’s Place), Gateshead (Sage), Bristol (Colston Hall) and hosted various reincarnations of the Scottish Enlightenment drinking hole Lucky Middlemass’s Tavern.
A major project of recent years was the epic tune-cycle 365. In response to a short story collection by James Robertson, Aidan wrote a fiddle tune every day for a year, and the result is 365 tunes which he recorded with Kit Downes, guitarist Sorren Maclean and harpist Esther Swift. In 2019, Aidan and Kit wrote a new work for the Scottish Ensemble inspired by the poetry of Edwin Morgan. According to The Herald, “rarely has this land’s musical community spoken as eloquently of an outward and forward looking approach to its roots and heritage”.
Aidan teaches at University of Ulster where he is a PhD researcher in composition. Elsewhere he has been a regular guest tutor at Newcastle University and University of Limerick.
Über Aidan O’Rourke
Aidan O’Rourke is a fiddler, composer and producer based in Edinburgh. He is one third of Lau and has various solo projects and collaborations.
Lau came together in 2006 and have ventured a new sound in progressive, politically-charged folk music. The trio have released five studio albums, multiple live albums and EPs and a 2017 retrospective charting their first decade. They won Best Group at the BBC 2 Folk Awards an unprecedented four times.
In life outside Lau, Aidan joined The Caledonia Ramblers aged 14 in 1989; formed the duo Tabache with Claire Mann in 1994; was press-ganged into Blazin’ Fiddles in 1998; founded the quartet Kan with whistle player Brian Finnegan in 2010; formed a duo with jazz pianist Kit Downes in 2016 and joined Donal Lunny's new collective Atlantic Arc in 2017. He plays with Brighde Chaimbeul and produced her debut album The Reeling in 2018.
Solo albums include Sirius (2006), An Tobar (2008), Hotline (2013), 365: Vol 1 (2018), Vol 2 (2019) and Best of 365 (2020). Aidan was named Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2014. As a composer he has written for Scottish Ensemble, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sage Gateshead, Celtic Connections, the Tolbooth in Stirling, An Tobar, Cottier Chamber Project, Capella Nova and is three-time awardee of the PRSF New Music Biennial commission at London’s Southbank Centre. In 2017 he wrote the official opening music for the new bridge across the Firth of Forth (the Queensferry Crossing).
Aidan wrote the music for the first ever feature-length Gaelic cinematic documentary, Iorram, which premiered at Glasgow Film Festival in 2021. The Guardian called the film “a feast for the ears”.
As curator, he has co-directed multiple editions of Lau-Land festival in Edinburgh (Queen’s Hall, Summerhall), Glasgow (CCA), London (King’s Place), Gateshead (Sage), Bristol (Colston Hall) and hosted various reincarnations of the Scottish Enlightenment drinking hole Lucky Middlemass’s Tavern.
A major project of recent years was the epic tune-cycle 365. In response to a short story collection by James Robertson, Aidan wrote a fiddle tune every day for a year, and the result is 365 tunes which he recorded with Kit Downes, guitarist Sorren Maclean and harpist Esther Swift. In 2019, Aidan and Kit wrote a new work for the Scottish Ensemble inspired by the poetry of Edwin Morgan. According to The Herald, “rarely has this land’s musical community spoken as eloquently of an outward and forward looking approach to its roots and heritage”.
Aidan teaches at University of Ulster where he is a PhD researcher in composition. Elsewhere he has been a regular guest tutor at Newcastle University and University of Limerick.
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