Mulcahy, Michael

He is a trombonist, conductor and teacher born in Sydney, Australia who began his musical studies with his father and went on to the State Conservatorium of New South Wales where he completed his studies. He has also since won many international competitions held in Australia, Germany and Italy.

He became Principal Trombone with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra in 1976 and held the same position with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra from 1977. Leaving Australia in 1981 he became a member of the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany as solo trombonist.

Sir Georg Solti appointed him to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989 and he debuted with the orchestra as a soloist in 2000. He has since gone on to perform the 2o16 world premiere of Five Hallucinations for Trombone and Orchestra which was jointly commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the CSO and two years later gave he world premiere of Low Brass Concerto by Jennifer Higdon that was commissioned by the CSO and went on to be performed on a CSO tour. Aside from his work with the CSO he performs as Principal Trumpet with the Australian World Orchestra.

As a chamber musician he has been Principal Trombone of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra since 1982 as well as with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. In 2014 he was a founding member of the National Brass Ensemble.

His work as a conductor originated from the West German Radio (WDR) Orchestra inviting him to conduct a concert of Arvo Part’s music. He has gone on to be a music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass and the Grand Teton Music Festival along with being a guest conductor at the National Music Camp in Australia and with other orchestras that include the New World Symphony, the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Recordings he has performed are many but a select few include as a featured artist in Full Circle with Eric Klay and Orchestral Excerpts for Bass Trombone with Jeffrey Reynolds along with Pulicinella (Complete)/Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 by the Australian World Orchestra, John Harbison: Chamber Music by The Chicago Chamber Musicians, Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago by the Chicago Symphony Low Brass Ensemble, Corigliano: Symphony No. 1, Wagner: Overtures and Preludes, Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3 and the soundtrack to the film Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Live by Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Holiday Musik by Chip Davis, Brass Nation by Michael Davis, Gustav Mahler: Sinfonie Nr. 3 D-moll by the Kolner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester, Christmas Extraordinaire and Christmas Celebration by Mannheim Steamroller, Gabrieli by the National Brass Ensemble, Big Boy by Gene Pokorny, Paving the Way and Spirits of Fire by Summit Brass as well as VISTAS: Prairie Sounds from Alberta, Saskathchewan and Manitoba and Tribute to Ellington by various artists.

In the field of musical education he has been on the faculty of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University since 1999, where he leads the trombone studio. He became Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University’s Canberra School of Music in 1987 and has attended Melbourne’s Australian National Academy of Music as a visiting artist. He has also been a Wiley Housewright Scholar at Florida State University, an Artist-in-Residence at Indiana University and has taught and conducted at Daniel Barenboim’s East West Divan workshop.

Christmas Carols recordings by Chicago Symphony Low Brass Ensemble

Angels We Have Heard On High (Traditional/Chadwick/Barnes)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

The First Nowell (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Anonymous/Traditional)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

Here We Come A-Wassailing (Wassail Song) (Anonymous Middle Ages English)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

I Saw Three Ships (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

In Dulci Jubilo (J.S. Bach version)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpoint)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

Joy to the World (Isaac Watts/Lowell Mason/Georg Frideric Handel)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

Lo, How A Rose (Traditional Anonymous German)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)(John Francis Wade/Fred Oakeley)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

O Holy Night (Adolphe Charles Adam)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

O Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks/Lewis Redner)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranged – Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Twelve Days of Christmas(Unknown English c18th century/Frederic Austin)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner

Sources:

Mulcahy, Michael

Navigation