Noel Kelehan was one of Ireland’s most accomplished musicians and conductors. A jazz pianist hailed as the best to emerge on the island, he was also the most successful conductor in the 56-year history of the Eurovision Song Contest, conducting 24 Irish entries and another five for Poland, Greece, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In all, he conducted five winning Irish songs between 1980 and 1997.
Born in Dublin on December 26, 1935, he began studying music at the age of seven and worked briefly in a department store before becoming a freelance musician. His first engagements with jazz and dance bands were followed by his RTE radio debut in 1955.
In 1963 he formed a jazz trio with guitarist Louis Spence and bassist Jimmy McKay, and spent the year in New York. Returning home, he found steady employment with RTE and, having taught himself to compose, wrote Cuchulainn’s Lament for the broadcaster’s Concert Orchestra, and, in 1967, the three-movement Dubliners suite for big band.
His own music was marked by wide-ranging interests, and included the soundtrack for the Aran Islands documentary Return of the Islander, for combinations of strings and jazz group, and an orchestral reinterpretation of traditional Irish airs, The Golden Heritage of Irish Music, which was released as a CBS LP in 1971.
Appointed staff conductor with RTE in 1973, he was later promoted to musical director, a position he held until his retirement in 2000. Throughout those years, he enjoyed a parallel career in jazz, breaking new ground for the form in Ireland and playing with American greats such as saxophonist Zoot Sims.
He was also a much in demand arranger, providing the string parts for U2’s The Unforgettable Fire in 1984, and working regularly with Daniel O’Donnell.
Paying tribute to him, the composer and jazz musician Ronan Guilfoyle described him as “a cornerstone of Irish musical life for so long [who] affected so many people in a positive way. A great man, a very funny man, a very generous man, and a seriously swinging jazz pianist”.
He died, after a long illness, aged 76, on February 6 and is survived by his wife and three children.
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