Colm O'Hara is an Irish trombonist, composer, improviser, conductor and educator. Described by the Journal of Music as 'one of Ireland's most renowned improvisers', he works across jazz, new music, and contemporary composition, performing with ensembles including Crash Ensemble, the Dirty Jazz Club, Redivider, and Yurodny, and has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Irish National Opera. He currently holds the position of Wind Ensemble Conductor at Emory University, Atlanta, and leads the Colm O'Hara 10tet, whose closing performance at New Music Dublin 2022 was met with critical acclaim.
O'Hara draws from many styles and genres in his approach to new and improvised music, performing regularly with some of Ireland's leading jazz and contemporary ensembles. Alongside his work as a performer, O'Hara is an active composer whose works have been premiered in Ireland, the UK, and Germany. His Piece for Improvising Youth Orchestra was placed 7th in the Keuris International Composers Competition in 2014.
O'Hara has been deeply committed to music education throughout his career. He has served as Musical Director of Manor Kilbride Music School, Lecturer in Aural Development and Composition Techniques at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Lecturer in Brass at DCU, and Artistic Creator for Commonground, a community arts project working in Dublin 8.
Recorded on over 30 albums, his credits include Lisa O'Neill's All of This is Chance, The Villagers' The Art of Pretending to Swim, and his own debut release Unruly Behaviour (2018).
Selected Discography:
2024
John Francis Flynn - Look Over the Wall, See the Sky
2023
Lisa O’Neill - All of This is Chance
2022
Dirty Jazz Club - A Shorter Perspective
Neil O’Lochlann’s Cuar - Umhaill
2020
Redivider - Mere Nation
2018
The Troupe - Unruly Behaviour
The Villagers - The Art of Pretending to Swim
2016
Yurodny - Haivka
2015
Laura Jurd Septet - Human Spirit
2014
Delorentos - Night Becomes Light
Martin Tourish - Under a Red Sky Night
2013
Redivider - Meets I dig Monk, Tuned
Ensemble Eriu - Ensemble Eriu
2012
Thought Fox - My Guess
Redivider - Never Odd or Even
2010
Marc Lohr’s Gerat7 - Stick no bill
2008
Yurodny - Oddset
2006
Kai Big Band - Projections