Background and Context

Imogen Gunner is Lecturer in Folk and Traditional Music and is a fiddle player, composer, and educator. Her music has been performed and broadcast on radio and TV in the UK, Ireland, America and Europe. She joined ICMuS at Newcastle University in 2020.

Having grown up in the UK and South Africa, Imogen left school at 17 to pursue a career in the performing arts. She toured the UK, Europe and USA with English pop/punk/folk bands Shelley's Children (a John Peel favourite), collaborating with pop producer Martin Rushent (Human League) among others, as fiddler, singer, improviser and lyricist. Following a move to Ireland, Imogen re-entered the education system on an access course, as a mature student. As an undergraduate at UCC (Cork) she joined Fiddlesticks, with Liz Doherty before completing her undergraduate degree in music, at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. There, she specialised in traditional music with Fintan Vallely and ethnomusicology with Adrian Scahill.

Imogen was awarded an MA in ethnomusicology and M.Ed in music education from the University of Limerick. There, her deep interest in folk and traditional music and song, collaborative composition, ethnomusicology, community music and music education were fostered by Prof. Mícheál O’Súilleabháin, Jean Downey and Aileen Dillane.

With 19 years of teaching experience in H.E, Imogen specialises in areas of women and creative practice, Irish music, composition, collaborative ensembles, performance, pedagogy, ethnomusicology, and community music. Imogen has facilitated directed small and large ensembles and choirs, was music director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music's first traditional music ensemble the Royal Folk. She is founder and musical director of the NU Folk Collective at Newcastle.

She has presented her MA research on compositional processes in isicathamiya (a form of South African acapella song and dance), at SEM USA. Imogen has presented more recent research, on Mná Caointe - Keening Women of Ireland, at the Women in the Folk conference, University of Sussex (2018). Following collaborations on children’s songwriting projects with Poetry Ireland’s Poet in Residence, Catherine Anne Cullen, Imogen and Catherine presented their work at the Women and Traditional/Folk Music Symposium, at NUI Galway (2019).  

External Appointments and Activities

Activism and Gender Equality

As a member of FairPlé, Ireland's grassroots feminist organisation, campaigning for gender equality in folk and traditional music, Imogen presented work to representatives of the 26 member states at the EU Commission in Brussels (2019). She contributed to, and co-edited the published policy recommendation report - Gender Equality: Gender Balance in the Cultural and Creative Sectors (2020). Imogen presented the chapter 'An End to Sexual Violence' at the ‘HÄN – Equality, Culture, Women’ conference, as part of the International Gender Equality Awards, in Tampere, Finland. In 2020 Imogen joined Ireland's SoloSirens conference as a panel member and performer, presenting on the subject of EU level policy interest and activity in gender equality in the arts. In 2021, Imogen collaborated with Jane Nolan, on the formation of Forward NE, the music network for women and gender minorities in the North-East of England. Imogen is proud to be an advisor to Esperance, the English gender equality collective.

Artist Residencies, Collaborative Composition, Community Music, Music and Theatre

Since 2006 Imogen has held a range of visiting artistic and teaching positions, including Artist in Residence with County Limerick, Artist in Schools with County Kildare, Artist in Residence with Dublin City Council, has collaborated with award-winning children's music and theatre organisation - Ceol Connected on a range of children’s music and theatre projects; for the National Concert Hall, Dublin and Cross-Culture festival, Warsaw, Poland. She has devised intercultural schools workshop series Bosangani (be together) with Congolese musicians and performers across schools in Ireland. More recently, Imogen and has worked with students on her HE community music modules, on placements with refugees and asylum seekers in Mosney Accommodation Centre, County Meath; one Ireland’s Direct Provision centres, akin to the historic and notorious system of Magdelene Laundries.

Imogen has collaborated with Scottish composer Phamie Gow, for a specially commissioned piece and project with Irish composer Kevin O’Connell, featuring students and professional traditional musicians, at RIAM Dublin. Since 2016, Imogen has collaborated with poet Catherine Ann Cullen on a series of music and songwriting residencies, with inner city school children in Dublin, funded by Ireland’s Business to Arts organisation.

Imogen has performed at Ireland’s national theatre - the Abbey Theatre, on Frank McGuinness’ play Donegal, on fiddle, harp, accordion and mandolin (2016). Also on fiddle, she joined John Sheahan (Dubliners) at the New Theatre, Dublin (2019). In 2021, Imogen joined a cast of musicians and actors to collaborate on English composer and songwriter Maz O’Connor’s new folk opera, the Wife of Michael Cleary, on harp and fiddle. The piece, currently in R&D stage, is based on the life of Bridget Cleary (1869-1895) and was workshopped and performed at Cecil Sharp House, London (2021).

Roles and responsibilities at ICMuS:

Lecturer in Folk and Traditional Music Acting Degree Programme Director for W344 Folk Degree (S1 2021-22) UG and PG Chair of Personal Extenuating Circumstances (PEC) Committee for ICMuS

Funding and Awards

2021 - Iland Memorial Award - For thesis/creative practice based PhD project - “’Our lovely mouths, gagged with pollen’ (Cixous, 1976): ‘A Bhean Údaí Thall', Reasserting the Feminine Through Song” (£80,000)

2021 - Pioneer Award (HaSS) - to facilitate the running of CoLab Composition Lab 2021-22, a cross genre, collaborative composition programme in online, hybrid and face to face formats (€2500)

2021 - School of Arts and Cultures, Newcastle University - Funding to run pilot project of CoLab Composition Lab (£1800)

2021 - Pioneer Award (HaSS) - with Dr Jane Nolan MBE, of Forward NE, new, North East based networking initiative advancing the cause of gender equality in the music industry. (€1000)

2019 - Culture Ireland International Performance Bursary - Awarded for performance of the Little Dove in New York (€2000)

2017 - Business to Arts Award (Ireland) Docklands Art Fund, for schools residency project with Catherine Ann Cullen for ‘Street Songs and Sea Shanties of the 21st Century’ (€4500)

2015 and 2016 - Artist Residency, Dublin City Council

2015 - Williamson Foundation for Music Award (USA) - Awarded for participation as a string teacher, in Sierra String Camp, California- €2000

2011 - Culture Ireland International Performance Bursary - Awarded for performance at Musica Celtica, Italy and Forli Folk Festival Italy (€4500)

2009 - Arts Council of Ireland - Awarded for specialised ensemble direction at Berklee College of Music, Boston, USA (€5000)

Qualifications

2022 - PhD (currently enrolled), Newcastle University

2004 - M.Ed - Professional Master of Education (Music), University of Limerick

2003 - MA Ethnomusicology, University of Limerick  

2001 - BAMus, National University of Ireland, (NUI) Maynooth

Vocational Training/Qualifications

2021 - Sexual Violence Disclosure Training, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre  

2019 - Foundation in Focusing, British Focusing Association

2018 - Child Protection Training, Dublin City Council

1996 - HND in Irish Traditional Music Performance, BCFE, Dublin

Professional Affiliations and Membership

FairPlé - Irish grassroots organisation, campaigning for gender equality in folk and traditional music

Irish Musicians Rights Organisation (IMRO)

Teaching Council of Ireland - Full membership