Peter Whelan
With parallel careers as a conductor, bassoonist, and keyboardist, Peter Whelan is one of the most versatile and original performers on the historical performance scene. He is also a noted educator and ensemble leader.
Whelan was born in Dublin in 1978. His initial training was as a keyboardist, but he switched to the bassoon after realizing that he preferred to perform with other musicians. He also saw a commonality between the two instruments, which are both often part of the Baroque continuo group. He studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Trinity College in Dublin, and the Musik-Akademie der Stadt, Basel, in Switzerland. Whelan plays both modern and Baroque bassoon, and beginning in 2008, he served as principal bassoonist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist, he has played bassoon recitals at Wigmore Hall. Whelan also became co-principal bassoonist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and since then, his efforts have concentrated on the field of Baroque music. He was the founding director (and bassoonist) of Ensemble Marsyas, which has toured internationally and recorded chamber music of Zelenka, among others, and he has performed with the Xacona ensemble, which won two prizes at the Brugge International Competition in 2007.
With Ensemble Marsyas, he also became interested in Irish Baroque music, which he recorded on his 2014 album Proud Bassoon. That album appeared on the Linn label, for which Whelan has recorded exclusively. Whelan has performed as a concerto soloist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and other groups. The desire to explore unfamiliar ensemble material led him to take up conducting. He told the Irish Times that he wanted to perform "music that I felt passionate about but that wouldn't get done anywhere else." In 2018, he was named conductor of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Ireland's only professional period-instrument ensemble, and he led the group on a U.S. tour in 2019. That year, he led the Irish Baroque Orchestra on Welcome Home, Mr. Dubourg, a recording of music by the neglected composer Matthew Dubourg. Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra issued albums annually during the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing The Trials of Tenducci (an examination of the career of an Italian castrato in Ireland) in 2021, Mozart's Bassoon and The Hibernian Muse in 2022, and Mr Charles the Hungarian: Handel's Rival in Dublin in 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Mr Charles the Hungarian. Handel's Rival in Dublin
Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 9 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart's Bassoon. Works for Solo Bassoon
Peter Whelan, Ensemble Marsyas, Kristian Bezuidenhout
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 11 Mar 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons • Concertos for Bassoon & Violin 'in tromba marina'
Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Avie Records on 4 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Welcome home, Mr Dubourg
Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 26 Apr 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Barsanti & Handel: Edinburgh 1742
Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 4 Aug 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachel Baptist: Ireland’s Black Syren
Rachel Redmond, Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 24 May 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Hibernian Muse. Music for Ireland by Purcell and Cousser
Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan, Sestina
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 24 Jun 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Proud Bassoon
Peter Whelan, Ensemble Marsyas
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 1 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Barsanti & Handel: Edinburgh 1742 (Parte seconda)
Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 16 Oct 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fasch: Quartets and Concertos
Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 16 Jun 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Trials of Tenducci: A Castrato in Ireland
Peter Whelan, Tara Erraught, Irish Baroque Orchestra
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 12 Mar 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Serenade in C Minor, K.388
Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 15 May 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Sonata for Bassoon and Fortepiano (Arr. for Bassoon and Fortepiano)
Peter Whelan, Kristian Bezuidenhout
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 18 Sep 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Apollo e Dafne
Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 23 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Gordon: Bassoon Concerto 'Observations on Air'
Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, Peter Whelan
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 11 Oct 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo