This much I know: Musician, composer and academic Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin

I’ve always been excited by musical sounds. My earliest memory is playing a little toy piano with the black keys painted on.

I discovered that if I played a note and then skipped one and played the next, that created a sweet sound. Whereas when I played two adjoining notes, the sound was sharp, or sour.

I began piano lessons when I was eight. I was quite an introverted child. I was born in 1950 and by my teens I was playing guitar and forming groups. Music was a saving grace as I wasn’t outgoing sociallly.