Songwriters are forever looking inward for inspiration. But The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt has taken the tradition to extremes with 50 Song Memoir, a five-disc album chronicling his life up to his 50th birthday.

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Opening with the arrival of a flustered White Rabbit and ending with the murder of a Red Queen, Gerald Barry’s pick-and-mix of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books was a hysterical hour of operatic delirium.

Our regular arts/ents writers select their personal highlights of the year

EIMEAR NOONE isn’t inclined to blow her own trumpet — but at least she has four to choose from. “Blizzard finally gave me a fourth trumpet for Overwatch — that’s what Overwatch means to me. I’ve a one-track mind.”

However you want to classify them, Stars of the Lid are always interesting, writes Don O’Mahony

WHEN mezzo-soprano Rachel Kelly steps onto the platform of the John Field Room on Friday to open a recital titled ‘Songs of Erin’, in the final week of Composing the Island, it will be very much a family affair. Accompanying her will be her mother, pianist and broadcaster Una Hunt.

Your letters, your views...

SINGER and musician Camille O’Sullivan goes all out on make-up and costumes for her exotic stage shows, but she wants her three-year-old daughter to have a different focus.

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Margaret Jennings finds singer Rebecca Storm in an upbeat mood as she marks 40 years in the music business and prepares to ‘come clean’ about her true age.

The centenary of the Easter Rising has given us an abundance of commemorative

Watch the trailer for '1916: The Irish Rebellion' which premieres in Dublin onMarch 16.

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There are so many TV programmes devoted to discovering the latest musical wannabes, but it’s rare that a musician with a genuine gift is found

Des O’Driscoll reveals what he expects will be the arts and entertainment  highlights of spring 2015.

Comedy and classical music aren’t mutually exclusive, as a pair of virtuoso players will prove at the NCH tonight, writes Jo Kerrigan.

National Concert Hall, Dublin

From pantos to festive markets, Ed Power has the best Christmas events for kids and grown ups.

RONAN COLLINS, the broadcaster and TV presenter, cannot wait to go back to his roots this month.

Julianstown children set for big time, says Nicki ffrench Davis

She might be just 13 but Amy Dolan is already leader of the band — and not just any band — the County Cork School of Music VEC Senior Youth Orchestra, no less.

Ear To The Ground returns for a 20th series, Thursday on RTÉ One. Presenters are Helen Carroll, Darragh McCullough and Ella McSweeney.

ARTS

Slovakian musician Vladimir Jabukov has found his niche in Ireland, writes Nicki ffrench Davis.

Riverdance have announced a series of shows for the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, Co Mayo this autumn.