Seven times All-Ireland Champion, Dr. Robert Harvey is a flautist from Mountrath, Co. Laois.Following the hit television series Lorg Lunny, Robert cut his teeth as a member of supergroup Ciorras formed by Donal Lunny, with whom he maintained a busy international touring schedule in support of their album Silver Lining. Following the success of the animated short film ‘The Lost Letter’ In 2017, Robert starred alongside Fiona Shaw and Catriona Balfe in Universal Studios animated film ‘The Christmas Letter’ narrated by Kate Winslet. His acclaimed solo flute album Feochan followed soon after.

2024 saw a number of long term projects come to fruition:

Developing out of a performance at the World Harp Congress in 2022, Robert released the duet album Bearawith Tara Viscardi. Blending tunes collected in the area by Canon James Goodman in the 19^th century with tunes written by the Dwyer family alongside a suite of newly composed music for flute and harp all of which was inspired by Tara’s homeplace on the Beara peninsula. A UK and Ireland tour followed the launch of the project by Ambassador Fraser at the Irish Embassy in London.

Inspired by a number of local lockdown projects for Laois County Council and Comhaltas, The Lads of Laois is a duet album with his brother, banjo-player James Harvey (Goitse), and accompanied by Ryan Molloy, Caoimhin O Fearghail and Niall Preston. The album presents lesser known music from Robert’s home county in the midlands of Ireland.

As an author and researcher, Robert’s first book Feadail: The Whistling Tradition in Ireland was published by Comhaltas and launched at the National Opera House at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, and at the Masters of Whistling festival in Hollywood CA. Hailed as ‘remarkable’ by the Journal of Music in Ireland, the book is the first major study of the history, performance practice and exponents of whistling.

Robert is musical director of the DCU Irish Traditional Music Ensemble, as well as Ceoltoiri Óga Laighean, a fifty piece youth ensemble for whom he composed and arranged the suite ‘The Gathering of Leinster’ performed at the National Opera House and The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall at Celtic Connections and was released on CD in 2024.

Robert studied music at Trinity College Dublin and Conservatory of Music and Drama DIT, where he graduated with first class honours and was presented with the President’s Gold Medal for his masters research. He was honoured to be among the musicians selected for Irish President Michael D. Higgin’s ‘Being Young and Irish’ campaign at the beginning of his first term in office. His PhD research examines the composition of Irish traditional dance music in the East Galway region.

A member of the National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, Robert has also toured internationally with the Katerina Garcia Band, the Traditional Arts Collective, Eilis Lavelle, Mark Redmond, among others. Robert also stars in the children’s animated series Peek Zoo and features on the CD ‘Songs of Zelda: A Link to the Celts’, produced by Eimear Noone and Craig Garfinkle with the City of Prague Philharmonic. Other recent collaborations include Linda Buckley’s Solas Na Gealai Bui with the RTE Concert Orchestra, Sean Doherty’s chamber music album The Devils Dream and he also features on Czech bluegrass band The Malina Brothers latest album V Perejich.

He is in demand as a teacher, performer, examiner, adjudicator and guest lecturer at festivals and workshops internationally having recently taught at Scoil Eigse, Brittany Winter School, and Bernard’s Summer School in Prague among many others. Flute tutor for the Comhaltas Teacher training TTCT diploma course, Robert lectures in Irish traditional music at Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin.