ABOUT LARK & OWL
MUSIC. PEOPLE. PLACE.
Lark & Owl is an Ireland-based creative company working across event production, artist development and music-led cultural experiences.
What connects it all is music: the people who make it, the audiences who gather around it and the places that give it meaning.
ONE COMPANY.
THREE CONNECTED STRANDS.
We produce music and cultural events, work closely with a select group of artists, and create small-group journeys through Ireland.
They are different parts of the business, but they draw on the same things: creative thinking, strong relationships, practical delivery and a deep connection to music and culture.
CREATIVE, COMMERCIAL AND CULTURAL — UNDER ONE ROOF.
Charlene Sloan and Brendan McCreanor have built Lark & Owl from complementary experience across music, events, artist development and international collaboration.
Charlene brings more than 15 years of event production, artist management, partnership development and creative leadership across Ireland and the United States. Brendan brings decades of experience as an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, performer, programmer and cultural practitioner.
Both are directly involved in the creative direction of the work. Together, that allows Lark & Owl to understand a project from the stage, the artist’s career, the audience experience and the commercial reality required to make it happen.
Co-Founder
Charlene Sloan
Charlene Sloan is a music executive, producer and artist manager whose work spans live events, artist development, cultural programming and international music-industry partnerships. With more than 15 years’ experience across the United States and Ireland, she has worked on events involving artists including Charlie Daniels Band, Travis Tritt, Molly Tuttle, Craig Morgan, The SteelDrivers and Rodney Crowell.
She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Your Roots Are Showing, the international music conference and showcase she created with Brendan McCreanor. Under their leadership, YRAS has grown from a new Irish music gathering into an international platform bringing artists, agents, labels, festivals, media and cultural organisations together in Belfast, with delegates travelling from more than 20 countries.
At Lark & Owl, Charlene leads strategy, partnerships and commercial development while remaining closely involved in creative direction, cultural programming and production. She also manages the company’s artists, working across career strategy, creative development, live opportunities and international relationships.
Co-Founder
Brendan McCreanor
Brendan McCreanor is an award-winning Irish multi-instrumentalist, performer and cultural programmer whose career has taken him from traditional sessions in County Louth to stages across Europe, North America, Russia, Asia and Australia.
Best known for uilleann pipes and whistles, Brendan also plays flute and fiddle and has worked across traditional music, contemporary folk, rock and cross-cultural projects. His career includes collaborations with Dónal Lunny and Sharon Shannon, performances alongside Grammy-winning artists including Rhiannon Giddens, Ron Block and Amy Grant, and a performance at Áras an Uachtaráin for President Michael D. Higgins.
A founding member of Kern, Brendan has also recorded and performed with projects including Baile An Salsa and Pat McManus. At Lark & Owl, he brings that first-hand experience of performance, musicianship and international collaboration into creative direction, music programming and artist development.