The classical guitar is now a respectable instrument in Ireland - there are hundreds of amateurs around the country, and degrees in performance offered by both the DIT College of Music and the Royal Irish Academy. When John Feeley was starting out, things were different.

"Standards were extremely low, and there were very few guitar teachers. I'm from the west of Ireland - Ballinasloe. And classical music is pretty rare there, never mind finding a classical guitar teacher, so I was self-taught."

He dabbled in rock, country and jazz before becoming interested in classical music in his midteens. "When I moved to Dublin I started off studying engineering, but I wanted to do music. I couldn't even read music at the time, so I taught myself how to read and I taught myself classical guitar." He dropped out of engineering and went to study music at Trinity College.

"Recognised as Ireland's leading guitarist" - Feeley's biographical note doesn't mince words, but it's hardly an exaggeration. As a player and teacher, he has done a huge amount to raise the profile of the guitar in Ireland over the last two decades. His programme at the Galway Festival will be given over largely to modern music. "I'll be playing a piece by David Fennessy called Sting Like a Bee - David's a young Irish composer, a former guitar student of mine." Then there's John Buckley's Guitar Sonata No.2, which Feeley premiered at the Hugh Lane Gallery in June.

"The Buckley is very demanding. I was learning it for about seven weeks before the premiere and it only came together in the last five days. John did very well. For a non-guitarist, the guitar is a very hard instrument to write for, but he really did his homework."

Feeley has been heavily involved with modern music in recent years, particularly music by Irish composers. He recently released the album e-motion (black box), devoted to modern Irish works. Among the composers present are Jerome de Bromhead, Jane O'Leary, Eric Sweeney and Brian Boydell. "A lot of the pieces on the CD hadn't been recorded before - it's the first album of contemporary Irish guitar music.

"It's interesting approaching new pieces, because you have to work through them from scratch, with no guidelines. It's much more challenging. You develop your own way of seeing music."

He became interested in modern music as a student in New York in the late 1970s. "I studied in Mannes College with a very old Russian violinist, Leonid Bolotine. He fled to America in 1917, and when he was about 45 he started teaching guitar - he had perfect pitch, and teaching the violin used to drive him berserk."

Feeley's first teaching job was at Memphis State University, but he returned to Ireland in the early 1980s to take up a job at the College of Music in Dublin. "The general standard of student is higher here in Ireland, but the facilities in America were fantastic."

HE has dabbled in jazz, occasionally touring with guitarist Louis Stewart. "I'm not a jazz guitarist as such, but I love jazz and I'm a great admirer of Louis. It's fascinating working with him, because I have to try and improvise - which is daunting for someone who hasn't improvised in a long time.

"I personally think that the music education system is wrong - improvisation is very important and it should be emphasised more. I mean, it was routine in the baroque period."

Feeley also has an interest in traditional music and has arranged Irish dances and airs for solo guitar. "There are certain purist people who consider the guitar should be outside the door of traditional music. Some traditional musicians really like my arrangements, though.

"There are lots of guitarists around these days, and I think you need something to distinguish yourself. When I go abroad, I play some contemporary Irish music and my arrangements of traditional Irish tunes. Then I do the standard repertoire."

Which guitarists does Feeley admire? "Julian Bream has done some wonderful things for the instrument, with contemporary music especially. He's a great musician and a very thoughtful musician. John Williams is also a wonderful player, but he's a totally different personality."

Then there's Andres Segovia, the man largely responsible for the revival of the classical guitar this century. "You can't play like that these days, but his early recordings are great - very indulgent, but he was a great player."

There are more and more young guitarists emerging now, but it's hard for them to make a living from the instrument. Unlike violinists or cellists, they can't work in an orchestra. "What are the options? To teach, because to make it as a solo guitarist these days is very, very difficult.

"But having said that, you get very bad players who are good networkers and get around. It's remarkable - either the public has no powers of discrimination, or. . . I just don't understand it."

John Feeley plays on Wednesday, July 21st at 5.30 p.m. in the Aula Maxima Concert Hall.