Iarla Ó Lionáird 2025 Tour

Iarla Ó Lionáird has carved a long and unique career in music both internationally and in Ireland. From his iconic early recording of the vision song “Aisling Gheal” as a young boy to his groundbreaking recordings with Dublin’s CrashEnsemble and New York’s Alarm Will Sound, he has shown a breadth of artistic ambition that sets him apart in the Irish Music fraternity.

A twice Grammy nominated artist, Ó Lionáird has worked with a stellar cast of composers internationally including Donnacha Dennehy, Dan Trueman, Kate Moore, Nico Muhly, Linda Buckley, Gavin Bryars and David Lang and he hasperformed and recorded with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave, Robert Plant and Sinead O’Connor. His unique singing style has carried him to stages and concert halls all over the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House and beyond. He has performed as soloist with concert and symphony orchestras including the Ulster Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Centre, USA, The Irish National Symphony Orchestra and the RTE Concert Orchestra.Also an accomplished broadcaster, O’ Lionaird’s recent Radio Series “VocalChords” on the mysteries of the human voice, for Ireland’s National Classical Music Broadcaster, RTE Lyric FM, won both Gold and Silver Awards at the “New York Radio Festival” 2016/2018

His own voice has graced the silver screen also, with film credits extending from “The Gangs of New York” to “HotelRwanda” and most recently as featured singer in the film “Brooklyn” starring Saoirse Ronan. He is the vocalist with the critically acclaimed Irish /American band “The Gloaming.”

“Magnificently expressive” – The New York Times

“One of the most dramatic voices in contemporary music” – The Guardian

“O’Lionaird’s real triumph is his voice: as soft as a feather bed and as searingly sharp as a blade when the mood calls” – The Irish Times

“His voice will astound you. It soars – and it’s as profound, simple and beautiful as wild horses… Genius is the operative word here.” – Time Out New York

Cormac McCarthy is a pianist, composer, arranger and conductor from Cork, Ireland. Noted for a diverse stylistic palette, and equally at home in a variety of genres, his music is said to “defy categorisation” (Lyric FM). In 2010, having completed his Masters degree in composition at the MTU Cork School of Music, Cormac received the prestigious Bill Whelan International Music Bursary, an award earmarked for young Irish composers studying abroad. He spent anumber of years living in Chicago, where he completed a Masters in Jazz Studies at DePaul University.

His compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by artists including Phil Woods, Jeff Hamilton, Mick Flannery, Martin Hayes, Andrea Corr, Gavin James, Niamh Regan, Jack O’Rourke, The DePaul Jazz Ensemble, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra, The Crash Ensemble, The New Irish Jazz Orchestra and the Cork Opera House ConcertOrchestra. He has performed extensively at concert venues, clubs and festivals throughout Europe and the US, sharing the stage/recording studio with artists across a wide musical spectrum, including Peter Washington, Nell Ní Chróinín, Billy Drummond, Liz Carroll, Donal Lunny, The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra & The RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

Aoife Ní Bhriain is a violinist from North Dublin. Her career has traversed numerous musical genres including classical, traditional, jazz and contemporary music. She has been the recipient of numerous awards in both the classical and traditional world, including a Gradam Ceoil TG4 Musical Collaboration Award for her work with the Goodman Trio, and the 2024 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Award for Best Instrumentalist.

Aoife was born into a musical family in Bayside, a suburb of North Dublin; her father, Mick O’Brien, is an uilleann piper and schoolteacher and her mother, Fidelma O’Brien, is a banjo player and music teacher. Aoife began playing fiddle and concertina aged 2 and went on to study classical violin at the Young European Strings School of Music and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.In 2006, Aoife studied in the Conservatoire de la Région in Nantes, France where she completed her Diplôme d’Etudes Musicales (DEM) in violin performance and was awarded the Prix D’Or for exceptional students from the Conservatiore de Pays de la Loire, Nantes. In 2009, Aoife completed her Leaving Certificate at Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, an Irish-speaking secondary school in Donaghmede, North Dublin. Aoife studied for her bachelor’s degree and then for her master’s degree at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, Leipzig, graduating with first class honours in 2018.

In the classical world, Aoife has performed as a soloist for various orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Musici Ireland, Korean Chamber Orchestra, HMT Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, Esker Festival Orchestra, Orchestra “Resphigi” Latina, Italy, and l’Orchestre de Chambre d’Ariège. Aoife was the leader of the Irish Memory Orchestra and performed regularly with the contemporary group Crash Ensemble. She has performed alongside musicians such as jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, violist Massimo Paris, pianist Finghin Collins, violist Tatjana Masurenko, double bassist Frank Reinecke, and songwriter and actor Tim Robbins and his group The Rogues.

As a traditional Irish musician, Aoife has been involved in numerous solo and collaborative projects. She has performed with fiddle player Martin Hayes and Scottish singer Julie Fowlis. She is part of the Goodman Trio, along with her father and flautist Emer Mayock.

In 2021, Aoife was featured on the Drawing from the Well series hosted by the Irish Traditional Music Archive, where she spoke about her work transcribing the work of Dublin fiddler and influence Tommy Potts. In 2023, Aoife released a collaborative album with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, Double You, which topped the World Music Charts Europe in December 2023. In 2024, Aoife was honoured for her contribution to Irish traditional music, winning the Best Folk Instrumentalist at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards.