Cillian Vallely is an Irish musician, born in

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He plays

traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...

on the

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

and low whistle, and studied at the Armagh Pipers Club with his mother and father, Brian and Eithne, and then with the late Armagh piper Mark Donnelly. His brothers, Niall and Caoimhín, also play traditional music. Since 1999, he has been a member of the band Lúnasa with whom he has recorded seven albums. He has also performed and toured with

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

, Tim O'Brien & Mary Chapin-Carpenter in The Crossing, New York-based Whirligig, and the Celtic Jazz Collective with Lewis Nash and Peter Washington. In the past couple of years, he has worked on various collaborations between traditional and classical music, along with his brother Niall and the composer Micheal O’Suilleabhain. He has recorded on over 40 albums including ''Callan Bridge'' with his brother Niall, ''On Common Ground'' with Kevin Crawford and various guest spots with Natalie Merchant, Alan Simon’s ''Excalibur'' project with Fairport Convention and Moody Blues, ''GAIA'' with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and singer Karan Casey. He has recently recorded on two movie soundtracks, '' Irish Jam'' and '' The Golden Boys'' and played uilleann pipes on the BBC’s ''Flight of the Earls'' soundtrack. In January 2014, he played uilleann pipes, low whistle and tin whistle on the

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

album '' High Hopes'', which topped the charts in 14 countries.

Discography

;Solo * ''Raven's Rock'' (BallyO Records, 2016) ;With Lúnasa * '' The Merry Sisters of Fate'' (Green Linnet, 2001) * ''

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

'' (Green Linnet, 2003) * '' The Kinnitty Sessions'' (Compass Records, 2004) * '' Sé'' (Compass Records, 2006) * '' The Story So Far...'' (Compass Records, 2008) * '' Lá Nua'' (Lúnasa Records, 2010) * '' Lúnasa with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra'' (Lúnasa Records, 2013) ;With others * Aine Minogue: ''To Warm the Winter's Night'' (Evergreen, 1996) * John Whelan: ''Come to Dance'' (Narada, 1999) * Susan McKeown, Robin Spielberg & Aine Minogue: ''Mother'' (North Star, 1999) * Druidstone: ''The Vow'' (North Star, 1999) * Whirligig: ''Spin'' (One-Eight Hundred, 2000) * Susan McKeown: '' Lowlands'' (Green Linnet, 2000) * Niall & Cillian Vallely: ''Callan Bridge'' (Crow Valley Music, 2002) * ''Live From The Katharine Cornell Theater: Traditional Irish Music'' (KCT Concerts, 2002) * Karan Casey: ''Distant Shore'' (Shanachie Records, 2003) * Alan Simon: ''GAIA'' (BMI, 2003) * ''Live Recordings from the William Kennedy Piping Festival'' (Armagh Pipers Club, 2003) * Patrick Ourceau and Friends: ''Live at Mona's'' (Celtic Grooves, 2004) * Dale Ann Bradley: ''Catch Tomorrow'' (Compass, 2006) * Lunasa & Tim O'Brien: ''Hands Across the Water'' (Compass, 2006) * Alan Simon: ''Excalibur II'' (BMI, 2007) * Armagh Pipers Club: ''40th Anniversary Album'' (Armagh Pipers Club, 2008) * Karan Casey: '' Ships in the Forest'' (Compass Records, 2008) * Cillian Vallely & Kevin Crawford: ''On Common Ground'' (BallyO Records, 2009) * Buille: ''Buille 2'' (Crow Valley Music, 2009) * Natalie Merchant: '' Leave Your Sleep'' (Nonesuch Records, 2010) * Niall Vallely: ''Beyond Words'' (Crow Valley Music, 2012) * Bruce Springsteen: '' High Hopes'' (Columbia Records, 2014) * Caoimhin Vallely: ''Strayaway'' (Caoimhin Vallely, 2016) ;With various artists, including Lúnasa * ''Untamed - Next Generation Celtic'' (Narada, 2001) * ''The Leitrim Equation 1 - Featuring Lúnasa'' (Leitrim County Council, 2009) ;Film soundtracks * '' Irish Jam'' (2006, various artists) * '' The Golden Boys'' (2008, various artists)

References

External links

Official Lúnasa profileVallely Music homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallely, Cillian Musicians from County Armagh Male uilleann pipers from Northern Ireland Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Armagh (city) People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh Lúnasa (band) members 20th-century Irish uilleann pipers 21st-century Irish uilleann pipers 20th-century male musicians from Northern Ireland 21st-century male musicians from Northern Ireland