Irala O'Lionaird 

From his iconic early recording of the vision song “Aisling Gheal” whilst still a boy, through to his recordings with Tony McMahaon and Noel Hill, O’Lionaird established himself both as a masterful exponent of Sean Nos Song and as a pioneer in its renewal and development. Signed to the Realworld label in the mid 1990’s he would go on to make many ground breaking recordings with the multi million selling Afro Celt Soundsystem and achieved in this period two Grammy nominations. O’Lionaird’s solo records have also received widespread plaudits at home and across the world. ‘Invisible Fields” was voted “Best Folk Record” by the Irish Times in 2006. Iarla has sung in his unique style for audiences across the globe from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Royal Opera House in London, from Cape Town to Moscow, Rome and Tokyo. His many television appearances include among others the “Later with Jools Holland Show” for the BBC and “The David Letterman Show” in the USA. His voice has also appeared on many film soundtracks including ‘The Gangs of New York” and “Hotel Rwanda”.

“Iarla’s mastery of Sean-Nos singing, combined with his experiences with contemporary music in recent years, gives him an ability and open-mindedness, which will be invaluable in this context.”  

Find out more information on Iarla O’Lionaird on
www.iarla.com
www.myspace.com/iarlamusicwww.iarla-o-lionaird.net (Fan Site)

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