Niall Vallely

    Niall Vallely has established himself as one of the most original and distinctive voices in Irish traditional music. A former member of Cork-based band Nomos, he has been acclaimed throughout the world as one of Ireland's greatest concertina players. Niall began learning the concertina at the age of seven, taught by his parents Brian and Eithne Vallely, founders of the Armagh Pipers' Club, and over the years he has developed a unique approach to playing the instrument.
In 1990, while studying for a B.mus degree in University College Cork, Niall formed the group Nomos who went on to become internationally recognised as one of the most important Irish bands of recent times. They recorded two critically acclaimed albums “I won’t Be Afaid Anymore” and “Set You Free”, before splitting up in 2000. During this time he was also involved in various musical projects with composer/pianist Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. In 1992 Niall was featured on the highly acclaimed BBC/RTE television series 'A River of Sound', and had a track included on the Virgin album and BBC video that accompanied the series.
    In the intervening years Niall has found himself performing in a solo capacity and with musicians such as Karan Casey, Tim O’Brien, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Paddy Keenan, Mel Mercier, among others. In 1999 he released his debut solo album, “Beyond Words”, and in 2003 “Callan Bridge” with his brother Cillian on uilleann pipes. His most recent collaboration has been with the Asturian band Tejedor and Dublin born whistle player Cormac Breatnach in the Ireland/Asturias project which premiered at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2008.
    Over the past few years Niall has also been spending a lot of time writing new music. In 2007 he was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for a major TV series on the Flight of the Earls. The resulting piece for traditional musicians and chamber orchestra was then premiered at the Grand Opera House in Belfast as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens and had a subsequent performance at the Irish College in Louvain, Belgium, as part of their Flight of the Earls celebrations. In 2008 he composed an electro-acoustic piece entitled “Rakish” based on the classic 1947 recording of travelling piper Johnny Doran which was premiered at the William Kennedy Piping Festival in Armagh. Niall is currently working on a new commission for the 2009 Cork Folk Festival.
   Niall has also produced a CD-Rom concertina tutorial and has given masterclasses throughout Ireland, the US and Europe as well as regularly teaching in the Music Departents of University College Cork and the University of Limerick.

Caoimhín Vallely

   Caoimhín Vallely first came to prominence as fiddle player with the exciting Cork band North Cregg but has emerged in recent years as one of the most interesting and individual pianos players on the traditional music scene from his work with Buille, Karan Casey and Brian Finnegan.
    Like Niall, Caoimhín began tin whistle lessons at the Armagh Pipers Club as a young child before moving on to learn the fiddle with his mother Eithne. At the same time he began going to classical piano lessons with local maestro Romeo Forte and after a while started experimenting with traditional music on the piano. On leaving school he also went to study music at University College Cork and on completion of a B.Mus degree moved on to the University of Limerick where he completed an M.A. in Traditional Music Performance under the tutelage of among others Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, who was also the head of the faculty.
    He has played and recorded with many different bands and individuals over the years. While still only seventeen and living in Armagh, he joined the band Upstairs in a Tent, where he played alongside Brian Finnegan (now of Flook) and Kathryn Tickell. Later, while studying in Cork, he co-founded the group North Cregg with whom he went on to record three albums and toured extensively all over Europe and into America. More recently he has recorded on albums and performed with groups and musicians such as - Nomos, his brothers Niall and Cillian, Karan Casey, Tejedor, Cormac Breatnach, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and Mel Mercier, Alan Kelly, Crash Ensemble, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Meabh O’Hare & Conor Byrne, Martin Meehan, Barry Kerr, and Jarlath Henderson & Ross Ainslie,
    In 2005 he released his debut album “Strayaway”. This was a mixture of traditional Irish music on solo piano as well as some ensemble pieces with Brian Morrissey, Paul Meehan, Martin Leahy and brothers Niall and Cillian Vallely.
He is currently a full time member of the Karan Casey Band with whom he has recently recorded a new album entitled "Ships in the Forest" and is touring extensively throughout the USA, Canada and Europe.
Caoimhín also teaches quite extensively. Before moving to Cork in 2004 he was fiddle teacher at the Armagh Pipers Club. Since then he has taught masterclasses in traditional piano at the University of Limerick, Dundalk Institute of Technology and University College Cork as well as at various music festivals around the world. He is also an external traditional music examiner with the London College of Music.