With a career that spans forty-one years and forty-one albums, The Chieftains are not only Ireland’s premier musical ambassadors but also the most enduring and influential creative force in establishing the international appeal of Celtic music.

Paddy Moloney, the group’s founder and front man, first brought together a group of local musicians in Dublin in 1962, fashioning an authentic instrumental sound that stood in sharp contrast to the slick commercial output of most Irish music at the time. The group’s first four albums, recorded between 1963 and 1974, established their worldwide reputation even as the group continued to perform on a semi-professional basis.

In 1975, The Chieftains recorded the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, for which they won an Academy Award. Continued extensive touring followed, further establishing them as a major concert attraction and a string of subsequent albums, including such standouts as Bonaparte’s Retreat, Boil The Breakfast Early and Chieftains in China, enhanced their status as Ireland’s premier musical export.

In 1988, they joined forces with fellow countryman Van Morrison on Irish Heartbeat which began an historic series of collaborations including recordings with James Galway, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Tom Jones, Sinead O’Connor, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Ry Cooder and many others. They also continued their acclaimed work in soundtracks, on such films as Treasure Island, Tristan And Isolde, The Grey Fox and Far and Away.

In 1992, they recorded the double Grammy-winning Another Country, with performances by such country and bluegrass stars as Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins and Don Williams. They returned to Nashville in 2002 for Down The Old Plank Road, their 40th career album, featuring such special guests as Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, Earl Scruggs, Alison Krauss, Martina McBride and others.  They have just completed two years as artists-in-residence at the Irish World Academy, during which time they interacted with students of the MA Irish Traditional Music Performance and of the BA in Irish Music and Dance, at workshops, seminars and on the stage of the University Concert Hall at Sionna 2005.  They will once again share the stage with these students at their concert on November 18th.