Starting at age 7, Cillian Vallely learned the whistle and uilleann pipes from his parents Brian and Eithne at the Armagh Pipers Club, a group that for over 4 decades has fostered the revival of traditional music in the north of Ireland. Since leaving college, he has played professionally and has toured all over North America and Europe in addition to Japan, Hong Kong and Australia.

Since 1999, he has been a member of the band “Lunasa”, with whom he has recorded 5 albums and played at many major festivals including Womad, Edmonton Folk Festival and The Hollywood Bowl. He has also performed and toured with “Riverdance”, Tim O Brien’s “The Crossing”, New York-based “Whirligig”, and the “Celtic Jazz Collective” with Lewis Nash and Peter Washington.

He has recorded on over 40 albums including “Callan Bridge” with his brother Niall, 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 Karan Casey. He has recently recorded on two movie soundtracks, “Irish Jam” and “Chatham” and played uilleann pipes on the BBC’s “Flight of the Earls” soundtrack.