He is a teacher and uilleann pipes, concert flute and tin whistle player born in Kansas to an Irish-American family who studied at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where he graduated with a degree in Modern History. Beginning by performing the tin whistle when he was still a teenager living at home, he later studied the pipes with Kirk Lynch before moving to Ireland to complete his education.
Quickly gaining a reputation for his musical abilities, he was the first American to be asked to appear at the “Ace and Deuce of Piping” concert in Ireland and following his success there he has performed at many festivals and concerts on the international arena.
Married to the fiddler, Liz Knowles, he has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras and ensembles including the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Anuna, The Greenfields of America, Ensemble Galileim and the Silver Arm Celtic Band. Artists he has also accompanied are Bonnie Raitt, J.P.Cormier, Josh Grobin, Don Henley and Mickey Moloney among many others.
In the movies he can be heard and seen in the film Road to Perdition and on Broadway he has appeared in the musical The Pirate Queen. He released his first self-titled CD in 2001 with accompanists that include Liz Knowles and John Williams.
As a tutor he has taught the uilleann pipe player Eliot Grasso and seen him win several awards at the Fleadh Cheoil, been a teacher at Dublin’s The Piper’s Club and the William Clancy Summer School, and has appeared at numerous musical festivals and gatherings giving tutelage.
Cincinatti Pops Orchestra recordings
The Last Rose of Summer (Thomas Moore and Sir John Stevenson)
Telarc CD-80571 (CD: A Celtic Spectacular)
Conductor – Erich Kunzel
Arranger – Leroy Anderson
Tenor – John McDermott
Fiddle – Liz Knowles
Silver Arm Celtic Band
Pipes – Kieran O’Hare
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