Presented by the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, The Chieftains will be joined on stage by some of Ireland’s best young traditional musicians and dancers, all of whom are students of the BA ‘Irish Music and Dance’ at the Irish World Academy.

With a career that spans 41 years and 41 albums, multi Grammy Award-winning group 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 Irish traditional music.

Although their early following was purely a folk audience, the range and variation of their music very quickly captured a much broader public, making them today the best known Irish band in the world.

Never afraid to shock purists and push boundaries, in their 41 years together The Chieftains have amassed a dizzyingly varied CV. They have been involved in such historic events as a tour of China (the first Western group to perform on the Great Wall), Roger Waters’ “The Wall” performance in Berlin in 1990, became the first group to give a concert in the Capitol Building of Washington DC, (at the invitation of former Speaker, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill), and more recently, Paddy Moloney performed a memorial service in October in New York for the victims of September 11, 2001. They have performed with many symphony and folk orchestras worldwide, and have broken many musical boundaries by collaborating and performing with some of the biggest names in rock, pop and traditional music in Ireland and around the world.

In 1988 The Chieftains 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’.

The Chieftains are now coming back to UCH on November 2 after their triumphant sellout concert during last year’s Sionna Festival. For further information or bookings contact 061-331549 or log onto www.uch.ie.

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