has carved a long and unique career in music both internationally and in Ireland. From his iconic early recording of the vision song “Aisling Gheal” as a young boy to his ground breaking recordings with Dublin’s Crash Ensemble and New York’s Alarm Will Sound, he has shown a breadth of artistic ambition both as songwriter and performer that sets him apart in the Irish Music fraternity. Preferring not be categorized, his performances and recorded output follows an ambitious arc that challenges musical identity, from Traditional Sean Nós Song to Worldbeat, from Alt Folk to Opera. A twice Grammy nominated artist, Ó Lionáird has worked with a stellar cast of composers internationally including Donnacha Dennehy, Dan Trueman, Ludwig Göransson, Nico Muhly, Kate Moore, Linda Buckley, Gemma Peacocke, Gavin Bryars, Ailiís Ní Riain, James Moore, Annika Socolofsky, Pascal Le Boeuf, Caroline Shaw, Molly Herron and David Lang and he has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave, Robert Plant, Colin Stetson and Sinead O’Connor. His unique singing style has carried him to stages and concert halls all over the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House, London’s Royal Albert Hall and beyond. He is the recipient of numerous music related awards: A Meteor Music Award, A TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award, RTE Radio 1 Irish Folk Music Award, BBC Radio 2 Folk Award. And for his broadcasting work he has received both Silver and Gold at the New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programs Awards for his series on Songs and Singing- “Vocal Chords” for RTE Lyric FM. Iarla has performed as soloist with concert and symphony orchestras including the Ulster Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Centre, USA, The Irish National Symphony Orchestra and the RTE Concert Orchestra. He has also recorded and performed with a wide range of Chamber and smaller ensembles across the world including Contemporaneous, Alarm Will Sound, So Percussion, Eighth Blackbird, Present Music, The Vanburgh Quartet, The West Ocean Quartet, Publiq Quartet, Quartetto Maurice and the Crash Ensemble. His voice has graced the silver screen also with film credits extending from “The Gangs of New York” to “Hotel Rwanda” and most recently as featured vocalist in the film “Calvary” starring Brendan Gleeson, as featured singer in the film “Brooklyn” starring Saoirse Ronan and as vocalist, arranger and music consultant on the Ryan Coogler film “Sinners” (2025). He is co-founder and vocalist with the acclaimed Irish /American band “The Gloaming.”