Brian Hughes

Brian Hughes has played traditional Irish music at the highest level for his entire life. Introduced to music at a very early age, Brian had appeared on television and had won county, Leinster and All Ireland titles by the time he was twelve years old.

He has established himself as one of the greatest exponents of the tinwhistle, and he is also a fine uilleann piper, having studied the pipes through his younger years at the Pipers Club in Dublin.  Over the last number of years Brian has taken particular interest in the flat pitched pipes and the playing style associated with these more mellow sounding instruments.                                                                                

Over the last 20 years Brian has become a highly sought-after recording artist. He has recorded albums with the largest recording companies in the country, and has worked with some of the very best musicians on the scene today. He has recorded no less than seven commercial albums to date, including a major suite of music which he composed for orchestra, whistle and pipes. His latest release was a duet album of pipes and fiddle music which he recorded with fiddler Dave Sheridan. Each album has been met with enormous critical acclaim, and his music has been accepted and recognized globally. Brian is now responsible for the largest body of whistle music ever recorded, and his music has hugely influenced the direction of whistle playing and traditional music generally over the last 20 years.

Although a technically brilliant musician, Brian has an amazing lonesome touch in his playing. Critics have described this as having the ability to explore and unlock the haunting beauty that exists in every Irish air, and to deliver the music in a flawless almost surgical manner.

Brian is now recognized as one of the foremost teachers in the world of traditional Irish music, and due to his technical ability and his genuine love and understanding of the music, he is constantly in high demand for music schools all over Ireland and Europe. He has taught at all the summer schools In Ireland during the years, and has also taught at the Brittany Winter School, and the Return to Camden Town festival in London, and now of course the O Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in the States. He has toured extensively with different projects across Ireland, the UK, Germany, France, Luxembourg, etc., and after 30 years of performing on whistle and pipes at the very highest level, his music still appears to go from strength to strength.