Ceoltóirí Cualann

Innovative Irish traditional music ensemble directed by the musician, composer, and academic, Seán Ó Riada. It emerged out of the ensembles gathered together by Ó Riada while he was musical director at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, at the end of the 1950s. The ensemble made their first radio broadcast in 1961 and in the same year performed the score for the film The Playboy of the Western World. The group disbanded in 1969 after its final performance in Cork City Hall. Their most important recording is the live album Ó Riada sa Gaiety (1969).

Ceoltóirí Cualann was revolutionary because of the motivation of Ó Riada. He intended to create, through this ensemble, a form of Irish art music. The band's arrangements were heavily influenced by classical music and, particularly, jazz, especially in the way that timbre and colour were changed by combining instruments into different groups and concentrating on solos within pieces. Ó Riada's aims were also evident in the presentation of the band in formal music settings - they played in venues associated with classical music and theatre, attired in dress suits. Ceoltóirí Cualann in essence marked the first major move away from a dance music aesthetic and towards a concert, listening music aesthetic. Some of the members of Ceoltóirí Cualann formed the Chieftains.