Young Tipperary uileann pipe player wins prestigious Musician of the Year award

Cian Smith a 13 year old 2nd year student at Clonmel High School became the inaugural winner of the very successful Rotary Young Musician Competition held in Raheen House Hotel recently.

The competition attracted a wide variety of young musicians performing differing musical genres on the night. Apart from a number of young vocalists who delighted the audience and judges with their performances, other participants included traditional musicians on the flute, concertina, fiddle as well as performances on the piano from young classical pianists.

All impressed the judges with their professionalism and composure during their performances.

Rotary President, Joe O’Sullivan said “the Clonmel Rotary Club were delighted to organise the competition to showcase the wonderful musical talent which is nurtured in the community by parents, teachers and local musical societies. These people who give voluntarily of their time to train, encourage and support the obvious musical talent among the young people deserve to be applauded. They bring much joy and happiness to our community and enrich what has been part of our culture and heritage for generations.”

All participants were presented with certificates of participation by President Joe and Cian received a cheque for €500 for winning the competition.

Cian also plays the tin whistle and is an All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil winner at both the Uilleann Pipes and the Tin Whistle in 2015, 2017 and 2018. He has performed on the Late Late Show and the Ray D’Arcy radio show. He has appeared BBC - Little Big Shots - show where he performed and was interviewed by Dawn French.

He was invited to play solo at Gala Black Tie event in Boston in 2016/17 and has performed at a concert in Switzerland. Recently he has been invited to play at a concert in Berlin.

President Joe thanked the judges, Michael O’Donoghue, Derek Ryan and John Murray for adjudicating and for their support and enthusiasm for the Competition.