The Ó Súilleabháin Clan of Munster is proud to announce that Andrew Joseph O’Sullivan of Freehold, New Jersey, USA, has been appointed our Official Piper.
Mr. O'Sullivan has always had an interest in Irish and Scottish music. As a young boy, he grew up listening to such groups as Altan, Clannad, Patrick Street, and the Chieftains, which were played often in his home by his father. He was also fascinated by the Irish pipers that marched in the annual New York City St. Patrick's Day parade.
O'Sullivan originally taught himself to play the pipes before joining the Atlantic Watch Pipes & Drums Corp of Red Bank, New Jersey, as a young man. He pursued formal training as a piper with such masters as Brian O’Kane, Iain MacHarg, and Derek Midgley.
Mr. O'Sullivan attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, to study Civil Engineering, where he joined the school's pipe and drum corp. He served as their Pipe Major and Instructor for new pipers.
While living in Vermont, O'Sullivan also joined the Catamount Pipe Band of Montpelier, and competed with them twice in the World Pipe Band Championships. Upon returning to New Jersey after graduation, he served as Pipe Major of the Atlantic Watch from 2016-2020 and is now the Pipe Sergeant of the group. He is also an active instructor of student pipers.
In 2017, O'Sullivan began trainng as a fiddler as well, inspired by the Smithsonian's production, “The Heart of Cape Breton.” After taking advanced lessons with the famed Cape Breton fiddler, Andrea Beaton, O'Sullivan began composing his own traditional music and has since written over thirty reels, strathspeys, jigs, marches, and airs.
O'Sullivan is an avid student and speaker of the Irish language, to which he is dedicated to preserve and promote.
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