ABOUT CIAN
Cian Boylan is an Irish producer, pianist, composer, arranger, musical director, and songwriter working internationally in the music industry for over 25 years.
Regarded as one of the most versatile musicians in Ireland, Cian works across many genres and is equally at home writing, producing and performing with pop, rock, jazz and r’n’b artists as he is arranging and composing for big band, orchestra and film/TV projects.
A critically acclaimed jazz pianist, he has recorded a number of albums under his own name and produced or performed as a sideman on many others.
He is the owner and producer at Dublin’s premier recording facility Camden Recording Studios which is the base for most of his album and television/film music productions.
ARTISTS
Some of the artists Cian has worked with include:
SINEAD O CONNOR • BONO • RUFUS WAINWRIGHT • GREGORY PORTER • JAMIE LAWSON • EMILY SANDÉ • DAVID GRAY • GALIA ARAD • JERRY FISH • GARY LIGHTBODY • ELLA HENDERSON • JESSIE BUCKLEY • ANNE MARIE • IMELDA MAY • CIAN DUCROT • ANDREA CORR • DUKE SPECIAL • THE VILLAGERS • THE BLIZZARDS • GEORGE MICHAEL • THE BLADES • SISTER SLEDGE • CAMILLE O'SULLIVAN • NINA NESBITT • WENDY JAMES • DAVE STEWART • MONCRIEFF • BRIAN ENO • MARIA MCKEE • MAY KAY • MARTHA WAINWRIGHT • ELEANOR MCEVOY • RONAN KEATING • AIMEE • LYRA • BELL X1 • MUNDY • LISA LAMBE • DECLAN O’ROURKE • RICCARDO COCCIANTE • THE FOUR OF US • GABRIELLE APLIN • HUDSON TAYLOR • RUTH ANNE • IRISH WOMEN IN HARMONY • LUCY WAINWRIGHT • VAN MORRISON • SAM PALLADIO • BRONAGH GALLAGHER • RONAN KEATING • LOAH • CATHY DAVEY • GLEN HANSARD • AN EMOTIONAL FISH • MARY COUGHLAN • ASLAN • TURIN BRAKES • HOTHOUSE FLOWERS • NEIL HANNON • JOSH RITTER • SOMETHING HAPPENS • PADDY CASEY • PAUL BRADY • ANDREW STRONG • TURIN BRAKES • THE FEELING • CIARAN LAVERY • ROISIN O • BRESSIE • JULIET TURNER • DR LINLEY HAMILTON • ADAM NUSSBAUM • MARK EGAN • NEW ORLEANS SWAMP DONKEYS • BEN CASTLE • CORMAC KENEVEY • DARREN BECKETT • DAVE REDMOND • GEORGIA MANCIO • POLLY GIBBONS • JEANNETTE BYRNE • DONNA BISSETT • DANA MASTERS • KAREN EGAN • JESS KAVANAGH • MICHAEL BUCKLEY • RTE CONCERT ORCHESTRA • THE ULSTER ORCHESTRA • THE IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA • THE NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA • IRISH FILM ORCHESTRA • THE CAMDEN ORCHESTRA • THE LIBERTY ORCHESTRA • THE SOFIA NATIONAL ORCHESTRA • DUBLIN CITY JAZZ ORCHESTRA • LAS VEGAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RECENT WORK
Cian divides his time between performing, producing, arranging for studio and concert work, co-writing with established and emerging artists and composing for Film, TV and Advertisements.
Recently work includes being producer and keyboardist for the recording studio band on the FOX US TV show “Name That Tune” featuring Randy Jackson and Jane Krakowski. He was also musical director for the FOX US and Virgin Media production of The Big Deal featuring Boy George, Vogue Williams, Aston Merrigold amongst others. He was musical director and arranger to celebrate the recent partnership of Three with The Olympia Theatre alongside Ken Rice conducting the Liberty Orchestra, featuring an array of Irish stars including Lyra, Saint Sister, Aimeé and Jafaris amongst others.
He was musical director and orchestral arranger for the legendary Feile concerts 2018 to 2021 in The Three Arena, Dublin and Semple Stadium, Thurles featuring Sinead O’Connor alongside an array of great artists and the Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO). He was also arranger and musical director for her stunning performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” on the Late Late Show which received over 2M views on Youtube within it’s first three days.
Recent productions include Ronan Keatings new album “Songs From Home” which he produced alongside Grammy Award winning mix engineer Ruadhrí Cushnan for Decca records. Cian produced and arranged the soundtrack for the animated film “Little Caribou” with songs written and performed by Cathy Davey.
Cian produced and arranged “Homeward Bound” for the Street Lights Album which reached number 1 in the Top 100 Irish Single Charts. The song featured a host of stars including Snow Patrol, Bono, Conor O Brien (The Villagers), Saint Sister, Little Green Cars, Cathy Davey, Loah, Roisin O, Galia Arad, and Bell X1.
Other concert and album arrangements include the arrangements and orchestrations for the Irish Chamber Orchestra for the initial return of the Trip To Tipp featuring The Hothouse Flowers, The Stunning, An Emotional Fish, The Frank & Walters, Something Happens and The Four Of Us which reached number 1 on the Top 100 Irish Album Charts.
Some notable album productions and arrangements include Jeannette Byrne’s stunning album “Women Of The One World” featuring the 40-piece Liberty Orchestra, Dr Linley Hamilton’s critically acclaimed “Making Other Arrangements” featuring The Camden Orchestra and Bronagh Gallagher’s “Gather Your Greatness” featuring Brian Eno and Maria McKee.
Recent Film and TV composing and arranging work include his music featured on Element Pictures’ global hit TV series NORMAL PEOPLE, Golden Bear nominee RETURN TO MONTAUK starring Stellan Skarsgard and Nina Hoss by Oscar Winning director Volker Schondorf, Oscar Nominated THE LOBSTER featuring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weitz, and John C. Reilly, and the feature film LAST RIGHTS featuring Michel Huisman, Brian Cox, Niamh Algar and Colm Meaney.
He also wrote the title track for recent feature film THE BRIGHT SIDE with songwriter Galia Arad featuring Dana Masters on vocals and arranged and composed additional music for the feature L.O.L.A. alongside composer Neil Hannon.
Other work on TV series includes Bafta Award-winning RIPPER STREET (Amazon Prime/BBC TV - Seasons 2 to 5) starring Matthew MacFayden, Discover Channel's HARLEY & THE DAVIDSONS starring Dougray Scott, the RTE/BBC series CAN'T COPE WON'T COPE. He also composes for ads under the moniker Growl Music with UK saxophonist and composer Ben Castle.
As a performer he has played in many prestigious venues and concert halls around the world, including Europe, USA, Russia, China, Japan, South America and the Middle East.
A critically acclaimed jazz pianist, he has also performed in some of the most famous jazz clubs in the world including Ronnie Scotts (London) and The Iridium (New York). He is the band leader and vocalist in his eight-piece New Orleans funk outfit “Toot Sweet and The Shadow Man” described by Jazzwise Magazine as “The Perfect Festival Band”. He is a sensitive accompanist and enjoys working with singers. He is currently musical director for jazz vocalists Dana Masters and Cormac Kenevey. His current project is with Dr Linley Hamilton (trumpet) and features legendary US jazz drummer and bass player Adam Nussbaum and Mark Egan and also Derek O’Connor on tenor saxophone. The albums feature Cian’s original material alongside originals by Linley, Nussbaum and Egan.