Owen O Suilleabhain

Eoin "Owen" Ó Súilleabháin is a singer, composer and storyteller with a deep-rooted belief in the creative power of art. Music, one might say, runs in his blood. Owen's mother Noírín Ni Riain is a leading sacred singer and theologian, and his father Mícheál is a pioneering national composer and founder of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. Along with his brother Mícheál ‘Moley’, Owen writes songs that aspire to "lift and apprentice the human heart to generosity and gratitude", and has released five albums of both ancient and contemporary music, the latest released by Sounds True, called Fields Of Grace - Celtic Meditation Music from the Heart of Ireland. 

The star-studden list of Owen's many collaborators over the years includes the monks of the Glenstal Abbey, Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, singer Sinéad O'Connor, poet John O'Donohue, actor Russell Crowe, director Steven Spielberg, and Irish traditional music legends The Chieftains. While he has performed around the world, Owen now lives in the United States, and is bringing his gifts to bear on industries that range from education and healthcare to the corporate world.

His projects are anything but typical. For instance, he has worked on the role of listening in healing and transformation at a California public hospital affected by gang violence, and composed songs for The Teaching Channel and the Storytelling Project at Stanford University. As author and theologian Barbara Brown Taylor put it, "Owen Ó Súilleabháin is more than stellar musician; he is a soulful physician of the human heart, whose voice goes straight to what is most in need of healing. He has put me back together again more than once, and I cannot thank him enough."  

In 2018, Owen co-founded The Studio, a business that inspires leadership, innovation and culture-change through the experience and the inspiration of artistry. Through this work he engages with leaders to unlock the sensibilities of listening to enable more powerful communication and enliven transformation. 

In the summer of each year Owen curates and leads journeys of art and spirit in Ireland to share his family's artistic gifts and the profound wisdom and rich history that the Golden Vale region has to offer. Owen's academic background includes the study of philosophy, Greek and Roman civilizations, and peace studies. He credits his unique approach to a close working relationship with the poet David Whyte, and to the long friendship his family shared with the late Celtic poet and philosopher John O'Donohue.

Join us in conversation with this multi-dimensional musician who has captivated thousands with his songs and the spirit behind them.