He is a multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, composer, arranger and author who has worked as a session musician with a broad spectrum of artists.
He managed a studio in England for a time and set up Offspring records, which has released several albums. He still works as a freelance engineer and producer, as well as providing work experience opportunities for people who want to go into further studies in the engineering field.
Often heard as a percussionist, string player or wind musician he has been the British champion at Uillean Pipe playing and worked and recorded internationally in at least 20 countries with numerous artists that include Gary Barlow, Bjork, Celtonia, The Chieftains, Depeche Mode, Michael Flately, Il Divo, Loreena McKennitt, Saskia Tomkins, Uriah Heep and Julian Lloyd Webber among others.
He has also been no stranger to the world of television where he has made appearances in an episode of Friends and on the Des O’Connor Show, performed music for the series How Music Works and Earth: Final Conflict and played music on several commercials.
He was a member of the group Mahogany Gaspipes and in 2004 he and a few of the members they put together the band LinnTilla and released their debut self-titled album in 2005.
He performed the only classical suite for Uillean pipes The Brendan Voyage in 2011, was the audio effects and sound editor on the animated series Legend of Ponnivala which had its release in 2013 and the following year put together the original score for the production of Driving Miss Daisy at Cobourg’s Capital Theatre,
Outside of his work as a performer he has also written several books that include The Low Whistle Book and The Bodhran Book and released an instructional DVD on the bodhran.
Celtonia Recordings
Baloo Lammy (Scottish Traditional)
Zah Zah 9809 (CD: Celtic Flute Christmas)
Harp/Clarsach – Jennifer Campbell
Bodhran/Uillean Pipes – Steafan Hannigan
Guitars – Donald McPhearson
Accordion – Karen Street
Celtic woodflute/Whistles/String & Percussion arranger – Declan Waggett
Here he is playing the bodhran at the Celtic Roots Festival in 2008…
Sources:
- http://www.steafan.com/about.shtml
- http://www.myspace.com/steafan
- http://www.ollysguitar.com/steafan-hannigan-bodhran-p-65303.html
- http://offspringrecords.co.uk/
- http://www.linntilla.com/6.html
- http://www.linntilla.com/5.html
- http://www.flyingcloudfolk.ca/show_details.php?show=20080914+19:30
- http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gnfrxqe5ld6e~T4