11.00am – 4.00pm • Masterclasses
Singing masterclass will run from 10.00am – 1.00pm
Guitar masterclass will run from 10.00am – 3.00pm
4.00pm • Workshop Concert
MASTERCLASSES
Fee £20 – Book on Eventbrite
(Workshop fee includes lunch)
Early booking is essential.
Masterclass numbers will be limited.
For information / registration book by clicking the ticket links
T: +44 (0) 7771 607 840 or email: info@brantryfleadh.com
BRÍD HARPER – fiddle
Bríd, from Castlefinn, Co. Donegal now lives in Galbally, Co. Tyrone. She won numerous under-age All Ireland titles and other prestigious fiddle awards including the Senior All Ireland, Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Fiddler of Dooney.
Bríd an MA graduate of the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at University of Limerick has toured extensively. She has been hailed as one of the leading exponents of traditional fiddle playing of our time. Bríd is highly respected as a teacher and has tutored at many Summer Schools and Workshops throughout Ireland and in France, Holland and the USA. Her first solo CD was released in 2015 and has enjoyed much success to date.
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STEPHEN HAYDEN – fiddle
Stephen Hayden is regarded as one of the finest fiddle players of his generation. He first rose to fame as the fiddle player in energetic trad band Upstairs in a Tent, over 20 years ago. In more recent times Stephen has performed as a guest with bands such as the Mairtin O’Connor Trio and Four men and a dog, before coming a full time member of the ’Dogs’.
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DARREN BRESLIN – accordion
2008 All Ireland Senior Accordion Fleadh Cheoil winner Darren Breslin is a native of Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh. His style is a combination of smoothness and crispness, with perfect triplets, dazzling rolls and total mastery of the bellows movement. He was a featured artist on RTE’s radio series, “Bloom of Youth”& on many Fleadh Cheoil TV shows.
Darren currently performs with various traditional musicians the length and breadth of Ireland including greats such as Brid Harper on Fiddle and Brian McGrath on Piano & Banjo.
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ÓRLAITH McAULIFFE – flute
Órlaith McAuliffe, the TG4 Young Traditional Musician of the Year, is a London-born (to Kerry parents) flute and whistle player who lists among her broad church of influences Matt Molloy, Kevin Crawford, Louise Mulcahy, Catherine McEvoy and Séamus Tansey. But it’s in the marriage of flute and whistle styles that McAuliffe has established herself as a true original, both as a player and a composer.
This flute and whistle player is already a much-talked-about performer for her accomplished, energetic, technically faultless and whole-hearted playing.
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PJ McDONALD – whistle
PJ McDonald is one of Ireland’s finest traditional singers and whistle players. These days he is just as likely to be admired for his guitar work, making him a true multi-instrumentalist, performing with some of the biggest names in Traditional Music. PJ has recently launched his debut album, ‘The Long Way Home’.
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THERESA O’GRADY – banjo
Theresa O’Grady is considered one of the finest banjo players in the country. Originally from Luton, England, she now lives in Aclare, Co Sligo. and is a very popular teacher at Workshops all over Ireland, Europe and more recently Australia. Her debut solo album, BANJO’ista, has been greatly anticipated and is already receiving rave reviews.
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PAULINE SCANLON – singing
Pauline Scanlon is a traditional singer from Dingle, in the West Kerry Gaeltacht. Deeply immersed in the tradition yet completely aware of the edgier developments within the folk and world music realm, Pauline Scanlon is capable of making the oldest ballads sound immediate and fresh while granting newer material a timeless resonance. Joining her at the Brantry Fleadh this year will be Nicola Joyce, a singer and songwriter from Co Galway, and member of Folk Award nominated band The Whileaways. They will be ably assisted on banjo and guitar by Eoin Wynne and Fabien Joyce. Together the quartet will sing an informed selection of folk songs meticulously arranged with an emphasis on harmony.
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LOUISE MULCAHY – uilleann pipes
Born in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick Louise is a well-established performer and tutor on both flute and uilleann pipes. Louise has travelled extensively in both capacities, as both performer and teacher of the tradition, appearing at some of the biggest national and international music festivals throughout Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, America and Canada.
Louise was voted Female Musician of the Year at the Live Ireland Awards in 2017 jointly with her sister Michelle. Louise also received the award in 2015 and 2005 and was awarded Tradconnect Album of the year for year in 2017 for the latest album release titled, ‘The Reel Note’, featuring Louise, her father Mick and sister Michelle. Louise is a regular contributor to music programmes, nationally and internationally, both on television and on radio and has also presented the traditional Irish Music series ‘Geantraí’ for the Irish language television station TG4. Louise graduated with her masters degree from Trinity College Dublin in 2015.
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MICHELLE MULCAHY- concertina
Michelle Mulcahy is one of Ireland’s most talented and gifted multi-instrumentalists in Irish traditional music today. Her array of instrumental mastery spans the harp, concertina, fiddle, piano, accordion and melodeon. She is considered to be one of Ireland’s most adroit and creative harpers. She is a regular performer and tutor worldwide and has recorded five albums by American record label Shanachie and Irish record label Cló Iar-Chonnacht. Her latest album ‘The Reel Note’ which she recorded with her father Mick and sister Louise, was voted Album of the Year 2016 at the Trad Connect Music Awards.
She was awarded the prestigious TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2006 and was also awarded Female Musician of the Year in 2005 at the Live-Ireland awards in the United States, in 2013 for her solo album Suaimhneas and jointly with her sister Louise in 2017. Michelle recently graduated with her PhD from the University of Limerick, her dissertation being titled ‘Aistear: Performing Cultural Encounter: An Arts Practice Investigation of Karen, Burmese and Irish Harping Traditions’.
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LAOISE KELLY – harp
Laoise Kelly from Westport, Co. Mayo, now living on Achill Island, is regarded as the most significant harper of her generation – Nuala O’Connor. She has pioneered a new style of driving instrumental harping showcased in her three critically acclaimed solo albums Just Harp, Ceis and Fáilte Uí Cheallaigh. She is director of the new Achill International Harp Festival, encompassing her role as musical director of music Suites Sraith Oileán Acla, Mayo-Breton & Ireland Galicia collaborations.
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STEVE COONEY – guitar
Steve Cooney is best known for his development of an influential style of guitar accompaniment to traditional Irish music. He came to Ireland from Australia in 1980 and maintains his connections with the Aboriginal culture there. Creatively involved in more than 240 CDs, he has worked with many iconic international artists. Also a poet and songwriter, he completed a Ph.D. in 2018 on an intuitive musical notation system that he devised. In 2007 at the Rostrevor Fiddler’s Green Festival Seamus Heaney wrote: ‘Master Cooney restores the ancient link between lyre and lyric, between poetry and performance, the rhapsody and rascality’.
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KIERAN LEONARD – bodhrán
Kieran is a free-lance percussionist, timpanist, drummer & Irish Music specialist from Enniskillen, Co.Fermanagh, based in London.
A graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, he is very active on the London orchestral scene working regularly with English National Opera and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Other orchestral engagements include the Ulster Orchestra (Guest Principal Timpani & Percussion), RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (Guest Principal Timpani), RTÉ Concert Orchestra (Percussion & Drum Kit) and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. 2018 saw him make his West End debut, deputising on the musical ‘Chess’ at the London Coliseum.
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BRIAN McGRATH- piano
F
rom Brookeborough Co. Fermanagh Brian started playing music at 5 years, starting on accordion and piano, and progressing to banjo in his teenage years. Brian has played in many bands and groups including; Dervish, Four men and a Dog, The Sean Keane Band, and At the Racket. He currently plays in De Danann and has played on over 200 albums to date, and is now a very much sought after accompanist and soloist. Brian also travels the world giving workshops and masterclasses.
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