Tutors

FIDDLE

John Carty

John Carty is one of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians having been awarded the Irish Television station, TG4’s Traditional Musician of the Year in 2003. Born in London, fiddle and banjo player John Carty has established himself among the elite in Irish traditional music and as a staunch supporter of its preservation. Carty developed his love for fiddle, banjo, and flute, all of which he has mastered, through his multi-instrumentalist father who was a member of the Glenside Ceili Band in London in the 1960’s. Soon after settling in Boyle, Co Roscommon, Carty released his 1994 debut banjo album, The Cat that Ate the Candle to positive reviews. This led to his first fiddle album, Last Night’s Fun, released on Shanachie Records in 1996 and was closely followed by two further solo fiddle albums Yeh, That’s All It Is and At It Again. 

These albums have been described as milestones in recorded fiddle music. In 1997 he formed At the Racket, a fun, loose, free-spirited dance band named after an old Flanagan Brothers 78 rpm. The group has recorded three highly acclaimed CDs all on John’s own label Racket Records. 2005 saw the launch of I Will If I Can Carty’s latest solo CD featuring banjo and tenor guitar. Accompanied by Alec Finn, Brian McGrath and Johnny McDonagh. John performs regularly with Chieftain’s flautist Matt Molloy exploring the North Connaught tradition they both love. In 2008 they released Pathway to the Well a CD of their music accompanied by Arty McGlynn and recently released a follow up Out of the Ashes.

Bríd Harper

Bríd Harper is regarded as one of the leading Irish traditional fiddle players of the last forty years. She grew up close to the east Donegal village of Castlefinn and started playing the fiddle at the age of nine. There is music on both sides of her family. Her grandfather Stephen Harper was a fiddler and came from a musical family. On her mother’s side her uncle Frank Kelly is a well known fiddler.  

She is an MA graduate of the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at University of Limerick.  She has toured extensively and performed with many great musicians including Dermot Byrne, Steve Cooney, Arty McGlynn, Nollaig Casey, Maeve Donnelly, Harry Bradley, John Doyle, Sylvain Barou Nicolas Quemener and more. 

Siobhán Peoples

Raised in Clare, Siobhán Peoples has been involved in music in the community from the age of 11. Siobhán’s musical history is a combination of Donegal, through her father, Tommy, and Clare, through her grandmother, Kitty Linnane, who was the pianist with the original Kilfenora Ceili Band. Raised in Clare, she has been involved in music in the community from the age of 11. Discovering the expansive fiddle music of Donegal in her mid-teens led her to take a different approach to the fiddle and she became immersed in the vastly different style and repertoire of the county. She has been a tutor in the University of Limerick for the past 20 years and enjoys teaching all over Ireland and Europe.

Chris Stout

Born and brought up in the Shetland Islands, Chris Stout has, over the last few years, become nationally and internationally recognised as one of the most exciting and dynamic fiddle players and composers of his generation.  

Whether as a solo artist, one half of his duo with long time musical associate Catriona McKay or as a member of Fiddlers Bid, Chris continues to innovate within traditional and contemporary musical circles, delivering performances which excite and inspire audiences all over the world.  

Chris’s restless ambition to collaborate and discover music from around the world has taken him to countless countries such as Brasil, Japan, Jordan, Algeria and Norway to name but a few. As well as working in traditional line-ups Chris has had very memorable performances with the B.B.C Scottish Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.  

Having previously written music for 2 of the main orchestras in Scotland Chris was invited back to compose a new piece for the R.S.N.O. This was premiered in Shetland in March 2012 and again in Glasgow later that year.  The 2010 album ‘White Nights’ with the extraordinary harpist Catriona McKay received fantastic reviews in the media and was described as “a stunning album – moving, spiky, joyous, quietly beautiful and truly inspired”.  

In 2013 Chris was awarded the title 'Musician of the Year' at the Scots Trad Awards. An award Chris is immensely proud of haven been given. The 2017 album Bare Knuckle with Catriona McKay won them critical acclaim across the board and early in 2018 the duo were awarded the 'Best Duo' at the BBC Folk Awards.  

Niall Keegan

Niall Keegan is an Irish traditional musician and academic known for his proficiency in playing the flute and whistle.

He holds a position as a lecturer in Traditional Music at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Niall Keegan has been involved in various musical projects and has contributed to the promotion and preservation of Irish traditional music

Louise Mulcahy

Louise Mulcahy began playing the tin whistle at age five and a few years later moved on to flute, Matt Molloy and Eamonn Cotter becoming formative influences on her style. At thirteen she took up uilleann pipes, taught by Dave Hegarty in Tralee and in monthly master-classes at NPU in Dublin.. One of the few female performers on what is a male-dominated instrument, she featured on the NPU compilation A New Dawn in 1999, and has taught at both the Chris Langan Piping Tionól in Toronto and the East Coast Piping Tionól in the Catskills, USA. A primary-level teacher in Co. Meath, she is the only person in the fleadh’s history to have won four senior All-Ireland titles in the one day.

Alongside her incredible musicianship, Louise’s groundbreaking research work on women in uilleann piping has received worldwide critical acclaim. Louise has performed and presented her research work at many prestigious events, broadcasts, festivals, universities and also presented the landmark documentary for TG4 titled Mná na bPíob in 2021. 

 “Louise is one of the finest musicians of her generation.”  –  Matt Molloy 

“Mulcahy’s repertoire is as broad, welcoming and discerning as her instrumental virtuosity.” –  Siobhán Long – The Irish Times