O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat
Teaching Traditional Irish Music
We are very fortunate to have as core instructors some of the most talented musicians and teachers currently active in Irish music today. We continue the tradition of sharing Irish music "knee to knee" by enabling our students to learn face to face with those who are recognized as great stewards of the music. Here are our core instructors for this year:
Bodhrán -- Jacob McCauley, Nicolle Fig (Fundamentals)
Bouzouki -- Alan Murray
Button Accordion -- Sharon Shannon
Concertina --Pádraig Rynne, Margaret Keefe (Fundamentals)
Dancing (Sean-Nós) -- Rebecca McGowan
Fiddle (Fundamentals) -- Tess Hartis
Fiddle (Intermediate) -- Tara Breen, Brid Harper, Oisin McAuley
Fiddle (Advanced) -- Matt Cranitch
Flute -- Louise Mulcahy
Guitar -- Jim Murray, Margaret Graham (melody player)
Harp -- Cormac De Barra
Mandolin -- Dave Curley, Jack Maher (Fundamentals)
Singing -- David McKindley-Ward
Tenor Banjo -- Enda Scahill, Jack Maher (Fundamentals)
Uilleann Pipes -- Colm Broderick
Whistle -- Colin Farrell
A worthy descriptions “a musical wizard” by Music Network ,Tara Breen is the fiddle player with the legendary band The Chieftains. She is a highly talented multi-instrumentalist from Co. Clare, has achieved All-Ireland titles on fiddle in every age category over the years, culminating with the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Title in 2012. Tara is also an All-Ireland winner on the flute and … [Read more...] about Tara Breen
Instructor – Intermediate Fiddle | Informance
2023
Colm is an award winning piper from Carlow in Ireland. He began playing the whistle at an early age and progressed onto the uilleann pipes, learning from many of Ireland’s foremost pipers. He was selected by Na Píobairi Uilleann as the inheritor of Liam O’Flynn’s pipes, on Liam's death in 2018. He is tasked with playing and taking care of this instrument, while carrying on the legacy of its … [Read more...] about Colm Broderick
Instructor – Uilleann Pipes | Enrichment Class – The Music of Liam O’Flynn
2023
Matt Cranitch is renowned as a fiddle-player and teacher, both at home in Ireland and abroad. He has performed extensively at concerts and festivals, on radio and television, and has presented lectures, master-classes and workshops on various aspects of Irish music. He has won All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil titles, as well as The Fiddler of Dooney and Oireachtas Crotty Cup. Author of The Irish … [Read more...] about Matt Cranitch
Instructor – Advanced Fiddle | Enrichment Class – Metrical Crossover in Irish Traditional Music
2007, 2008, 2012, 2023
Dave Curley is a multi-instrumentalist , singer and songwriter from Co. Galway Ireland. He regularly performs with a number of music ensembles in North America including One for the Foxes, SLIDE, The Crannua Collective, fiddler Finn Magill, the Ashley Davis Band, and with fiddler Colin Farrell. The One for the Foxes album Take A Look Around received Album of the Year from the American Celtic … [Read more...] about Dave Curley
Instructor – Mandolin | Enrichment Class – A Closer Look at Planxty’s “After the Break”
2012, 2019, 2021, 2023
Cormac De Barra is a harper and television presenter and comes from a family of traditional Irish musicians and singers. He is the third generation of harper in the family and first studied with his grandmother, Róisín Ní Shé, in Dublin. He went on to study concert harp in the USA. As a traditional harper, Cormac has recorded and toured with his brothers Fionán and Éamonn in the family group … [Read more...] about Cormac De Barra
Instructor – Harp | Enrichment Class – The Irish Harp Revival of the Early-Mid 20th Century
2014, 2023
Colin Farrell, whose parents are from Co. Galway and Co. Cavan, was born in Manchester, England, into a musical family. Colin started playing the fiddle and tin whistle from an early age and has made a name for himself performing and recording with an array of great musicians in Europe and the U.S., including Flook, Grada, Karen Casey, John Doyle, The Elders, Julie Fowlis, Tim … [Read more...] about Colin Farrell
Instructor – Whistle | Enrichment Class – A Closer Look at Planxty’s “After the Break”
2016, 2019, 2023
Nicolle Fig was born in Mexico City. Years later, she moved to Texas and then Ireland, where she developed a passion for Irish culture, its music, and its people. Nicolle specialises in bodhrán and traditional singing. Nicolle’s distinctive lyrical style of bodhrán playing has made her a highly sought-after musician and accompanist, both at home and abroad. She is also an in-demand teacher. Her … [Read more...] about Nicolle Fig
Instructor – Bodhrán
2023
Her fiddle work has been described as "fearless and formidable . . . with captivating tone and intonation," Virginia-born Margaret Graham honed her traditional music skills playing at festivals with a vast array of talents. Margaret is a classically-trained violinist and former concertmistress of the Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestra. This early training served as a foundation for her interest in … [Read more...] about Margaret Graham
Melody Player – Guitar Classes | Guest Concert Performer | Lively Session Leader
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 … [Read more...] about Brid Harper
Instructor – Intermediate Fiddle | Informance
2017, 2023
Tess Hartis is a Houston-based fiddler whose technical mastery of the violin shines in the worlds of traditional Irish music, classical music, and beyond. Tess began studying the violin at the age of 8, and earned degrees in Violin Performance and Music Education from the University of South Carolina. She spent her university years learning Irish fiddling through countless hours of transcribing … [Read more...] about Tess Hartis
Instructor – Fiddle Fundamentals | Workshop Presenter – Can You Play That Part Again? — Learning Tunes By Ear
2023
