O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

Teaching Traditional Irish Music

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Instructors - Core Classes

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List of Core Classes

Bodhrán -- Amy Richter, Rick Holt (Fundamentals)
Bouzouki -- Brian Miller
Button Accordion -- Dermot Byrne
Concertina -- Niamh Ní Charra, Lexie Boatright (Fundamentals)
Dancing (Sean-Nós) -- Maldon Meehan
Fiddle (Fundamentals) -- Katie Geringer
Fiddle (Intermediate) -- Yvonne Casey, Haley Richardson
Fiddle (Advanced) -- Brian Conway
Flute -- Nuala Kennedy, Norah Rendell (Fundamentals)
Guitar -- John Doyle
Harp -- Gráinne Hambly
Mandolin -- Baron Collins-Hill, Jim DeWan (Fundamentals)
Singing -- Shay Black
Tenor Banjo -- Éamonn Coyne, Jim DeWan (Fundamentals)
Uilleann Pipes -- Patrick Hutchinson
Whistle -- Brian Hughes, Norah Rendell (Fundamentals)

Shay Black

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Shay Black is an avid songcatcher, musician and singer and is known for his extensive knowledge of songs and music from the Irish, English, Scottish, and North American traditions. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he moved in 1994 to Berkeley, CA from Liverpool, where he had lived for the previous twenty years. While in Liverpool, he toured and recorded with Irish band Garva, the celebrated Stan Hugill … [Read more...] about Shay Black

Shay
Black

Instructor – Singing  |  Enrichment Class – Irish Influenced Songs of the Sea  |  Lead Song Session

2016, 2022

Lexie Boatright

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Alex Boatright is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, performer, and teacher known for her effortless musicality and sensitive musicianship on Harp and Concertina. Alex is the Artistic Director of the Baltimore-Washington Academy of Irish Culture, a non-profit that she founded together with Fiddler Mitch Fanning, which provides children in the DMV area with a rich education in traditional … [Read more...] about Lexie Boatright

Alex
Boatright

Instructor – Concertina Fundamentals  |  Enrichment Class – How to Practice Effectively

2021, 2022

Dermot Byrne

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Dermot Byrne hails from the Inishowen peninsula of Co. Donegal, the most northerly part of Ireland, and has played accordion from the early age of  four.  He learned from his father Tomás O’Beirn from Teileann in South West Donegal who is an enthusiastic promoter of the tradition. Dermot at the age of only seven had already achieved an All Ireland Title at the Buncrana Fleadh Cheoil … [Read more...] about Dermot Byrne

Dermot
Byrne

Instructor – Button Accordion  | Session – Playing Tunes with…

2022

Yvonne Casey

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Yvonne Casey is one of Co. Clare’s most distinctive fiddle players. She grew up surrounded by the richness of Clare music and plays in a very unique soulful style. Sitting in sessions from a very young age she discovered the joys of Doolin as a teen, where she met and played with legendary musicians such as Kevin Griffin and Eoin O’ Neill. In the 1990’s the band The Ceili Bandits was formed, … [Read more...] about Yvonne Casey

Yvonne
Casey

Instructor — Intermediate Fiddle  |  Session – Playing Tunes with…

2018, 2022

Baron Collins-Hill

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Baron Collins-Hill grew up playing the mandolin in Maine and graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in music performance and ethnomusicology. Versed in traditional fiddle music, bluegrass, and jazz, he is known for his rhythmic experimentation and unique harmonic sense on both the mandolin, tenor guitar, and Irish bouzouki. Baron plays with fiddler Julia Plumb in their duo Velocipede and … [Read more...] about Baron Collins-Hill

Baron
Collins-Hill

Instructor – Mandolin  |  Enrichment Class – Music Theory for Traditional Musicians

2022

Brian Conway

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New York born fiddler Brian Conway is a leading exponent of the tastefully ornamented Sligo fiddling style made famous by the late Michael Coleman. The winner of two All- Ireland junior titles in 1973 and 1974 and the All-Ireland senior championship of 1986, Brian's early studies were with his father Jim of Plumbridge, County Tyrone and with Limerick born fiddler/teacher Martin Mulvihill. However, … [Read more...] about Brian Conway

Brian
Conway

Instructor – Advanced Fiddle  |  Enrichment Class – New York’s Legendary Irish Fiddlers

2009, 2012, 2018, 2022

Éamonn Coyne

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Éamonn Coyne (eamonncoyne.com), who now lives in Edinburgh, is originally from Ireland (Dublin/Roscommon). On his debut solo album, ‘Through the Round Window’ (on Compass Records and released in late 2002) he plays banjo, guitars, and mandolin along with many close friends including Grammy Award winner Alison Brown, Dermot Byrne, Tom Morrow, Ciarán Curran, Kevin Doherty and Michael McGoldrick. … [Read more...] about Éamonn Coyne

Éamonn
Coyne

Instructor – Tenor Banjo  |  Informance

2022

Jim DeWan

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Jim DeWan is a multifaceted musician and teacher of strings.  As a guitarist, his driving and melodic accompaniment style has led to performances and recordings with, among many others, Liz Carroll, Maurice Lennon, Laurence Nugent, and the Trinity Irish Dance Company, for whom he also served as musical director. He’s a recipient of the Illinois Ethnic and Folk Arts Fellowship, and, in August, … [Read more...] about Jim DeWan

Jim
DeWan

Instructor – Mandolin & Tenor Banjo Fundamentals  |  Enrichment Class – Getting Your Rhythmic House in Order

2022

John Doyle

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Originally from Dublin, and a longtime resident of Asheville, N.C., John Doyle is a compelling singer and songwriter, producer, multi-Grammy nominee, and an extraordinary master of the Irish guitar whose singular percussive style has influenced a generation of players. A founding member of the acclaimed group Solas, John’s guitar sound took the traditional music world by storm and has likely … [Read more...] about John Doyle

John
Doyle

Instructor – Guitar | Enrichment Class – Telling Stories through Ballads  |  Recipient of the Irish Artist in America Achievement Award (2011)

2005, 2011, 2019, 2022

Katie Geringer

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Katie Geringer is a classical violinist turned Irish fiddler based in Houston, TX. An initial departure from her classical training led Katie down a path of performing bluegrass and old-time music in north Florida and around the southeast where she grew up. Once acclimated to the folk music world, she quickly gravitated towards Irish music and began listening, learning, and imitating as much as … [Read more...] about Katie Geringer

Katie
Geringer

Instructor — Fiddle Fundamentals  |  Enrichment Class – The Rhythm of Rolls

2022

Testimonials

Former Student

This was my first time to attend the Retreat. I was highly impressed with how well run it was, how well organized it was and how friendly and helpful everyone was. I have attended other Irish music schools in Milwaukee and Elkins, West Virginia and the O'Flaherty's Retreat was "top notch" from start to finish.

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