O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat
Teaching Traditional Irish Music
Our sessions are conducted by veterans of our Irish music community and some of our instructors. See our SCHEDULE for times and days of these events. Here are the leaders of the scheduled sessions:
Joseph Beckey comes from a choral tradition until discovering Irish music at a pub in 2008. One of the musicians taught a class “Traditional Songs In Harmony” at the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul, MN. After that, he was hooked. He has taken numerous song classes as well as learning to play mandolin, guitar, bouzouki and bodhrán. Soon after learning his first chords, Joseph was … [Read more...] about Joseph Beckey
Workshop – Pub Songs Sing-Along | Song Session Leader
Grace Broadhead is an 18-year old Irish fiddler from Sandia Park, NM who began playing the Irish fiddle when she was eleven. She is a member of two local bands, Albuquerque’s Duke City Ceili Band and Jug O’ Punch. In 2018 and 2019, Grace competed in the Midwest Fleadh. In 2019, her Newly Composed Tune “Chain Reaction” came in 1st place, affording her the opportunity to compete at Fleadh Cheoil … [Read more...] about Grace Broadhead
Guest Concert Performer | Lone Star Ceili Band Member | Lively Session Leader
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
Instructor – Singing | Enrichment Class – Irish Influenced Songs of the Sea | Lead Song Session
2016, 2022
A Washington, DC native, Angela Botzer has played traditional Irish music on the fiddle in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia area since the early 1980’s. She was a member of the DC-based bands Sodabread, and The Hedgerows, and has played for numerous ceilis and contradances. Angela has also had performances at the Irish Embassy in Washington, DC. When living in Oklahoma City, OK, she … [Read more...] about Angela Botzer
Workshop – The North Wind | Moderate Session Leader
Erica Braverman has been playing the concertina since 2014 and teaching beginner lessons in Austin, TX for the past three years. Playing tunes and dancing with friends always makes her smile on the inside, but it took a while for her to learn to play her instrument and smile on the outside at the same time - one of her proudest moments was when she heard that "you don't look like you have lockjaw … [Read more...] about Erica Braverman
Guest Concert Performer | Moderate Session Leader
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
Instructor – Button Accordion | Session – Playing Tunes with…
2022
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
Instructor — Intermediate Fiddle | Session – Playing Tunes with…
2018, 2022
Matthew Cook has been singing all his life, but when the Irish genre took hold of him, the songs in his head were forever changed. The music touched a part of his heart and his soul that lay dormant, and he was instantly connected into the long history of Irish music. Now he plays and sings Irish Music in the DFW area as much as he possibly can. He plays with the bands Slugger’s Rule … [Read more...] about Matthew Cook
Song Session Leader
Laura Flanagan is an outstanding fiddler from Lubbock, Texas. She's traveled widely in the U.S. and Ireland to study with fiddlers Randal Bays, John Carty, James Kelly, Martin Hayes, and Brendan Larrissey. She's performed and taught at several music camps and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where she teaches Irish fiddle and is a high school orchestra … [Read more...] about Laura Flanagan
Former Instructor – Fiddle Fundamentals | Guest Concert Performer | Moderate Session Leader
2013
Sharon Goldwasser has been playing Irish music on the fiddle for nearly thirty years, in spite of living out in the most non-Irish of environments in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. She has performed with two Tucson-based bands -- Round the House and Scatter the Dust. Sharon currently does a little teaching, takes on the odd gig as the opportunity arises, and is always in search of a good … [Read more...] about Sharon Goldwasser
Moderate Session Leader
