Instructors and Performers
Myron Bretholz, Bodhrán
A native and current resident of Baltimore, Maryland, Myron has lent his talents as a percussionist to more than sixty recordings of Irish, Scottish, and other folk music. Since the late 1980's, Myron has taught bodhrán and rhythm bones at many workshops throughout the United States and Canada, including Boston College's Gaelic Roots, Gaelic College in Cape Breton, the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Texas, and the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York.
In March 2000, Myron was privileged to receive a Maryland State Arts Council grant for solo instrumental performance, and he was also honored to play at the White House on four occasions in the late 1990's and early 2000's. In addition, Myron's prodigious knowledge of the history and lore of Irish tunes has led to his being invited to contribute liner notes to a number of recordings over the past quarter century, and he is often called on to emcee at concerts and festivals as well. Myron received early inspiration and instruction in bodhrán from Jesse Winch and in rhythm bones from Karen Seime Singleton, and also counts among his influences the playing of Robin Morton, Peadar Mercier, Jim Sutherland, and Johnny McDonagh. And although not a dancer himself, Myron also draws inspiration from Irish step dancers, and he reckons that the ideal percussionist should be able to do with his or her hands what dancers do with their feet.
Myron's relaxed and humorous teaching style has made him an in-demand workshop leader and instructor, and he is always willing to encourage novice players.
Catherine Marafino Brice, Sean Nós Dance
Catherine Marafino Brice is an Irish step dancer living in Annapolis, MD. She specializes in sean nós dance, old-style Irish step dancing, and has studied American tap dance and flatfooting. Fusing these influences together, she has created her own style of improvised percussive dance that is lively and unique.
Catherine began Irish step dancing and tap dancing as a child, and as a teenager learned from Emily Oleson and Matthew Olwell of Good Foot Dance Company. During college, she built a small repertoire of American flat-footing and clogging steps, and learned a handful of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island patterns from Helen Bergeron. She also learned many of Dan Furey's set dances from Michael Tubridy. Catherine has a long love-affair with traditional steps, but she is most impressive for her ability to improvise them. Among dancers in Washington and Baltimore, she is highly regarded for her aptness to devise new dances that are musically and choreographically entertaining.
Catherine enjoys ceili dancing and has started calling dances in the Annapolis, Baltimore, and DC region. She founded the Annapolis Ceili Club in 2023, which is a club for people to learn basic ceili dances and popular set dances in a fun and stress-free environment. Catherine holds an MSN from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and works as a NICU nurse in Annapolis and Baltimore. She is the owner and director of Annapolis Percussive Dance, LLC. She teaches dance in Annapolis and Baltimore with the Baltimore Irish Music School.
Laura Byrne, Artistic Director/Flute
Founder and artistic director of the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest, Laura Byrne is highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic for her mastery of the Irish traditional flute and whistle. Laura has performed at venues across the U.S., Canada, and Ireland including the Kennedy Center, Birchmere, several National Folk Festivals, and the Catskills Irish Arts Week.
Laura has recorded two solo albums (Tune for the Road, 2005 and Lucky Day, 2010). She recorded with New York based fiddler Rose Flanagan (Forget Me Not, 2014), and with the Old Bay Ceili Band (Crabs in the Skillet, 2011). Laura is a two-time grant recipient of the Maryland Traditions Master Apprentice award - as a ballad singer apprentice in 2007, and then in 2011 as a Master of flute, and received the Individual Artist award in performance from the Maryland State Arts Council in both 2010 and 2011.
Brendan Callahan, Fiddle
Brendan Callahan is an Irish fiddle player from Philadelphia. A four-time All Ireland medalist, Brendan learned his music from legendary fiddle player Brendan Mulvihill in Washington DC. Brendan Callahan's style blends regional fiddle styles of the north and west of Ireland, with distinctly American influences from Appalachia, cajun/zydeco and big-city blues. Also a noted composer, Brendan has written numerous tunes that have been adopted into the Irish idiom, by casual musicians and recording artists alike.
John Carty, Tenor Banjo
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 record. The group has recorded three highly acclaimed CDs all on John’s own label Racket Records and continue to tour all the major European festivals. 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, Carty once again shows his plectrum prowess to full affect.
John performs regularly with Chieftains' 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. In 2011 John released The Crimson Path, collaboration with Sligo poet Ann Joyce, which is a CD of original poetry and music for which John composed all the music. This was quickly followed by the release of At Complete Ease, a duet fiddle album with Brian Rooney from Kiltyclogher, Co Leitrim. This CD has already been described as one of the all times greats of duet playing. John is also a member of super group, Patrick Street which includes legendary musicians Andy Irvine and Kevin Burke. He has also appeared as a special guest with the Chieftains and De Danaan.
More recently John put together a new eight-piece band, The John Carty Festival band which was launched in summer 2012 and has since played at festivals in Ireland and the UK. In 2012/13 John was part of the County Leitrim Traditional group in residency scheme which comprised of himself and two other legends of traditional music, namely Seamus Begley on accordion and vocals, and Donál Lunny on bouzouki and guitar. In 2013 they launched the album, Leitrim Equation 3, which includes many Leitrim guests they met during the residency.
John has performed in three feature films, Jimmy’s Hall, Brooklyn, for which he also arranged all the traditional music pieces and most recently Banshees of Inisheerin. His has released two family CDs, the first in 2016, Settle Out of Court with his daughter Maggie showcasing her unique singing voice and the second in 2020 The Wavy Bow Collection, with his son, James on
fiddle introducing another generation to the tradition. The duos have completed many tours and have appeared many times on Irish TV. His latest CD, At Our Leisure, a duet album with Michael McGoldrick featuring banjo and uilleann pipes, was released in 2022. In addition, John is a tutor on the BA course at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick, and with such experience is a highly sought tutor for workshops and summer schools.
Joanna Clare, Fiddle
Joanna Clare, who hails from Central New York, is a well-respected Irish fiddler and violinist and recently released her debut album, To Keep the Candle Burning. The album features NEA National Heritage Fellow Billy McComiskey, and All-Ireland champions Brian Conway and Josh Dukes, along with Myron Bretholz, Sean McComiskey, Matt Mulqueen, Catherine O’Kelly, and Liam Presser.
At the age of three, Joanna began learning classical violin through the Suzuki method. When she was eleven, she began studying Irish fiddle with Brian Conway who was highly instrumental in her musical development. Joanna has won many awards including five championship titles in the annual Mid-Atlantic Fleadhanna Ceoil (Irish music competitions) which are run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (the Irish Traditional Musicians’ Association). In August 2021, she was awarded runner-up for the senior fiddle slow airs competition at the FleadhFest in Sligo, Ireland.
Joanna has performed at numerous festivals, including the Syracuse Irish Festival, the Rochester Irish Festival, the Maryland Irish Festival, the New York Trad Fest, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. She teaches Irish and Suzuki violin in the Baltimore area privately and for the Baltimore Irish Music School, and performs with local ensembles Celtic Corridor and the Mount Clare Connection.
Sarah Collins, Fiddle
Sarah is, among many things, a fiddle player based in the Baltimore/DC area, with deep ties to the Boston traditional music community. She plays mostly Irish music these days but grew up steeped in the Scottish music community, having lived in Edinburgh as a kid. You can find her on staff at various fiddle camps throughout the year (Pure Dead Brilliant Fiddle Weekend, Boston States) or at regular Irish sessions in DC and Baltimore.
Sarah is a co-founder of the pandemic project, Ministry of Folk, and is a passionate community member and builder within the folk music scene. She is currently working with Richard Hearn to co-produce monthly concerts for the Baltimore Folk Club.
Sarah has collaborated with many talented musicians over the years, including Jonathan Vocke, David McKindley Ward, Eamon Sefton, Marty Frye, Conor Hearn, Maura Shawn Scanlin, and Kate Gregory.
Kathleen Conneely, Tin Whistle
Born in Bedford, England, to Irish parents from Galway and Longford, Kathleen began playing Irish music at age twelve, along with her siblings, Bernadette, Michael, and Pauline. She took lessons from Co. Clare musician, Brendan Mulkere, a well-regarded teacher in and around London. Her father Michael was a fiddle, accordion and tin whistle player from Errislannan, Co. Galway, and the Conneely home was always filled with music from records and live sessions with many visiting musicians.
Over the years, Kathleen has lived in London, Dublin, Chicago, and Boston, where there was always a lively traditional Irish music scene, which has helped to sustain her passion for the music. She has taught for Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann both in Dublin and Boston, at the Boston College Irish Studies program; Gaelic Roots, the Irish Arts Week in the Catskills, and the Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, NC.
She released her first solo CD, The Coming of Spring, in 2012.
Pauline Conneely, Tenor Banjo
Pauline was born in Bedford, England. The youngest of four children, she was raised by Irish parents, economic migrants who were themselves steeped in Irish Music, Dance, and Culture. Like many such Irish households in the UK and America in the 1960’s, these homes were filled with the sounds of music and dancing on a daily basis. The Conneely children were encouraged by their parents, and indeed their mentors (one of whom was Brendan Mulkere) to experiment with a variety of different instruments, with Pauline eventually electing to concentrate on the banjo, although that focus didn't stop her from becoming a Champion Irish step dancer.
Since her first visit to the USA in 1988 as a musician and dancer with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Pauline has made her home in Chicago. She has shared the stage with, and has become close friends with, most of the well-respected Irish artists performing on the world stage today, including Liz Carroll, John Whelan, John Doyle, Daithí Sproule, The Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, Sean Keane, Mike McGoldrick, and Troy MacGillivray. In addition to performing, Pauline has also been a regular instructor at many Irish traditional music festivals including the Catskills Irish Arts Week, Irish MAD week in DC, and Baltimore Irish Trad Fest. She released her first solo CD, All Because, in 2016.
Frances Cunningham, Bouzouki/Youth Ensemble
For the last 20 years, Frances has accompanied bagpipes, banjos, fiddlers, singers, and everyone who needed her brilliantly thought-out chords behind them. She is originally from Houston, Texas, and learned to play Irish music through guitarist Lloyd Gibson and flute player Turlach Boylan at their weekly sessions at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck. She went to high school at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where she studied the French horn and started playing at weekly contra dances with her friend Eden MacAdam-Somer. Frances toured the US with a Celtic rock band (SixMileBridge) in the mid-90s. She discovered a talent for arranging tunes and songs together and especially for coming up with just the right chords and timing to make everyone she plays with sound great.
In 2011 Frances joined the Mike Snider Band at the Grand Ole Opry and was the primary accompanist there for five years playing every weekend. In 2015 she joined the Piper Jones Band and has been touring and recording extensively with piper EJ Jones. In 2013 Frances won the Midwest Fleadh (traditional Irish music contest) in both tenor banjo and accompaniment and was the primary accompanist in the US for Shetland fiddler Lynda Anderson. Frances teaches workshops on accompaniment and illustrating the difference between Scottish, Irish, and American Old-Time tunes.
Megan Downes, Social Dance
Megan Downes grew up dancing in New York City's traditional Irish music community before moving south to work with one of the best bluegrass bands in the country as a principal dancer with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, directed by Eileen Carson and Mark Schatz, with Jon Glik, Danny Knicely, Matt Olwell and Kristin Andreassen.
Megan is now the Artistic Director of New York's City Stompers, calling squares and teaching old-time flatfooting. You may have danced with her over the years at the Augusta Heritage Center, Watermelon Park or Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing.
Josh Dukes, Bodhrán
Josh Dukes is an All-Ireland champion accompanist and a highly sought after music teacher in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. A multi-instrumentalist whose talents embrace the guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, flute, and tin whistle, Josh has established a reputation for providing sensitive, tasteful support for traditional Irish music. As a young high school student, Josh studied the oboe, tenor/alto saxophone, drum set and baritone horn. Outside of the classroom, he learned the art of ancient rudimental drumming under the tutelage of Dominick Cuccia, a widely respected instructor/performer in the fife and drum community. In 1997, Josh enlisted in the Army and earned the rank of Master Sergeant, having served as one of three Drum Majors for the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, "The Official Escort to the President," the only military unit of its kind.
Josh continues to perform Irish music, having shared the stage with such renowned musicians as John Doyle, Paddy Keenan, Billy and Sean McComiskey, Brendan Mulvihill, Skip Healy, Zan McLeod, and Myron Bretholz. Josh was also a member of the Old Bay Ceili Band. Josh lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Judy and two daughters, Mya and Olivia.
Jim Eagan, Fiddle
A staple of the Baltimore traditional music scene, Jim’s deep connection to Irish music is reflected in his musical style. Jim started playing Suzuki violin at the age of five, and Irish dancing at about the same time. From age fifteen he studied fiddle with Brendan Mulvihill, and competed in the Fleadh Cheoil, the All-Ireland music competition, in 1996, where he was awarded third place in the 15-18 fiddle category.
In 1997, Jim was invited to teach at the Augusta Heritage workshops, where he went on to instruct for many years. In the late 1990s, he spent several years as a member of the John Whelan Band, touring Ireland, Europe, Canada, and the U.S. Back home in Maryland, he became a Baltimore fixture as a member of the Old Bay Ceili Band, competing in Ireland with them as well, and has been a long-standing member of O’Malley’s March. For the past two decades, Jim has also hosted and played at regular sessions throughout the city, collaborating with countless local musicians and nurturing the region’s vibrant traditional music community.
Jim’s album of Ed Reavy’s compositions, At Reavy’s House, was released in 2004, further showcasing his dedication to the tradition and its legacy.
Seán Earnest, Guitar
Guitarist and bouzouki player Seán Earnest’s empathetic and eclectic musical stylings have taken him far from his native central Pennsylvania. He is among the most sought-after American Celtic musicians today and can be heard on stages throughout North America and beyond. Having cut his musical teeth in the Irish music sessions of New York and Baltimore, Seán honed his guitar and bouzouki craft while studying at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music & Dance. Seán has been a faculty instructor for the Catskills Irish Arts Week, the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Texas, the Milwaukee Irish Fest Center, as well as the Celtic College at the Celtic Roots Festival in Goderich, Ontario, and the Augusta Irish Week.
Seán has performed with many of Irish music’s luminaries including John Carty, Billy McComiskey, Brian Conway, Kevin Burke, Damien Connolly, Dr. Mick Moloney, Joanie Madden, Kevin Crawford, Oisín Mac Diarmada, and many others. As an accompanist, he has worked with a number of vocalists including Cathie Ryan, Seamus Begley, Colleen Raney, The Murphy Beds (comprised of Eamon O’Leary and Jefferson Hamer), Kyle Carey, as well as the international touring troupe Women of Ireland. He features on recordings by Clare accordion and fiddle player Damien Connolly as well as Baltimore flautist Laura Byrne. Seán tours regularly throughout North America and beyond with the Irish group Téada, the Paul McKenna Band from Glasgow, and his own band The Yanks, with whom he has toured Ireland and released two albums to great critical acclaim.
Catrióna Fee, Concertina
Catrióna Fee is a concertina player from Cold Spring, New York who is currently based in Washington, D.C. She is a triplet, the sister of Mairead Fee and Angela Fee, who play the flute and the fiddle respectively. Having two other musicians in the house had a profound impact on her playing, leading her to emphasize the importance of playing in a group rather than focusing solely on solo playing. She got her start on the concertina with Ann Dillon, and greatly benefitted from the local music scene in Cold Spring. Catrióna studied concertina with Lexie Boatright and Patty Furlong, and her style is also influenced heavily by the playing of Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh.
Catrióna is a multiple Mid Atlantic Fleadh champion on the concertina and has competed several times in the All Ireland Fleadh. As a youth she played in ceili band and grupa cheoil competitions in the US and Ireland with the Pearl River School of Irish Music.
Catrióna has taught concertina at the Catskills Irish Arts Week and and to individuals of all ages both privately and as the ceili band and concertina instructor for the Baltimore Irish Music School. She also had the privilege of teaching the concertina to and recording with Steve Martin for the first season of the hit TV show 'Only Murders in the Building.'
Rose Flanagan, Fiddle/Ensemble
Rose Conway Flanagan originally began Irish music lessons with Martin Mulvihill while growing up in the Bronx, and further developed her New York Sligo style of fiddling with the help of family friend and mentor Martin Wynne and her older brother Brian Conway. In 2013, Rose was inducted into the Mid-Atlantic Region CCE hall of fame alongside her father Jim and her brother Brian.She currently has a large music school in her hometown of Pearl River where she is preparing the next generation of great traditional musicians, which includes several All-Ireland winners and medalists.
Among Rose’s past students are all the fiddlers in Girsa and senior fiddle champion Dylan Foley. Rose is a coveted instructor and has taught at most Irish music workshops and camps around the country, including Catskills Irish Arts week, The Swannanoa Celtic Gathering, The O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, The Baltimore Trad Fest, and MAD Week in the U.S., DeDanaan Dance Camp in British Columbia and Scoile Eigse in Cavan and Sligo, Ireland.
In addition to her teaching, Rose runs sessions and performs both with her group the Green Gates Ceili Band and in various concerts throughout her local area. Rose also has a strong connection to the Baltimore area - aside from teaching at the Trad Fest, she also released a duo CD in 2014 with flute player Laura Byrne from Baltimore, Forget Me Not.
Dylan Foley, Fiddle
Dylan Foley is one of the great fiddle players of our time, a four-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, delighting audiences from Lincoln Center to Irish Television channels RTE and TG4. Dylan was recently featured in a Television series "Mr. Mercedes" starring Brendan Gleeson.
Foley travelled with Mick Moloney in 2013, to Vietnam as part of Irish Aid. He teaches and performs at the major Irish music summer camps on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a member of The Yanks, the hot trad band that has been called "the next Irish American dream team."
Dylan is committed to passing on the tradition, as it was graciously passed to him, by the incomparable Rose Flanagan, Fr. Charlie Coen, and others. You can hear his passion for the music in the intense drive of his lively and fluid playing.
Marty Frye, Flute
Marty is a flute player and multi-instrumentalist born in Washington, DC and rooted in the rich traditional Irish music community of DC and Baltimore. He has taught for the Baltimore Irish Music School and the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest and has performed at the Boston Celtic Music Festival, Maryland Irish Festival, Maryland Folk Festival, and CCE O'Neill Malcolm Irish Folk Festival.
He performs primarily in collaboration with acclaimed fiddler Sarah Collins and multi-instrumentalist/singer David McKindley-Ward, who have a forthcoming album together expected to be released in spring of 2026. Marty has also presented performances of world-class traditional music and dance artists for more than a decade as part of the Hamlin Street Diner concert series.
Seán Gavin, Flute
Founder and director of the Irish Music Institute, Seán Gavin is one of the most highly regarded Irish musicians of his generation. He’s the author of the popular new instructional book, The Tin Whistle Method, published by Hal Leonard and in 2016 he became the first musician born outside Ireland to win the prestigious Seán Ó Riada gold medal. Seán tours regularly with his critically acclaimed new concert series, “From Shore to Shore,” as well as with the groups Téada and Irish Christmas in America.
In addition to performing, Seán was Musical Director for the PBS program “I Am Ireland”, and for the long running “Atlantic Steps”. He’s one of the most highly sought instructors of Irish music, having lectured on the subject at institutions around the world including the University of Chicago, St. Andrew’s University in Scotland, and Na Píobairí Uilleann in Dublin. Seán was encouraged in music by his father Mick, a fiddler from Co. Clare, and his brother Michael – a multi-instrumentalist. At age twelve, he started work on the uilleann pipes with the late Al Purcell, former pupil of piper Leo Rowsome. Seán moved to Chicago at age twenty where he spent a decade playing and studying with the windy city’s finest musicians, particularly Sligo flute-legend Kevin Henry. Since then he has toured extensively around the globe, with multiple radio, TV, and festival appearances. After three years in Minnesota, where he was active in the non-profit Center for Irish Music, Seán is back in his native Detroit where he continues to play, teach, and promote traditional Irish music.
Tess Hartis, Fiddle/Youth Ensemble
Tess Hartis is an Irish fiddler and classical violinist originally from South Carolina. She began her musical training at the age of eight and discovered her love of Irish traditional music in college. She has performed extensively with the South Carolina Philharmonic, Hup! Traditional Irish Band, Istanpitta Early Music Ensemble, and has made guest appearances with musical groups in various genres including Irish, Scottish, classical, old time, and more.
Tess received her degrees in Violin Performance and Music Education from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with Dr. William Terwilliger and taught at the USC String Project under the direction of Dr. Gail Barnes. From 2019-2022, Tess was the head director in a prestigious public school orchestra program in Houston, Texas, where she also maintained a private studio of fiddle and violin students. She has taught workshops in various styles of playing, and was most recently on the faculty of the 2025 O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Midlothian, Texas. Now living in Silver Spring, Maryland, she is enjoying teaching and performing around the DMV area.
Tess cherishes the joy and community that Irish traditional music brings and strives to share this joy with her students of all ages. Her goal is to empower students by giving them a nurturing space to build skills, technique, and confidence that will allow them to enjoy Irish music to the fullest.
Richard Hearn, Executive Director
Richard Hearn is a banjo player and accompanist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He toured internationally with several Irish and Scottish music projects while living in Europe from 2012-2019 before relocating to Baltimore in 2019. He currently tours with several solo artists, including Sarah Collins, Sean McComiskey, and Kate Knudsvig, and with his trio, the East Coasters.
In addition to his work as a musician, Richard is also an arts organizer. He serves as administrative director of the Baltimore Trad Fest, director of the Baltimore Irish Tenor Banjo Summit, and organizer of the Baltimore Folk Club concert series and the monthly Baltimore Ceili. He is also the director of the Baltimore Irish Music School, where he teaches accompaniment and tenor banjo to private students.
He has instructed at several international workshops, including Folksounds Elmstein, Celtic Folk Weekend Regensburg, DC’s Irish MAD Weekend, CelticFest Mississippi, the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, and the annual Irish weekend in Ismaning, Germany.
Donna Long, Piano/Ensemble
Donna Long was born in Los Angeles, California. When she was five years old, she began taking piano lessons with her father, Byron Long, a jazz/classical pianist who instilled in Donna a love for music. In 1978, she moved to the Baltimore area and heard fiddler Brendan Mulvihill playing Irish music. He inspired her to pick up the fiddle and gave her a solid foundation in style and playing. She then began to accompany him on the piano, and is now considered one of the finest pianists playing Irish music today. Along with Brendan Mulvihill, she has recorded two duet albums, The Steeplechase and The Morning Dew.
Donna passed her music on to her son Jesse Smith and helped produce his first solo recording entitled The Hurricane. In addition to these recordings Donna can be heard as a guest artist on many recordings backing up other musicians and also on the motion picture soundtrack Out of Ireland. A former member of the internationally acclaimed Irish group Cherish the Ladies, she has recorded five CDs with them. In the year 2000, the Smithsonian Institution asked Donna to represent Irish Music in the series Piano Traditions celebrating 300 years of the piano. Donna was also commissioned by the Library of Congress in 2001 to write a composition for fiddle and piano. She wrote a slow air called “Before the Snow Falls,” and a reel to accompany the air called “Pandora’s Box.” These tunes were performed by Cherish the Ladies and can be found in the Library of Congress. Donna currently teaches Suzuki piano, Irish piano, and Irish fiddle in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area. Her first solo CD, Handprints, was released in June 2003.
Caoimhín Ó Fearghail, Uilleann Pipes
Caoimhín Ó Fearghail was born in 1989 and comes from An Rinn in the Waterford Gaeltacht. He started to learn the tin whistle at the age of eight, taking lessons from Bobby Gardiner. He quickly progressed to the uilleann pipes, under the tutelage of David Power. He is self-taught on flute and guitar inspired by such diverse flute players as Matt Molloy, Mike Rafferty and Tom Doorley. Some of his strongest piping influences include the old greats such as Séamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, Leo Rowsome, Tommy Reck and Patsy Touhey. He cannot deny the big influence that Liam O’Flynn, Mick O’Brien and Waterford pipers Tommy Kearney, Jimmy O’Brien-Moran, Tommy Keane and Donnchadh Gough have had on him, and is very much influenced by the many other great musicians and singers of his home area in Co. Waterford.
In 2006, as part of his school transition year project, he released an album entitled Giorraíonn Beirt Bóthar, with a group of friends, local musicians and singers. It featured guest appearances from well-known local artists including Liam Clancy, Áine Uí Cheallaigh, Donnchadh Gough and Ciarán Ó Gealbháin. Since then, he has featured on a number of albums, as accompanist quite often, including on Caitlín Nic Gabhann’s album Caitlín, and Edel Fox and Neill Byrne’s The Sunny Banks. In 2013, he also recorded an album Lá ag Ól Uisce with his brother Seán and Tomás Ó Gealbháin, and is featured playing pipes solo on The Rolling Wave, a compilation album issued by NPU (Na Píobairí Uilleann).
Caoimhín was the 2012 recipient of the TG4 Young Musician of the Year award (Gradam Ceoil TG4). In September 2013, he featured on a Music Network tour with Noel Hill and Liam O’Connor called ‘Bellows, Bridge & Bow’. In 2014, he joined the group Caladh Nua as guitar player with additional flute and has toured extensively with them, and has performed on various instruments with other well-known groups as well, such as Danú, Piper’s Union, and Skipper’s Alley. In 2018, Caoimhín recorded an album of flute and fiddle music with fiddler Paddy Tutty from nearby Dungarvan, and in 2020, NPU released a solo piping album of his music as part of their ‘Ace & Deuce of Piping’ series.
A frequent teacher and performer, he has taught pipes and performed at many piping Tionóil agus other piping events in Ireland such as Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, the William Kennedy Piping Festival in Armagh, and also at the Northeast Tionól in the US. He has also toured abroad playing with groups such as Caladh Nua and Danú all over the US, the UK, Europe, Newfoundland and New Zealand. Caoimhín is a graduate of University College Cork with an MA in Irish and has a keen interest in the songs of the Déise and their airs. He plays a concert pitch set of pipes made by Alain Froment for him. He was recently chosen as Best Folk Instrumentalist at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards for 2021.
Catherine O'Kelly, Singing
.jpg)
Catherine O'Kelly is an award-winning singer and fiddler from Tappan, NY, who currently lives and studies in Baltimore at Loyola University. She often sings unaccompanied in the sean nós style of singing, utilizing ornamentation and emotion to tell a story through songs that are centuries old.
Catherine has won competitions, taught, and sung on stages up and down the East coast, including the Maryland Irish Festival, the Blarney Star Music series in New York City, and the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest. She has appeared on several studio recordings, including Joanna Clare's To Keep the Candle Burning and the East Coasters' self-titled album. Catherine also instructs privately, and has been on staff at the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest.
David McKindley-Ward, Guitar
_PNG.png)
Award winning musician and singer, David McKindley-Ward, grew up in the DC area steeped in folk, traditional music, and protest music from all over the world. From his solid folk foundation of Pete Segeer and Stan Rogers, he found a love for Irish music from cassette tape recordings of the old folk revival balladeers from the 50s and 60s; the Clancy brothers and Tommy Makem, the Dubliners, The Wolfe Tones, and many more. His interest in traditional singing grew when exposed to such greats as Paul Brady, Dolores Keane, and Donal Maguire, and much of his style and repertoire is based on these three singers. David has collaborated with Irish singers and instrumentalists Billy McComiskey, Eimear Arkins, Liz Hanley, and with Joey Abarta and Brenda Castles as The Sheep Stealers. He has also recorded three albums with singer-songwriter Letitia VanSant.
Over the last few years, he has made a name for himself as a touring artist across the US, Ireland and the UK and a regular performer and instructor at festivals including Catskills Irish Arts Week, Baltimore TradFest and The Philadelphia Céilí Group.
Billy McComiskey, Button Accordion
Billy McComiskey, a Brooklyn native, plays in what he loosely describes as the East Galway Style of Irish accordion music. He is a protege of the late Sean McGlynn from Tynagh, Co. Galway. To this day he still plays Sean's rare 1940's vintage gray Paolo Soprani box. In the mid 1970's, before moving to Baltimore, Billy helped to establish the still thriving Irish Music Scene in Washington DC. He moved to Baltimore in 1980 with his wife, Annie, and since that time, he's helped put Irish Traditional Music on the map in Maryland.
Billy holds four All Ireland Championship titles, two (gold and silver medals) with Brendan Mulvihill for their superb duet playing, and two (silver and gold) for his work as a soloist. Billy won the coveted All Ireland Championship for the Button Accordion in 1986. He is one of only two American box players to be so honored. His friend and student John Nolan is the first American to win this award. Billy is the second. Billy has also received one of the highest honors a traditional musician can be awarded: the 2016 NEA National Heritage Fellowship.
Billy is a composer of tunes, a good few of which are played in Ireland and America alike. He's made quite a few recordings with some of the mightiest musicians playing Irish Music today, including the Irish Tradition, Trian, Green Fields of America, and the Pride of New York. He's played and performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, England and Scotland.
Sean McComiskey, Button Accordion
Sean McComiskey is among the most innovative young performers on the button accordion, with a unique harmonic style that has earned him a spot in the pantheon of Irish accordionists far beyond his native Baltimore. As the son of legendary button accordion player and National Heritage Fellow Billy McComiskey, Sean has been surrounded by Irish Traditional music his entire life and has developed a deep appreciation for the rich tradition of which he is a part. This has helped Sean establish a reputation as a highly regarded teacher and promulgator of Irish music and earned him teaching positions with the Catskills Irish Arts Week, the Augusta Heritage Center’s Irish Arts Week, the Chris Langan Traditional Irish Music Weekend in Toronto, the CCE Musical Arts and Dance (MAD) Week in Washington, DC, the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest, and the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival.
In addition to being a highly regarded teacher, Sean has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He's recorded albums and toured with groups like NicGaviskey, the Old Bay Ceili Band, and O'Malley's March. In 2014, Sean and three other local musicians formed the Baltimore-based acoustic roots group, Charm City Junction, with whom he still regularly records and tours. He was featured on Kieran Jordan's recording of traditional Irish set dances for listening and dancing called Cover the Buckle.
Matt Mulqueen, Piano
Matt Mulqueen was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, in a musical family. His siblings danced and played the button accordion and fiddle, and Matt grew up singing in the choir and playing piano. As a young man, he began taking lessons with pianist Donna Long, who taught him how to play and accompany Irish traditional music. Matt became a part of the fabric of Baltimore’s Irish music community, and was a regular at the long-running session at J. Patrick’s before later becoming a fixture in the Baltimore session scene, hosting the sessions at Cafe Hon, Zissimo’s, Mick O’Shea’s, Racer’s, and the Green Room.
Matt is a sought-after accompanist, and can be heard accompanying fiddler Rosie Shipley on At Home (2002), Dylan Foley and Josh Dukes on The New York Connection (2016), Kieran Jordan, Sean McComiskey, and Seán Clohessy on Cover the Buckle (2016), Dylan Foley on Deliriously Happy (2017), and Joanna Clare on To Keep the Candle Burning (2022). He was also a founding member of the Old Bay Ceili Band, competing with them twice in Ireland, and recording Crabs in the Skillet (2011). He regularly tours and performs with some of the most decorated musicians playing today, including Frankie Gavin, John Whelan, Diarmuid Ó Meachair, Nathan Gourley, Laura Feddersen, Andrew Caden, and more.
In addition to teaching students privately and for the Baltimore Irish Music School, Matt has been on instructional staff at the Baltimore Irish Trad Fest, Augusta, and DC MAD Week.
Matt Molloy, Flute
Matt was born in Ballaghadereen, County Roscommon, an area well known for flute players. Matt began playing the flute at age eight and by the age of eighteen, he had won the All-Ireland Flute Championship and had a string of successes in National Fleadhanna Cheoil and Oireachtas. He moved to Dublin in the mid 1960’s where he started playing in the music scene and became acquainted with Paddy Moloney. During the burgeoning folk scene of the 1970’s, Matt was a founding member of the famous folk group, The Bothy Band. After the Bothy Band, Matt appeared briefly with the reformed group, Planxty. Matt has released several highly acclaimed solo albums and has worked with other accomplished musicians. He has teamed up with Paul Brady, Tommy Peoples, Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, Dónal Lunny and the Irish Chamber Orchestra among other artists.
Through his friendship with Paddy Moloney, Matt was already familiar with the Chieftains when he was invited to join in 1979 as one of the two non-Dubliners in the group, replacing Michael Tubridy on the flute. Boil The Breakfast Early is his first album with the Chieftains.
In addition to playing, Matt owns a pub in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland called Matt Molloy’s, where he has recorded a live session album. His pub is well known for having sessions including many different musicians.
Patrick Ourceau, Fiddle
Fiddler Patrick Ourceau was born in France where he discovered and started to play Irish music. He spent most of his adult life living in New York City and is now based Toronto, Canada. Mostly self-taught, Patrick’s music was influenced early on by the discovery of recordings of the legendary fiddle players Paddy Canny, Bobby Casey and Paddy Fahey. Since the mid-eighties, Patrick has been regularly visiting Ireland and especially county Clare. During those trips, he has been able to regularly meet and play with many local musicians, among them the legendary fiddle player Paddy Canny and flute and fiddle player Peter O’Loughlin. Patrick moved to New York City in 1989 where he quickly became an integral part of that City’s rich traditional Irish music community. Patrick was especially influenced there by the style and repertoire of Woodford, Co. Galway flute player Jack Coen.
For many years Patrick has been a member of the trio Chulrua, led by the legendary accordion player Paddy O’Brien. In the past twenty years, Patrick has toured all over North America and Europe in a variety of duets, trios and bands, most notably with Ennis, Co. Clare concertina player Gearoid O hAllmhurain; Tulla, Co. Clare accordion player Andrew Mac Namara and with the legendary Tulla Ceili band, on the band’s last American tour. Patrick has been featured on a host of recordings, including the 2007 Chulrua release The Singing Kettle, on Shanachie Records; Live at Mona’s in 2004 with guitarist Eamon O’Leary; Tracin’ with concertina player Gearoid O hAllmhurain; on flute player Cathal McConnell’s Long Expectant Comes at Last; on accordion player John Whelan’s Celtic Roots; on Steve Johnson’s Lowlands, released in 2009 and on theTG4 CD and DVD release Geantrai, a compilation celebrating the first ten years of the popular traditional Irish music television program.
Patrick is in great demand as a teacher and in the past twenty years has taught at most major traditional Irish music schools, summer camps and festivals in the US and Canada. in addition, he has been teaching for the last three years at the Europadanse week in Vannes, France; Patrick has also taught at the Armagh’s Piper’s Club in County Armagh, and at the Fleadh Nua in Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. He is currently involved in the development of Toronto’s Traditional Irish Music School which he opened in 2010 with local piper Debbie Quigley. He also teaches in an Irish music after-school program at St. Paul School in downtown Toronto, that was inspired by the need of the children of that part of the city for enriched extracurricular opportunities, and by the historical connection of the school to Toronto’s Irish ancestry.
Claire Shirey, Concertina
Claire Shirey is a multi-instrumentalist and champion Irish dancer living in Cookeville, Tennessee. She began her Irish music education within the Atlanta Irish Music School starting on fiddle then adding the concertina shortly after. While competing in the Midwest Fleadh, Claire studied under Lexie Boatright qualifying for the All-Irelands multiple times. Claire began taking lessons from John Williams the past couple of years, being heavily influenced by his style of concertina playing.
Currently Claire is the Director of and primary teacher at Middle Tennessee Irish Music and Dance. She began the program in 2019 and continues to teach the fundamentals and history of Irish Music in the Nashville Area. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in Communications Studies and a certificate in Music Business.
Jonathon Srour, Tin Whistle/Flute
Jonathon Srour capped a successful competitive Irish dance career with a top-five finish at the World Championships and also won the North American Senior Belt Championship three times, tying the all-time record. This competition was open to all men and women in North America, aged seventeen and over. He has toured the world with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, Magic of the Dance, and Echoes of Ireland including the countries of Taiwan, Israel, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. During the summers of 2010 and 2012, he performed in the Busch Gardens show, Celtic Fyre. He spent time in New York as a pivotal member of the Brooklyn-based fusion dance septet, Hammerstep, which received unprecedented reviews on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Seeking to effectively and uniquely give back to the dance community, he is currently one of the only double fellowship-trained reconstructive foot and ankle surgeons in the country and has started building a private practice in the Nashville area.
Jonathon is also an avid wooden flute player, having qualified for the All-Ireland Fleadh several times and has performed with the John Whelan Band, The Green Fields of America, and Mother’s Pride, with Gabriel Donohue, Marian Makins, and Haley Richardson, and was a member of the 2015 New York Ceili Band which performed in Sligo at the All-Ireland Fleadh. He now teaches with Middle Tennessee Irish Music and Dance.
Patrick Winch, Banjo/Mandolin
Patrick Winch is an Irish tenor banjo and guitar player residing in Washington, DC. Growing up, Patrick was surrounded by traditional Irish music, mainly due to the fact that his father, Jesse Winch, is a renowned Irish traditional musician who co-founded the award-winning Irish traditional band Celtic Thunder in the 1970s - so in many ways, Irish music is a family tradition for the Winches. During his undergraduate years, Patrick decided to take up the tenor banjo and hasn't looked back since. In 2023, the Winches released their debut family album The Irish Riviera. Patrick also plays and performs with his band The Good Folk, who are preparing to release their debut album, and the ceili band Rambling House.
These days, you can find Patrick at sessions and gigs up and down the east coast. He has taught banjo for the Blue Ridge Irish Music School, the Baltimore Irish Music School and was an instructor for the 2025 Irish Tenor Banjo Summit and the 2024 Baltimore Irish Trad Fest. He is also artistic co-director of DC’S MAD Weekend.