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| Performers Announced for Waltons World Masters - Bobby McFerrin Meets Ireland! rish performing artists chosen through a nationwide audition process to improvise and perform with Bobby McFerrin in a two-day celebration of creativity and collaboration – Bobby McFerrin Meets Ireland at the National Concert Hall on Wednesday & Thursday, 6 & 7 March 2013. Performers Announced for Waltons World Masters Bobby McFerrin Meets Ireland National Concert Hall | Wednesday and Thursday, 6 and 7 March 2013 A celebration of the musical and cultural diversity of modern Ireland, and the magic that happens when artists meet and interact. In early December, the Waltons World Masters Series announced an Ireland-wide video audition process for musicians and dancers demonstrating 'mastery of their discipline, unbridled creativity and improvisational flexibility' who would like the extraordinary opportunity to improvise and perform with Bobby McFerrin, arguably the greatest vocal innovator and improviser of our time, in a unique two-day celebration of creativity and collaboration – Bobby McFerrin Meets Ireland. The quality and variety of entries made it extraordinarily difficult for our adjudicators – both from the Waltons World Masters Series and Bobby's creative team in New York – to narrow down the field and make their final decisions, but here they are at last! In alphabetical order, our performers are: Wednesday, 6 March Maire Dee – Dancer Kate Ellis – Cello Robbie Harris – Bodhrán, Bones Emer Mayock – Irish Flute, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes Úna Ní Fhlannagáin – Harp Nick Roth – Soprano Saxophone, Flutes John Sweeney – Guitar Francesco Turrisi – Piano, Accordion, Percussion Thursday, 7 March Cindy Cummings – Dancer Kate Ellis – Cello Robbie Harris – Bodhrán, Bones JPTrio (Ted Kelly, Jos Kelly, Paddy Hazleton) – Banjo, Button Accordion, Cajón Kit Emer Mayock – Irish Flute, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes Francesco Turrisi – Piano, Accordion, Percussion (See performer biographies below.) Bobby and his creative team will work with each group of performers on the day of each performance to create structures for improvisation and an atmosphere that invites the unexpected. Each evening's performance will be a one-of-a-kind event. We would like to thank all of the wonderful performing artists who applied to participate, and while we could only choose a very small number, it was a pleasure and privilege for our adjudicators to witness the quality and diversity of performers working in Ireland today. Thank you all! Bobby McFerrin Meets Ireland – Performer Biographies Cindy Cummings – Dancer Cindy is an independent dance artist (performer/improviser/choreographer/teacher) based in Dublin. She trained in both dance and theatre in Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and New York City before she emigrated to Ireland and began creating collaborative work with artists from other disciplines. Some of her previous collaborators include musicians/composers Tommy Hayes, Ronan Browne, Roger Doyle, Trevor Knight, Martin Brunsden, Dave Boyd and Nico Brown; visual artists Andrew Duggan, Alice Maher, Amelia Stein and Oonagh Kearney; and writers Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Michael Harding. Her performance work ranges from pure music and dance improvisations to evening-length shows using interactive technologies to site-specific multi-media works combining different dance techniques. Maire Dee – Dancer Maire began her dance training at the Durkin-Dodd school of Irish dancing and continued her education in the London Studio Centre, where she received an honours BA in Dance Theatre. Her studies there included ballet, jazz, hip-hop, acting and partner work, while specialising in contemporary dance. After graduating, she won the prestigious Elizabeth West award for 'Most Promising Choreographer'. Maire has performed with companies such as Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company, Intoto Dance Company, Rock and Reel's Dance Company and in festivals such as the Wexford Opera Festival, 1000 Funkel (Germany), Kentish Town Festival and Sum of Parts at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Her main area of interest is choreography, and she particularly enjoys exploring how improvisation can be used not only in the creative process of dance work but in the actual performance as well. 'I love dancing purely on instinct and letting the music completely dictate the movement that my body does.' Kate Ellis – Cello Kate was surrounded by music from an early age, and with the radio playing constantly at home she developed an eclectic taste in music. After studies at the Purcell School and the junior department of the Royal College of Music in London, she moved to Dublin and graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music. With an interest in contemporary music from her time at the Purcell School, Kate joined the Crash Ensemble in 2002 and has since joined a revolving cast of new music groups for various performances and recordings. She has worked with a diverse range of artists and groups, including Karan Casey, Gavin Friday, Tarab and Yurodny – and continues to tour and perform extensively throughout Ireland, Europe, the US and Australia. She is co-curator of the innovative 'Kaleidoscope Night' series, and as musician in residence at the Cork Opera House has been given a platform to perform and curate her own nights of music. More recently she was appointed co-artistic director of the Crash Ensemble. Robbie Harris – Bodhrán, Bones Robbie is one of Ireland's most accomplished bodhrán players and percussionists. Over the years he has worked with a diverse range of artists and groups, including Bobby McFerrin, Clannad, Bob Geldof, Steve Cooney, Dónal Lunny, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Brian Kennedy, Luka Bloom, Celtic Woman, The High Kings, Emer Mayock, Hector Zazou, Theodosii Spassov, Pedram Khavar Zamini, Mamady Keita and the Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan, as well as in a number of theatre and film productions. After touring extensively with Riverdance – The Show, he joined the Broadway production in New York, and while living there he was a guest lecturer at both the Juilliard School and the New School. Robbie was musical director of the Rhythm Corporation and for the St. Patrick's Festival's production City Fusion, a massive piece of street theatre with 250 performers from 30 different countries, and he is co-director (with Brian Fleming) of the annual Big Bang Festival of Rhythm, which celebrates diverse styles of drumming from around the world. In 2000 he compiled and released the double album Pure Bodhrán, a collection of nineteen of the leading exponents of the drum from all over Ireland. JPTrio – Banjo, Accordion, Cajón Kit JPTrio are brothers Ted Kelly (banjo) and Jos Kelly (button accordion), as well as Paddy Hazleton (cajón kit). They came together while at Sligo Grammar school, where Jos is this year studying for his Leaving Certificate. According to Ted: 'Jos and I have played together since we can barely remember. We were all born in Sligo apart from Paddy, who was one of two boys adopted from an orphanage in Uganda. I met Paddy when I was 14. He moved to Sligo Grammar School in our second year. I'll never forget meeting him. I was sitting in the class with my banjo, and Paddy came in with a bodhrán that only an American tourist would buy, but boy could he play it!' They developed as both performers and arrangers during their time with Fred Finn Comhaltas and Ceol na nÓg (a Sligo based orchestra), and three years of competing in the Siansa Gael Linn competition for young traditional bands helped them evolve as group musicians (they were the winning group in 2009 at Spraoi), culminating in 2011 performances at Electric Picnic and at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, where they won the 'Best Newcomer' award. Emer Mayock – Irish Flute, Whistle, Uilleann Pipes Emer is a musician and composer from Co. Mayo. She began to play traditional music during her childhood on a range of instruments including the flute, low whistle, fiddle and uilleann pipes. She has collaborated with a number of prominent musicians and groups, including Dónal Lunny, Paddy Glackin, the late Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Cormac Breathnach, Mick Kinsella, John Doyle, Damien Dempsey, Michael Buckley, Alan Stivell, Nitin Sawhney, Flook!, Grada, Afro Celt Sound System, the Irish Chamber Choir, Italian baroque ensemble il Giardino Armonico, the Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan and most recently Tarab – a collaboration with Francesco Turrisi, Nick Roth, Kate Ellis and Robbie Harris. In addition to her group work, Emer has also recorded two acclaimed albums of her own, Merry Bits of Timber (1996) and Playground (2001). Úna Ní Fhlannagáin – Harp Úna is a harper-composer and singer from Co. Galway. An instrumentalist of verve and imagination, she is rooted in diverse musical influences such as the dance music tradition of North Clare, the sean-nós singing style of Maigh Seóla, the American post-minimalists and free jazz. She has performed throughout Ireland, Europe, North America and the Middle East, winning multiple prizes at the All-Ireland Fleadh, Keadue International Harp Festival, Oireachtas, O’Carolan Harp Festival and Granard Harp Festival along the way. While studying for a first-class honours university degree, she branched into jazz and contemporary music, studying and performing with Anthony Braxton, the legendary free jazz musician and composer. Since then she has won a commission from the World Harp Congress, had one of her pieces published by Cairde Na Cruite, and performed her own compositions in Ireland, Croatia, Canada and the US. Úna strives to mine the richness of her native tradition, explore the potential of her instrument, and respectfully engage with other genres – in short, to play music that makes you feel good. Nick Roth – Soprano Saxophone, Flutes Born into a write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Jazz News :: home page |