IRISH MUSIC INSTITUTE - Key Persons
Eimear Arkins comes from a small village on the west coast of Ireland called Ruan, in Co. Clare. She is an award-winning musician, singer, and dancer with eleven Irish music world championship titles to her credit. Eimear has toured extensively with the international music organization Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann on concert tours throughout Ireland, Britain, North America, and Canada. She has also performed with the internationally renowned show Brú Ború and was part of the troupe that represented Ireland at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. In August 2015, she traveled to World Expo in Milan with St. Louis Irish Arts where she promoted not only Irish culture but the expression of Irish culture worldwide. Eimear has toured throughout the US and Ireland with The Paul Brock Band, Cherish the Ladies, Tomaseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas, and regularly performs with harp player and St Louis native, Eileen Gannon. Eimear is a qualified Irish music and dance instructor. She has performed and given workshops at festivals all over the world including Féile Séamus Creagh, Newfoundland; Catskills Irish Arts Week; Viljandi Pärimusmuusika Festival, Estonia; St Louis Tionól; Canadian Celtic Celebration, and Festival Interceltique de Lorient, France. In June 2018, she released her debut album, What's Next? and was awarded "Best Newcomer" from LiveIreland in 2019. In January 2020, Eimear was awarded an Artist Fellowship from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.
Is as sráidbhaile beag ar chósta thiar na hÉireann í Eimear Arkins; sráidbhaile a dtugtar an Ruán air i gContae an Chláir. Is iomaí duais a bronnadh uirthi mar cheoltóir, mar amhránaí, agus mar dhamhsóir lena n-áirítear an aon uair déag a bhuaigh sí an Irish Music World Championship (Comórtas Domhanda an Cheoil Ghaelaigh). Tá taisteal fairsing fiúntach déanta ag Eimear leis an eagraíocht idirnáisiúnta Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, lenar chuir sí coirmeacha ceol ar fáil i láithreacha éagsúla in Éirinn, sa Ríocht Aontaithe, i Meiriceá, agus i gCeanada. Ar a dhroim sin bhí sí ag taibhléiriú mar chuid den seó clúiteach Brú Ború agus mar chuid den chompántas a ghlac páirt sa World Expo 2010 (Taispeántas Domhanda 2010) ar son na hÉireann i Shanghai. I mí Lúnasa den bhliain 2015, d'fhreastal sí ar an World Expo i Milano leis an eagraíocht St. Louis Irish Arts (Ealaíonta Gaelacha St. Louis), áit a raibh deis aici ní amháin cultúr na hÉireann ach léiriú an chultúir Ghaelaigh ar fud na cruinne a chur chun cinn. Bhí Eimear ag taisteal ar fud Mheiriceá agus na hÉireann agus ag taibhléiriú le leithéidí The Paul Brock Band, Cherish the Ladies, Tomaseen Foley's A Celtic Christmas, agus Eileen Gannon, cruitire arb as St. Louis ó dhúchas í a raibh sí ag taibhléiriú go minic léi. Tá oiliúint chuí ag Eimear mar mhúinteoir an cheoil agus an damhsa Ghaelaigh. Tá taibhléirithe agus ceardlanna curtha ar fáil aici ag feilte éagsúla ar fud an domhain, lena n-áirítear Féile Séamus Creagh i dTalamh an Éisc, Catskills Irish Arts Week (Seachtain na nEalaíon Gaelach sna Sléibhte Catskill), Viljandi Pärimusmuusika Festival (Féile Cheoil Dhúchasaigh Viljandi) san Eastóin, St. Louis Tionól, Canadian Celtic Celebration (Comóradh Ceilteach Cheanada), agus Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Féile na gCeilteach san Oriant) sa Fhrainc. I mí an Mheithimh den bhliain 2018, seoladh an chéad albam dá cuid, What's Next?, ar bhronn LiveIreland an gradam "Ceoltóir Nua is Fearr" sa bhliain 2019. I mí Eanáir den bhliain 2020, ainmníodh Eimear mar Chomhalta Ealaíontóra de chuid an Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (Coimisiún Réigiúnach Ealaíon St. Louis).
Florence Fahy is a native of north Co. Clare's New Quay, just a short trip up the road from Bellharbour, home to famed and late concertina player Chris Droney and the center of an unusually rich tradition of concertina playing in Ireland. Florence was inspired to play the concertina by her father, a great concertina player himself, Martin Fahy. From a young age, Florence remembers her father often playing records of Jack and Charlie Coen, Paddy Carty, the Kilfenora and Tulla Ceili Band, among many more - there was always music in the house! It was from this that Florence fell in love with the music and the concertina.
Florence's style of playing has been strongly influenced by her father, among other great teachers through the years such as Brid Meaney, Dymphna O'Sullivan, and Tim Collins. Florence is passionate about the older traditional style of Clare concertina playing, and this is something that is evident in her playing. She has participated in the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil', where she has claimed medals in both solo and group competitions.
Florence was involved with different music groups while living in Irelan d, and has toured Europe, North America, Australia, and the Middle East. In August of 2017, Florence released her debut CD album Tunes From The Flaggy Shore with her father. The Flaggy Shore, located in the heart of the Burren on the Wild Atlantic Way, is where Florence grew up, and the great Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney wrote a poem about the area called "Poetscript". It was a dream come true for Florence to have a recording with her father and some of her closest musical friends.
Jesse Smith was born to a musical family in Baltimore, where he was immersed in a thriving Irish music tradition. His mother (and fellow IMI instructor), Donna Long, has recorded and performed with Brendan Mulvihill and Cherish the Ladies. His dad, John, sings and plays the guitar. Jesse started playing the fiddle at an early age, studying with Mulvihill, a renowned fiddle player and teacher. In 1998, his love for the music took him to Ireland to stay, where he made his mark as a fiddler touring and recording with the great Irish band Danú, hailed "Best Traditional Group" by the BBC folk awards. His well received 2002 debut solo fiddle album Jigs and Reels was among the top ten Irish traditional music recordings cited by music columnist Earle Hitchner in America's largest Irish weekly, "The Irish Echo". Jesse went on to release The Tap Room Trio with Harry Bradley and John Blake, simply one of the best recordings of Irish traditional music in recent years. His 2010 release, The Ewe With The Crooked Horn, with Colm Gannon and John Blake, received high praise. He has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by Harry Bradley, Cherish the Ladies, Colm Gannon, Alan Kelly, Sharon Shannon, Enda Scahill, Tim Dennehy, and Donna Long. He teaches at many of the Irish music summer and winter festivals including the Frankie Kennedy and the Willie Clancy schools.
From his research thesis on Sligo's Michael Coleman to his Master of Arts degree from Dundalk Institute of Technology, Jesse brings a level of skill, confidence, and artistic judgment to his playing. He learned well in his younger days, absorbing the music that was around him, and his travels and experiences in Ireland have rounded out his musical education and helped develop his individual approach. His fiddle playing is understated and tasteful; his bowing, remarkable. A passion for the Irish traditional fiddle music of the 78rpm era can be heard in his choice of material, and his concert performances invariably include classics from the repertoires of the great Sligo fiddle trinity: James Morrison, Paddy Killoran, and Michael Coleman.
Michael Gavin has been playing and teaching Irish music for over 30 years. He grew up in an environment rich in traditional music where he learned from his father, Co. Clare fiddler Mick Gavin. A member of popular Detroit-based band Blackthorn, Michael has regularly shared the stage with such greats as Liz Carroll, Kevin Burke, and Ashley MacIsaac. He is a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, with a mastery of guitar, fiddle, banjo, bouzouki, and vocals. No stranger to the art of teaching, Michael is also a professor of philosophy, with degrees from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. His pupils, both musical and otherwise, have gone on to great achievements throughout the USA, Ireland, and beyond.
Born in Bedford, England to Irish parents, Kathleen began playing Irish music at age twelve. Alongside her siblings, she took lessons from well-regarded music teacher Brendan Mulkere, from Co. Clare. Her father, Michae l, played fiddle, accordion, and tin whistle. The Conneely home was always filled with music from records and live sessions with many visiting musicians.
Over the years, Kathleen has lived in hotbeds of Irish music including London, Dublin, Rhode Island, Boston, and Chicago. An accomplished music instructor, she has taught at some of the premier Irish music programs including the Boston College Irish Studies program, Gaelic Roots, Feile-Chois-Cuain, the Catskills Irish Arts Week, the Swannanoa Gathering, the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, and many more.
In 2012, she released her first highly acclaimed solo tin whistle CD, The Coming of Spring, and in 2022 she collaborated with Sean Clohessy and John Coyne on the popular album, All Jokes Aside.