Celtic Woman Biography

Source: http://www.celticwoman.com/viewSection.asp?idSection=188&id=history

Celtic Woman is the realisation of a dream for Composer and Musical Director, David Downes and Show Producer, Sharon Browne. Together with Dave Kavanagh, Executive Producer of the Show, they created Celtic Woman to feature the very special talents of four young Irish female vocalists and a very exciting young fiddle player.The five women vocalists, Chloe, Lisa, Meav and Órla and fiddle player Mairead are led by David Downes, a prodigious young Irish talent, who has previously worked as musical director of Riverdance. Celtic Woman portrays the unique voices and styles of each of the girls as soloists as well as fantastic ensemble numbers. Performing beautiful and much-loved songs, Celtic Woman features unique renditions of Irish songs such as: "Danny Boy," timeless classics like "Ave Maria", contemporary songs such as Enya's "Orinoco Flow" and Clannad's "Harry's Game", and a host of spellbinding original songs created by David Downes.Celtic Woman started life as a 90-minute show for PBS, which premiered in the US in March 2005. The show was broadcast on over 300 stations and such was its success that it was developed into a full scale touring production.The Celtic Woman CD & DVD were released through Manhattan Records (EMI) on March 1st 2005. Since its release the CD has been certified gold and the DVD has been certified platinum. The CD has also been No 1 in the Billboard World Music Chart for over 60 weeks.


David Downes: Musical Director/Composer
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David Downes is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, where he studied music and composition. Previously Downes had been Musical Director of Riverdance for the US touring company, European touring company, and on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. He was also the orchestrator of Riverdance On Broadway. As a producer David has recorded four albums with oboist David Agnew, achieving Gold status in Ireland and Europe, and recently the Gold debut album of young Irish singer Chlöe. He has also worked as orchestrator and arranger for Bonnie Tyler, Charlotte Church, and Secret Garden.


Recording credits as soloist include Grammy-award winning Michael W. Smith, Michael Crawford (on his Disney album), Clannad, Moya Brennan, and Bill Whelan.


Chlöe: Vocalist
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Chlöe Agnew is a gifted musician studying piano, guitar and recorder as well as being a magnificent singer. Agnew made her debut television performance at just four weeks old and first sang on television at the age of six! She won the Grand Prix at the first International Children's Song Competition in Cairo in 1998 representing Ireland with a song entitled "The Friendship Tree.”


She recorded and released her debut album, Chlöe, at the young age of twelve. Her second Album Walking in the Air, was released and drew huge attention in the internationally. It was the interest in her album and Celtic Collections other Irish Female Soloists that spawned the concept for the Celtic Woman show.


Lisa: Vocalist
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Lisa Kelly was born in Dublin and has been singing since the age of 7. Classically trained in both piano and singing, Lisa started her professional career in musicals. She has played many roles including “Velma Kelly” in Chicago, “Florence” in Chess, “Laurie” in Oklahoma and “Sandy” in Grease. Lisa has also performed in many concerts at Dublin’s National Concert Hall including: “The Magic of Gershwin,” “The Music of Cole Porter,” and “From Romberg to Rodgers” to name but a few.


Lisa was the lead female vocalist of Riverdance. It was here that she met her husband Scott and they toured with the show for four years taking in cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Toronto and many more. Lisa recorded her debut album entitled Lisa. Now a mother to two boys, Cian and Jack, Lisa has just finished filming her first Solo DVD.


Méav: Soloist
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Méav Ní Mhaolchatha has a broad range of performing experience in Ireland and abroad. Her first solo album, Méav, has sold extremely well in the US, Japan and Korea. Her second solo album, Silver Sea, has recently been released and is available in specialist music stores across Europe and America under the Celtic Collections Label.


Méav has been invited to perform her own music at many festivals worldwide. She headlined at a major open-air festival in Seoul as part of the Korean World Cup celebrations and launched her second album there. She recently performed to great acclaim at a prestigious Celtic Festival in Tokyo and sang in the Beo Festival of Irish Music at the National Concert Hall Dublin.


Orla: Harpist & Singer
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Orla has featured as a soloist in concerts around Ireland at such venues as The National Concert Hall, Dublin, The Opera House, Belfast and The Waterfront Theatre, Belfast. She has recorded, performed and toured with Internationally renowned groups Clannad and Anuna, as well as the oboist David Agnew.


A popular soloist in the corporate sector in Dublin, Orla appears regularly at such venues as Dublin Castle, Humewood Castle, The Royal Hospital Kilmainham and Luttrellstown Castle. Orla was invited to play for The Pope in Rome and she is invited regularly to perform at Aras An Uactarain for The President Of Ireland. Orla’s debut album The Water is Wide has earned her much critical acclaim and has led to countless television and radio broadcasts. She has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America where her reputation is steadily growing for her renditions of haunting Irish airs as well as her own vocal and instrumental compositions.


Mairead Nesbitt: Fiddle Player
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Máiréad, who began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the fiddle at 6, is a former All-Ireland fiddle champion. She began formal training in music at an early age, at the Ursuline Convent in Thurles, and continued at The Waterford Institute of Technology, at the Cork School of Music under Cornelia Zanidache and at the London Royal Academy, London Trinity College, with Post Graduate Studies under Emanuel Hurwitz on violin and piano. She is a past member of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland.


Following her formal training, she became a professional violinist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 1991. She also worked on-stage and in-studio with many well-known musicians, among them Nigel Kennedy, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, Clannad, Emmylou Harris, Aslan, Chris De Burgh and Jimmy Webb, and including more traditional Irish artists Dónal Lunny, Sharon Shannon, Paul Brady, Frances Black, Cooney and Begley, and Jimmy McCarthy. Mairead had the honor of performing privately for HRH - The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) on her secret visit to Dublin last September.

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