This exciting new Guitar Festival brings Irish and International guitarists of the highest calibre to New Ross with the aim of promoting the various genres of guitar and inspiring a new generation to experience the benefits of pursuing a dynamic instrument.
The Festival will include live performance, workshops and the commencement of the New Ross Guitar Orchestra which is open to all ages, styles and levels of ability.
To open the Festival we have Irish Blues star, Muireann Bradley as seen on Jools Holland and the Late Late Show and Flamenco virtuoso, John Walsh back by popular demand.
Stay tuned as we announce more guitar stars to our new line up.
For further information or if you would like to join the Guitar Orchestra,
Contact: Festival Director David Creevy at david.creevy@gmail.com
For ticketing enquiries contact: St Michael’s Theatre Box Office at 051 421 255.
Muireann Bradley is a 17 year old finger picking guitarist & singer who grew up in the hills overlooking the Finn Valley outside the town of Ballybofey in County Donegal, Ireland. Muireann performs primarily Country, Ragtime & Piedmont style blues from the 1920s & 1930s. Her influences include Rev Gary Davis, Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Elizabeth Cotten, and Memphis Minnie to name just a few. She delights in interpreting & performing the music of these early blues masters, always putting her own unique stamp on the tunes. Muireann grew up surrounded by guitars & old blues & began playing at the age of nine when she convinced her father to buy her first guitar and teach her. She worked hard and learned to finger pick in various old blues styles. However as she got older she began to invest more time in the sports of boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which she trained and competed in successfully from a young age. This led to the guitar and music beginning to take something of a back seat. Then in March 2020 when the first COVID lock downs happened all contact sports were shut down. Muireann felt lost for a while but she soon rediscovered her love for the guitar and the old Blues that she had grown up with. She was now listening and practicing with a new intensity and focus. She decided to start posting videos on You Tube, the first of which was her rendition of Blind Blake's "Police Dog Blues". It received a lot of attention, and has now had 80,000+ views. She was then contacted by Josh Rosenthal of Tompkins Square Records in San Francisco who suggested she record an album. Muireann was very keen to hear herself on record but as it turned out the recording of the album would be delayed and interrupted numerous times by the ongoing pandemic, allergies, orthodontics and just generally growing up! The songs and instrumentals were all recorded live in the studio in one or two takes in an attempt to make the process as similar as possible to that of the original classic country blues artists of the 1920s and 30s. These recordings would become the album “I kept these old blues” which is due for release in early December on vinyl, CD and cassette as well as being available on all the digital platforms. Muireann recently went down a storm performing on the Marquee stage at the 46th Ballyshannon folk & traditional festival as the 2023 solo showcase winner. The great Arlen Roth has described her as “a natural!”, Jorma Kaukonen said that kid is really good and I don’t mean really good for a kid, I mean REALLY GOOD, while Stefan Grossman said “ A wonderful player, I can now retire, the torch has been passed”.
John Walsh is Ireland’s leading Flamenco Guitarist. For the last 14 years John has been at the forefront of Flamenco in Ireland, as a performer, composer and educator. Having studied with Flamenco masters in Algeciras, Seville & Granada over the course of 4 years, John returned to Ireland to bring his passion for Flamenco music to the stage. in 2015 he was the first non-Spaniard to be invited to perform at the prestigious ‘Paco de Lucia Guitar Festival’ in Algeciras, Spain. He was also the featured International artist he 2014 International Flamenco Festival in Consuegra, Spain as well as performing for 2 consecutive nights in 2014 in the famous Flamenco venue ‘El Candela’ in Madrid, a first for any Irish artist. John has been featured on National television & radio and has composed music for the National Ballet of Ireland, Riverdance amongst others. Most recently, his guitar playing can be heard in the movie ‘Riverdance-The Animated Adventure’ on Sky Cinema In his home country of Ireland he has given concerts in the National Concert Hall on a number of occasions and appeared in the Guitar Festival of Ireland, the City of Derry Guitar Festival, Ards Guitar Festival and many more. He has been invited to perform for President Michael D. Higgins on a number of occasions. In 2020 John released his debut album ‘Irlandalucía, which received widespread critical acclaim both Nationally and Internationally. Containing 7 original and spellbinding Flamenco guitar compositions composed by John over the last number of years, features collaborations from percussionists from Spain & the Netherlands. Although a little over a week old at the time, the album was featured by Ellen Cranitch on Ireland’s national classical music radio station Lyric FM as one the ‘best albums of 2020’ as well is receiving airplay in Spain & the USA. “Each piece on the album has a different mood but it’s united by the common thread of John Walsh’s musical quest. There’s melody, depth, emotion and brilliant technical virtuosity, but also elegance… a very beautiful and haunting composition which manages to convey both lyrical freedom and grace…It’s really superb stuff” – Bernard Clarke, Lyric FM “A technically brilliant, deeply beautiful and affecting journey through the heartland of flamenco, and one that bears Walsh’s quite personal melodic, rhythmic and percussive stamp, Irlandalucía would likely draw more than a few approving olés in the flamenco shrines of Andalusia. Jaw droppingly good.." – Irlandalucía review – Ian Patterson, Allaboutjazz.com “John Walsh is a technically brilliant and accomplished guitarist. He has brought some very beautiful ideas from the world of Flamenco guitar back and introduced them to Irish music.” – Martin Hayes “It is one thing to be able to get your fingers around the blinding technique required to play flamenco guitar. It is another thing altogether for the player to imbue the passion and expression of flamenco into his playing. John Walsh manages magnificently to achieve both!” – Bill Whelan, Composer, Creator of Riverdance.
Xuefei Yang is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists. Hailed as a musical pioneer - her fascinating journey began after the Cultural Revolution, a period where Western musical instruments and music were banned. Fei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, and became the first internationally recognised Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo and, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students. Fei is one of the few guitarists whose artistry connects with audiences far beyond the guitar fraternity. Her international success has led her to be invited to play in more than 50 countries at numerous prestigious venues, and is frequently invited to play with the world’s leading orchestras, and collaborate with artists such as Ian Bostridge, Roberto Alagna and Sir James Galway. Fei has made many acclaimed recordings for major labels. Her first received a gold disc and her second was selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone magazine. Fei’s recent recordings include “Songs from our Ancestors” which continues her successful collaboration with Ian Bostridge; and several solo albums; “Summertime”, “Winter Songs” (Apple Music), “Sketches of China” (EMI), “Magna Carta”, the complete guitar works of John Brunning with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Apple Music) which featured in the USA Billboard Charts and UK Official Charts and most recently “X Culture” in which composers explore musical inspirations from other cultures - reflecting Fei’s own cross-culture journey. She has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman's Hour, the BBC Proms, & documentaries on BBC and China Central Television. The UK classical music station, Classic FM, named Fei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time and BBC Music Magazine named her as one of the top six guitarists of the last century. Gramophone magazine praised her as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuing to build the guitar repertoire.
John Gleeson. From Carlow. Plays guitar and Dobro with the Niall toner band for many years both here and the US. He incorporates many musical styles from lrish trad to driving bluegrass and beyond. Featuring a Jerry Douglas and Doc Watson tribute among many other styles.
Evelyn and Declan started working together in the dark Winter of 2020. Now they’re ready to step into the light. They have written and recorded an album together called ‘Make for Joy’. It was released on. February 29th and was RTE 1 ‘Album of the Week’. Declan you may well know from his work with Christy Moore, Mary Black, Horslips, Moving Hearts etc. He produces, writes, sings and of course plays guitar with Evelyn. Evelyn was born on the tropical island of Curaçao, had a music career in the Netherlands and lives in Co. Kerry now. She has gone from singing in Les Misérable to acid Jazz and everything in between. Together they have found a new path through the woods. At the concert you will hear all the songs from their album, some of Declan’s songs and a few covers. Two voices, one guitar and a warm uplifting attitude.
Pat Coldrick is a Virtuoso Guitarist and Composer, who has been working for the last six years in Ireland but has also performed Recitals in Europe, the USA and Russia. Pat has been described as ‘pushing the boundaries of classical guitar’ with his musical interpretations and compositions and has made Classical Guitar exciting, interesting and more accessible to music lovers in general. Through his interpretation of music and by exploring and embracing new technologies he strives to enhance the dynamics of the classical guitar and bring his music to a wider audience both at home and abroad. His music defies genre and appeals to a wide cross section of music lovers. While Pat plays his own arrangements of great classical pieces, it is his own compositions that sets him apart – pieces such as Opelia, Lament, CityJam and Antarctica to name but a few. Pat’s skillful and atmospheric connection with his audience is an art form in itself and is in total contrast to other more formal classical performances. He has a very easy going, laid back and unassuming approach and his interaction with the audience and philosophy of ‘entertaining’ rather than ‘educating’ his listeners is a breath of fresh air. Once Pat begins to play people are immediately captivated by his dedication, passion and skill. His interpretation and delivery of each piece combined with his superb artistry as a performer results in his unique ability to make his audience laugh and equally move them to tears. To date Pat has produced 3 albums – Cayendo in 2010, CityJam in 2014 and the latest Ophelia, released in November 2018. Since the launch of these albums his music has been played on all the major radio stations in Ireland and abroad. It’s fair to say that Pat’s music is currently attracting a lot of attention in classical quarters and beyond. Pat is now widely acknowledged as a very accomplished musician and composer who is succeeding in bringing classical guitar music ‘Centre Stage’ where he so passionately believes it belongs. Pat’s musical formation has not followed normal traditional lines. He is mainly self taught and in a relatively short period of time he has put together an impressive body of work and has gained considerable recognition throughout Ireland and Internationally both as a performer and composer. Some highlights of his achievements to date include: