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.