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.
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.
Mancuso has played with many of Sicily's musicians. At the age of twelve, he had performed at the Castelbuono Jazz Festival in Sicily. In a short time the name of Matteo Mancuso has already traveled around the globe. His unique guitar technique shocks for cleanliness and precision and ranges in various musical genres with total ease. The Future of the Guitar is already here.
Ana Vidovic is an extraordinary talent with formidable gifts taking her place amongst the elite musicians of the world today. She is known for her beautiful tone, precise technique, well-defined phrasing and thoughtful artistry and musicianship. Her international performance career includes frequent recitals, concerto engagementsand festival appearances in most of Europe’s cultural. Her tours have also taken her to Australia, Brazil, Israel, Japan, Korea and Mexico. Equally impressive is the fact that she has recorded 6 CDs. Mel Bay Publications has released Ana Vidovic’s DVD entitled “Guitar Artistry in Concert. Ms. Vidovic has won an impressive number of prizes and international competitions including first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. In Croatia, the guitarist has performed Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television, as well as having been featured in three television documentaries by the eminent Croatian film director Petar Krelja. Ana Vidovic comes from the small town of Karlovac near Zagreb, Croatia, and started playing guitar at the age of 5. At age 7, she gave her first public performance and at the age of 11 she was performing internationally. She became the youngest student at age 13 to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Ms. Vidovic’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Conservatory from which she graduated.
Described by the Washington Post as 'Ireland's leading classical guitarist' and by Michael Dervan in the Irish Times as 'a trailblazer...when it comes to the guitar and guitar-playing in Ireland', Feeley studied at Trinity College, Dublin, Queens College of the City University, New York, and The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where he graduated with a PhD in music. He has taught at the American Institute of Guitar, Memphis State University, the Conservatory of Music, the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Conservatory of Music, Dublin Institute of Technology (now TUDublin). Highly regarded for his performance and recordings of new works by Irish composers, he has had many works written for him. He is a regular performer at many international guitar festivals and has made recordings with K-Tel, Gael-Linn Records, CBA Classics, Ossiain Records, Castle Communications, Blackbox Music, England and Celestial Harmonies. Germany. He has also recorded with the Chieftains, famous Spanish Soprano Montserrat Caballes and flautist William Dowdall. Concerts have taken him around the world and include appearances at the Sydney Opera House, the Old Opera House, Frankfurt, the L'Arena in Verona, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Eamon Sweeney teaches and performs extensively giving broadcasts, lectures, and workshops in Ireland and abroad. He has collaborated with some of Ireland’s leading artists including the late Seamus Heaney, Mary Coughlan, Steve Cooney, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Eamon studied early plucked-string performance at ESMUC in Barcelona with acclaimed guitarist/lutenist Xavier Diaz Latorre and Classical Guitar at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama with Dr John Feeley, where Eamon completed his own Doctorate in 17th-century guitar practice. Eamon gratefully acknowledges the support of The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, The Arts Council, and Music Network through the Music Capital Scheme & The Artist Bursary Award.
David is currently the Principal of County Wexford School of Music where he also teaches classical guitar. He is a graduate of the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama where he studied with John Feely, after a string of successful competitions he was selected as one of six guitarists from around the world to study with the heir to the legacy of Andres Segovia, Christopher Parkening in Southern California. Parkening proclaims that “David Creevy is a very talented young classical guitarist, an instrument speaks from the heart of the player and it is this young man’s heart that speaks when he plays.” Creevy received standing ovations in US concerts notably his St. Patrick’s Day O’Carolan recital. David was winner of the J.S. Bach guitar Prize, George Louden Senior Guitar prize and runner up in the Yamaha European Guitar Foundation Award. David has toured across America, Colombia and Europe.
Niall’s very first Album was released in 1973 on Thrust Records, and included one of his first Mandolin originals, Terenure Stomp. That was followed by There's a Better Way in 2001, Mood Swing in 2005 and NTB 3 in 2008, all on Avalon Records. In 2012, Onwards and Upwards was released on North Carolina's Pinecastle Records. Then, in 2015, Niall recorded my 5th all-original Album, Working On Love, which got great reviews in the Press, and also garnered substantial air-play on RTE Radio One. He is releasing his 6th all-original Album. This time 'round, Niall is concentrating on local Stories and Historical events from the area roughly bound by the source of the River Burren, near Myshall, in the Blackstairs Mountains, to the spot where it joins the great River Barrow, near Carlow Town. Most, if not all, the new Songs and Tunes are co-written with his bandmates, Dick Gladney, Johnny Gleeson, Paddy Kiernan, Richie Foley and Keith Sewell, and are recorded between Orchard Studios in Enniscorthy and the Toolshed Studios in Nashville, TN.