CONCERTINA

Catrióna Fee is a concertina player from Cold Spring, New York, who is currently based in Washington, D.C. Raised in a family of set and step dancers, including her two sisters, Angela and Mairead Fee, playing in groups and for dancers was always a central part of Catrióna’s musical upbringing. She grew up playing ceilis alongside her father, Michael Fee, in the Catskills and other parts of the New York area. Catrióna is a multiple Mid-Atlantic Fleadh champion on the concertina and has competed several times in the All Ireland Fleadh. As a youth, she played in ceili band and grupa cheoil competitions in the US and Ireland with the Pearl River School of Irish Music.

Catrióna has taught concertina at the Catskills Irish Arts Week, the Baltimore Trad Fest, and to individuals of all ages. She also had the privilege of teaching the concertina to and recording with Steve Martin for the first season of the hit TV show 'Only Murders in the Building.'

BANJO

Brendan Coyne is a performer and banjo teacher in the DC-Baltimore area. From a young age, Brendan was introduced to Irish traditional music and taught fiddle by Mitch Fanning, founder and director of the original Bog Band. He later learned tenor banjo from Keith Carr at the CCE MAD Week and has since performed for audiences ranging from folk festival-goers to the Vice President of the United States. 

Brendan began teaching banjo in 2023, and attributes his joy for teaching to the influence of Mitch Fanning. He has since taught workshops and private lessons in many settings, including the University of Notre Dame, Indiana State Prison, The Baltimore Irish Trad Fest, and The Irish Tenor Banjo Summit. 

He focuses his teaching on sharing his experience in the tradition: teaching students tunes and technique through which they can access the same craic, beauty, and history that others have shared with him.

FIDDLE

Dylan Foley is one of the great fiddle players of our time, an All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, delighting audiences from Lincoln Center to Irish Television channels RTE and TG4. Dylan traveled with Mick Moloney in 2013, to Vietnam as part of Irish Aid, bringing Irish music and culture to those who were affected by the horrors of the Vietnam War. He teaches and performs at the major Irish music summer camps on both sides of the Atlantic. A member of The Yanks, the hot trad band that has been called” the next Irish American dream team,” Dylan is committed to passing on the tradition, as it was graciously passed to him, by the incomparable Rose Flanagan and others. You can hear his passion for the music in the intense drive of in his lively and fluid playing.

“… one of the finest fiddlers in America and certainly the most genial among them…his feel and tone breathtaking… He pulls brilliant music from the fiddle…” Daniel Neely/The Irish Echo

FLUTE/WHISTLE

Seamus Noonan is a Boston area Irish traditional flute and concertina player. He learned music from his father Jimmy Noonan. Seamus was a 2024 Seán Ó’ Riada finalist. He has placed in several Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann competitions including the 2023 and 2024 Senior flute competition in Mullingar and Wexford.

STRINGED ACCOMPANIMENT

Josh Dukes is an All-Ireland champion accompanist and a highly sought-after music teacher in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. A multi-instrumentalist whose talents embrace the guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, flute, and tin whistle, Josh has established a reputation for providing sensitive, tasteful support for traditional Irish music. As a young high school student, Josh studied the oboe, tenor/alto saxophone, drum set and baritone horn. 

Outside of the classroom, he learned the art of ancient rudimental drumming under the tutelage of Dominick Cuccia, a widely respected instructor/performer in the fife and drum community. In 1997, Josh enlisted in the Army and has since earned the rank of Master Sergeant, where he served as one of three Drum Majors for the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, “The Official Escort to the President,” the only military unit of its kind. Josh continues to perform Irish music, having shared the stage with such renowned musicians including John Doyle, Paddy Keenan, Billy and Sean McComiskey, Brendan Mulvihill, Skip Healy, Zan McLeod, and Myron Bretholz. Josh lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Judy and two daughters, Mya and Olivia.

DANCE

Kate Bole is a step dancer, sean nos enthusiast, and choreographer. She began dancing at age six with Theresa Burke in Youngstown, Ohio. Upon moving to Washington, D.C. in 2002, she studied with Sean Culkin and Nicki Bayhurst at the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance. In recent years, she has been lucky to study alongside the brilliant DC area dance master Agi Kovacs. With the guidance of these amazing teachers, she has developed a love for choreography, performing with live music, and teaching students of all ages. Kate has choreographed and performed for productions at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the Strathmore Performing Arts Center in concert with Eileen Ivers, the Blackrock Center for the Arts, the Montgomery College Performing Arts Center, and the Washington Performing Arts Society Gala. She has been featured as a guest dancer with many Irish music touring ensembles, including Natalie MacMaster, Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, Lúnasa, Téada, Lilt, Kevin Burke, and The Rovers.

SINGING

Eileen Estes is a traditional singer, arranger, songwriter, and song collector with family roots in Irish music. A member of Baltimore-based bands Celtic Corridor and The Good Folk, she is dedicated to preserving and promoting Irish traditions. She also works as a studio musician and vocal coach.

As the founder of Lark Song Studios, Eileen teaches voice both in-person and remotely.

Her teaching emphasizes vocal health, ornamentation, and Irish phrasing, creating a collaborative space where singers develop their unique voices. She serves on the faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music and is the vocal instructor for the Irish Music School of Chicago. She previously taught voice and traditional singing at the Blue Ridge Irish Music School and leads workshops across the U.S.

Eileen is profoundly influenced by her mother, Nita Conley (a founding member of Celtic Thunder), and her mentor, Niamh Parsons. She also draws inspiration from the singing of the Tunney family and Rita Gallagher. Learn more at LarkSongStudios.com

BUTTON ACCORDION/IRISH LANGUAGE

Diarmuid Ó Meachair, an accomplished accordion player from Cúil Aodha, Co. Cork, is a versatile musician and talented Melodeon player. He is also a skilled sean-nós singer and fluent Irish speaker. In 2022, Diarmuid was honored with the prestigious TG4 Young Musician of the Year award. Currently, he serves as a member of the teaching staff at University College Cork’s Department of Music and as the new Irish Music instructor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Over the past two years, Diarmuid has released three solo albums: Siúl na Slí (December 2022), Melodeon Medleys (July 2023), and Diarmuid Ó Meachair (July 2024). He has received recognition at the RTÉ Folk Awards, being nominated in 2024 for "Best Instrumentalist" and "Best Emerging Artist," and again for "Best Instrumentalist" in 2025. As a native Irish speaker from the Múscraí Gaeltacht, Diarmuid has also enjoyed success in sean-nós singing competitions at Oireachtas na Gaeilge.

In 2023, Diarmuid was commissioned by The John Dwyer Festival and the National Arts Council of Ireland to compose a musical suite in tribute to the esteemed Dwyer family from Beara. His remarkable achievements include winning the Senior All-Ireland Melodeon title at the Fleadh in Ennis in 2016 at just 19 years old. He later graduated in 2018 from Mary Immaculate College with a Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education.

As a solo artist, Diarmuid has been invited to teach at numerous festivals in Ireland, Europe, and the US. In 2023, he was personally invited by the legendary Frankie Gavin to join his renowned group, Dé Dannan. Together, they have performed at various festivals across Ireland, the UK, and Europe, including a notable appearance on The Late Late Show in May.

DANCE

Maureen Berry is the Owner/Director of Teelin School of Irish Dance and Director of Teelin Irish Dance Company. She was awarded her TCRG teaching certification by An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha (the Irish Dancing Commission, in Dublin, Ireland) in 2001, and has been an active member of the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) since that time.

In 2009, Maureen was the top recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Individual Artist Award for Dance Choreography, and she then received the Howie Award for Outstanding Artist in 2015.

Maureen’s extensive dance training ranges from modern, ballet, salsa, tap & jazz to traditional Appalachian clogging and Irish step dance. She grew up in New Jersey within the highly competitive world of Irish step dancing, became a champion Irish dancer at a young age, and competed at the World Championships in Ireland.

Also musically inclined, Maureen learned button accordion from her late father, Michael Berry, and competed in the All Ireland championships for Irish music. (Maureen is currently on a mission to make the accordion a “cool” instrument!)

At the age of 16, Maureen began studying Ballet, Jazz, Tap & Modern dance at a Performing Arts High School, and then went on to receive her B.F.A. degree in Dance Performance from Towson University. Maureen joined Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble as a full-time performer in June 1997 and toured worldwide. In 2017, she toured with Brian O’Donovan’s A Celtic Sojourn. In 2019, she performed with the Teelin Irish Dance Company at Jacob’s Pillow.

In 2007, Maureen choreographed and performed in a John Paul Jones music video for the music group Uncle Earl. The video has won multiple awards from Country Music Television (CMT).

Maureen is currently focusing her energy on teaching and directing. She has taught a World champion, NAFC Belt winner, Great Britains winner and All-Scotlands winner. Highlights of her career include producing, choreographing, and starring in the highly successful original productions of feature-length stage shows: Portraits of Ireland (2006-2011), StepDance (2012-2013), Sláinte (2014), and Celtic Storm (2016-2019).

FLUTE/WHISTLE

Kevin Elam is a multi-instrumentalist and All-Ireland Champion in Men's Singing. Although he boasts a strong background in classical piano, choral singing, and has a degree in Jazz studies, Kevin is rooted in Irish traditional music. In August of 2019, he was awarded first place in Men's English Singing at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, held in Drogheda, Ireland, and took home the coveted “Dalaigh Shield,” an award only won by one other American in its 65-year history.

Kevin has also won more than a dozen other awards in Irish music, including second place medals in Accompaniment and in Newly Composed Songs at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, and nine first-place awards in multiple categories at the CCE Mid-Atlantic Fleadh. In 2020, Kevin was awarded a grant from George Mason University’s Young Artist Commissioning Project, and consequently recorded his debut album of traditional ballads, If I Were A Small Bird, released in September 2021.

Kevin enjoys a busy performance schedule in the US and abroad, appearing both as a soloist and with several ensembles at many of the top Irish and Scottish festivals and concert series. Kevin also teaches students in multiple instruments and styles, and in 2020 joined the prestigious faculty of DC's premiere Irish traditional music camp, MAD Week. Kevin was honored to be selected as one of six Artists in Residence at Strathmore Music Hall in Bethesda, MD for the 2023 season.

Kevin stays quite busy with other musical pursuits outside of the Irish traditional music scene. Holding a BM in Jazz Piano from George Mason University, Kevin performs regularly as a keyboardist in jazz and popular styles in the DC area. He has also developed a reputation as a skilled chamber singer, and enjoys singing Renaissance polyphony (as well as other choral works) with several professional choirs, as well as directing his own a cappella chamber group, Ars Gratia Populi.

http://www.kevinelammusic.com

http://patreon.com/kevinelammusic

FIDDLE

Mitch Fanning earned a Bachelor of Music degree (1982) in violin performance from The Catholic University of America's School of Music where he studied with Jody Gatwood, concertmaster emeritus of National Philharmonic Orchestra. He also studied Suzuki violin pedagogy with Ronda Cole and participated in pedagogy workshops at Suzuki Institutes with the late John Kendall et. al., and more recently with Mimi Zweig’s teacher training program at Indiana University. Mitch has also studied traditional Irish fiddling with the late All-Ireland fiddle champions Brendan Mulvihill and Brian Conway.

Mitch is the founding director of the Bog Band, a youth performance group specializing in traditional Irish music. The Bog Band began as a fiddle club at Washington Waldorf School where Mitch taught as part of the middle school strings program. The Bog Band inspired the inception of Musical Arts & Dance (MAD) Week, a summer day camp celebrating traditional Irish music and dance.  MAD Weekend is a natural outgrowth and more broadly accessible and compact celebration of traditional Irish music and dance that continues to this day.   

Mitch is also the founding executive director of the Baltimore-Washington Academy of Irish Culture (BWAIC), a music, dance, and cultural academy for children and teens. The Bog Band was both the initial enrollment as well as the performance practicum at the academy. Since stepping down from executive directorship nearly three years ago, BWAIC has changed its name to Baltimore Irish Music School and primarily serves the Baltimore metro area.

Mitch also earned a TTCT certification in Irish music from Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Éireann’s teacher training course (2014) in Dublin. He teaches traditional Irish fiddle and classical violin at his home-based studio in Silver Spring, MD and teaches classes in traditional Irish fiddling for violinists at Washington Conservatory of Music. He performs regularly at the Irish Inn at Glen Echo with his fellow Inn Mates and at other venues throughout the area. 

BODHRAN

Jesse Winch was born in the Bronx in 1943. As a ten-year-old, Jesse took up the drums and two years later started playing with his father and button-accordion player P.J. Conway for house parties and parish dances. He played in his first ceili band in the late 1950's under the tutelage of the legendary Felix Dolan. While still in high school, Jesse became the regular drummer for the Tenafly/Englewood, New Jersey Ceili Club with his dad, P.J. Conway and Walter Walsh (accordions), and Jackie and Peggy Riordan (fiddles). Jesse went on to play drums with the Joe Nellany Band, Paddy Noonan, Paulie Ryan, and several other Irish dance bands in New York in the early 1960s, playing such historic venues as the New York City Center, The Yorkville Casino, The Jaeger House, and others.

In the late 1960's Jesse was introduced to the bodhran at an Irish Northern Aid benefit, and in succeeding years, started playing the bodhran with encouragement and inspiration from such players as Peadar Mercier, Robin Morton, Seamus Begley (while visiting Washington on the 1976 Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann [CCE] tour) and DeDanann's Johnny McDonagh. Jesse played with James Keane's Ellis Island Band at the National Folk Festival in 1986 and 1987 as part of an all-star line-up that included Jack Coen, Mike Preston, Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds, and Mattie Connolly, with Seamus Connolly joining the group in the second year. 

Jesse is a founding member, with his brother Terry, of the award-winning band Celtic Thunder, and also plays regularly in the DC area with Narrowbacks, the Bog Wanderers Ceili Band, and the Irish Inn Mates. Jesse has recorded with Celtic Thunder, Jerry O'Sullivan, The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell, Johnny Cunningham, Linda Hickman, and many others.

Jesse has served on the teaching staff at the Augusta Heritage Center’s Irish Week in Elkins, WV, teaching bodhran and ceili band, a class he created; at the Swannanoa Gathering’s Celtic Week in Asheville, NC; at the Annual Convention of the North American Province of CCE; and regularly for the Washington Conservatory of Music at Glen Echo Park, Maryland.

FIDDLE

Champion fiddler and singer Seán Heely is one of the most creatively versatile and captivating young artists of his generation. He is a U.S National Scottish Fiddle and U.S Gàidhlig singing Champion as well as an award-winning Irish Fiddler and harpist. Seán holds a degree from the University of South Carolina in Violin Performance and was a 2019 Artist in Residence at Strathmore Music Center in Maryland. An educator in demand, Seán is has served as an Adjunct Instructor at American University, he has also been on the faculty at several summer camps such as Acadia Traditional School of Music and Arts, Boxwood Music Festival, Upper Potomac Fiddle Retreat, and Fiddle Hell Festival. He has performed in Scotland, Ireland, South America, Italy, Germany, and at prestigious venues in the U.S. such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and Strathmore Music Center. Irish fiddle legend Liz Carroll calls Seán: “One powerhouse of a fiddler.”

Seán has shared the stage with traditional music icons such as Bonnie Rideout, Liz Carroll, Maeve Gilchrist, and along with his accolades in Traditional Music, Seán made his Classical solo debut with the Virginia Symphony in 2012 performing Mozart's 5th Violin Concerto.

In 2023, Seán was honored to win the prestigious Dan R. MacDonald Memorial Prize from the Clan Donald Trust from the Gaelic Performing Arts and Male Musician of the Year from Ireland Tonight Radio.

Seán has recorded four full-length internationally acclaimed albums some of which have been featured on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta in Ireland, and NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock. Currently based in the Washington DC area, Seán performs locally and abroad with the Seán Heely Celtic Band, The Glencoe Lads, and Jennifer Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra.