"Magnificent... The instrumental quality is outstanding" * * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY ”Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility” * * * * SONGLINES

Since its début on Cambridge Folk Festival's main stage in 1987, the world-renowned partnership of “the doyenne of Irish harpers” (* * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY) with a “brilliant English master of the acoustic guitar” (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH) has presented its unique musical vision in twenty-four countries on five continents to venues ranging from the tiniest of village halls to palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul, London’s Barbican, Cologne's Philharmonie, and Town Halls from Sydney to Seattle.

Chris and Máire’s performances are rooted but eclectic, emotional but adventurous: a breathtaking blend of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, spiced with striking new compositions, pieces from Chris’ groundbreaking new solo album 'Breaking Bach’ - and what THE WEST AUSTRALIAN calls his "delightfully subversive wit”!

Of their sixth album, ‘FireWire’, the critics said: “An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling... bewitching string fantasies and a wonderfully clear and expressive voice" THE TIMES “Dazzling virtuosity... delightful” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "In a class of their own" THE GUARDIAN "Takes one of the most effete instruments in traditional music and breathes a fire into its belly" * * * * THE IRISH TIMES “Brilliant, innovative harping and guitar-playing of astonishing virtuosity and versatility” * * * * SONGLINES “Album of the Year” LIVE IRELAND “Best Celtic Instrumental Album” JUST PLAIN FOLKS AWARDS Nashville, Tennessee.

Chris Newman is one of the world's finest flat-picking guitarists and a gifted improviser who has toured and recorded with many luminaries of the folk and jazz worlds, among them Aly Bain, Boys of the Lough and Stéphane Grappelli, and is an award-winning composer and record producer, receiving a silver disc for producing comedian Fred Wedlock’s Top 10 hit, ‘The Oldest Swinger in Town’. He was principal guitar and mandolin tutor for Newcastle University’s Folk B.Mus degree course for twenty-one years, since its inception, and many of his alumni form the new wave of British acoustic guitarists and mandolinists currently gracing festival stages. His  groundbreaking new solo album ‘Breaking Bach’ is "Dazzling... utterly breathtaking... a triumph.” * * * * * FOLK WALES “A colossal achievement… Elegant, stylish and unmistakeably from the heart.” * * * * RnR MAGAZINE “A groundbreaking project... a magnificent tour-de-force... a toweringly impressive achievement” THE LIVING TRADITION * * * * THE SCOTSMAN.

Chris’s previous solo album ‘Still Getting Away with It’, a celebration of his 40-year career, was “Astonishing - a joy-filled romp through blues, back-porch pickin', Quebec reels, Django swing jazz chordings, bluegrass, African high- life, ragtime, latin, Irish jigs and beyond, and a must-buy for any guitar player” * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY “Amazing... One of our greatest musicians” Mike Harding, BBC RADIO 2 "Beauty and virtuosity from a master craftsman at the peak of his abilities... I couldn’t recommend an album more highly" * * * * MAVERICK “A triumph... I'm fully conscious that I'm in the presence of greatness here... one of the top guitarists of his ilk anywhere” THE LIVING TRADITION “Precision-engineered, lovingly crafted tunes... Playful and incredibly dextrous” * * *THE IRISH TIMES “Dazzling... A genuinely uplifting album of some of the most remarkable - yet accessible - guitar playing you're going to hear all year” * * * * * ROCK N REEL “Dazzling” ACOUSTIC GUITAR (USA) “His playing boggles my mind” FLATPICKING GUITAR MAGAZINE (USA)

Máire Ní Chathasaigh, steeped in the traditions of her native Co. Cork, is a recipient of Irish traditional music’s most prestigious award, Musician of the Year (Gradam Ceoil TG4 - Ceoltóir na Bliana) - "for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp and for the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers". She won the All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic Harp Competitions several times and in 1985 recorded the first harp album ever to concentrate on traditional Irish dance music, ‘The New-Strung Harp’ - "an intensely passionate and intelligent record and a milestone in Irish harp music" (THE IRISH EXAMINER) - which was re-mastered and reissued in 2023. Her approach has been profoundly influential wherever lever harps are played - “a single-handed reinvention of the harp”.  Two volumes of her arrangements have been published: The Irish Harper Vols. I and II. She contributed two articles about the Irish harp and modes in Irish music to the Companion to Irish Traditional Music (Cork University Press) and is profiled there, in Celtic Women in Music (Quarry Books, Canada) and in the Rough Guide to Irish Music. "Her work restores the harp to its true voice" THE IRISH TIMES “She is the great innovator of modern Irish harping, a player of outstanding technique and imagination” THE ROUGH GUIDE TO IRISH MUSIC “Máire is an absolute legend... a game-changer in the world of harp-music… truly ground-breaking” THE IRISH ECHO (USA)

Her album with her sisters The Casey Sisters, ‘Sibling Revelry’, was "First-class... wonderfully atmospheric" * * * * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "Stunning" THE LIVING TRADITION “Très romantique... magnifique sonorité!" LE CANARD FOLK "Radiant... a treat" * * * * THE IRISH TIMES "Superbe" * * * * TRAD MAGAZINE (France) "Blissfully beautiful... channelling mythology, nostalgia and geography to bewitching effect in heartfelt music” * * * * SONGLINES “Virtuosic, rich, flowing, soulful... (with) sheer depth of feeling for the Irish tradition" THE HERALD (Scotland).

Chris and Máire’s quartet album ‘Heartstring Sessions’ with guitarist Arty McGlynn and Máire's sister, fiddler Nollaig Casey, is “Inspired - a contender for album of the year” fROOTS “Traditional music at its very best” * * * * THE IRISH TIMES "An amazingly eclectic mix... Astounding" THE ULSTER HERALD "Magnificent... Virtuosic… Outstanding" * * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY “World-class” IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE “Two of the mightiest pairings in current folk combine to give a tour-de-force of breathtaking order. Classic.” THE LIVING TRADITION "Attention - chef d'œuvre! Bravo!!!” TRAD MAGAZINE (France) “A dream quartet - the sweetest and most exciting music to emerge for a long time. Amazing virtuosity matched with sheer good taste.” DIRTY LINEN (USA)

Máire and Chris guest on Irish rock legend Rory Gallagher’s posthumous ‘Wheels within Wheels’ (BMG); Máire is harp/voice soloist with the New English Chamber Orchestra and the Choir of New College Oxford on John Cameron's ‘Missa Celtica’ (Erato Disques); her singing features on the Goldcrest film ‘Driftwood’ and her harping on Dan ar Braz's Gold Disc-awarded CD ‘Finisterres’ (Sony). Broadcasts include televised concerts on TG4 and Rai Uno; TV appearances on RTÉ, BBC, S4C, HTV, WDR, ABC, France 3, PBS (the associated TV special of the Polygram USA CD release ‘Celtic Harpestry’) and countless radio performances world-wide.

“So moving... Technical brilliance and beauty that brings tears to the eyes” IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE (Ireland) “An eclecticism and spirit of adventure that is quite thrilling” THE TIMES (UK) “Dazzling virtuosity” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (UK) "Sublime" SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (Australia) “Chris is amazing... one of our greatest musicians” BBC RADIO 2 (UK) “In a class of their own” THE GUARDIAN (UK) “Music of fire and brilliance from the high-wire act in traditional music” THE IRISH TIMES (Ireland) “Remarquables de virtuosité et de grâce” TRAD Magazine (France) "Astonishing" GENERAL-ANZEIGER (Germany) "String magic of a special kind... a perfect duet... extraordinary.” PFORZHEIMER ZEITUNG" (Germany) "Simply magnificent" RHEINPFALZ (Germany) "Blazing guitar and dancing harp” DIRTY LINEN (USA) "The mood is ever changing - sometimes haunting, sometimes boisterous but always magical. The pair's imaginations know no bounds" THE BRISBANE COURIER-MAIL (Australia) “So moving... Technical brilliance and beauty that brings tears to the eyes” IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE (Ireland)  “Their stagecraft was masterly and their introductions informative and funny” THE CHRISTCHURCH PRESS (New Zealand) “This celebrated duo took the place by storm. Stately Carolan tunes, jazzy Django-ish numbers, dazzling Doc Watson style flat picking fliers, driving Irish dance tunes - this pair can nonchalantly do the lot. Guitar players applauded and went sadly home to burn their instruments!” THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH (Ireland) “Did things I have never heard a harp do before... Astonishing... An extraordinary event” CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE (UK) “Their blinding technique, sizzling Irish reels and hot jazz improvisation brought an extended standing ovation... Newman has the great gift of being informative and hilarious simultaneously” THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

A full biography is available at www.maireandchris.com