About Máire

Máire is “the doyenne of Irish harp players” (SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY), “an absolute legend" (THE IRISH ECHO) and 2001 recipient of Irish music’s most prestigious Award, Gradam Ceoil TG4 – Musician of the Year - “for the excellence and pioneering force of her music, the remarkable growth she has brought to the music of the harp in Ireland and for the positive influence she has had on the young generation of harpers.”

A multiple All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic winner, Máire developed profoundly influential techniques for harp performance of traditional Irish music in the 1970s and in 1985 recorded the first harp album ever to concentrate on traditional Irish dance music, The New-Strung Harp - "a masterpiece of virtuosity… a mile-stone in Irish harp music" (THE EVENING ECHO) - which was re-mastered and reissued in 2023.

She has subsequently made seven duo albums with guitarist Chris Newman, two quartet albums with theHeartstring Quartet and a trio album, Sibling Revelry, with her sisters (The Casey Sisters) - all critically-acclaimed. Her "celebrated virtuoso partnership" (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH) with guitarist Chris Newman has toured in twenty-three countries to venues ranging from the tiniest of village halls to palaces in Kyoto and Istanbul, London’s Barbican, Sydney Town Hall and Cologne's Philharmonie.

A TV documentary about Máire and her sister Nollaig was broadcast on Ireland’s national Irish-language TV station TG4 in November 2020, as part of its 'Sé mo Laoch series.

Tunes Máire has composed have been recorded by Lúnasa, Dan ar Bras, Tony McManus and many others.

"Her work restores the harp to its true voice." THE IRISH TIMES “In a class of her own” THE GUARDIAN

* * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY * * * * THE IRISH TIMES  * * * * SONGLINES * * * * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH * * * * THE SCOTSMAN

Further information at www.mairenichathasaigh.com,  www.maireandchris.com and www.oldbridgemusic.com

About Chris

Chris is "a brilliant English master of the acoustic guitar" (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH), 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, Kathryn Tickell, Diz Disley and Stéphane Grappelli. He is an award-winning composer and record producer, receiving a silver disc for producing "The Oldest Swinger in Town", a Top 10 hit for comedian Fred Wedlock. 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 to be seen gracing festivals around the world, among them members of Talisk, the Elephant Sessions, the Tea Pad Orchestra, Kate Rusby Band etc. He has been a visiting tutor at the University of Limerick, the University of Ulster and the Carl Nielsen Institute,

Denmark, and is a popular instructor at guitar festivals and camps around the world. A "dazzling player” (ACOUSTIC GUITAR, USA), he is one of the very few guitarists who excel in Celtic, European swing jazz and American bluegrass styles.

His fifth solo album, Breaking Bach, featuring his arrangements for steel-strung flatpicked guitar of sonatas and partitas written by JS Bach for solo instruments, was released in July, 2021. The project is quite ground-breaking - a recording of this music on steel-strung flatpicked guitar has not been attempted until now.

* * * * * FOLK WALES "Dazzling... utterly breathtaking... a triumph.” * * * * THE SCOTSMAN “Audacious and eminently enjoyable” * * * * RnR MAGAZINE "Life-affirming... (Newman's) achievement is colossal... Elegant, stylish and

unmistakeably from the heart.” An interview with Chris appears in the January - February 2022 issue of RnR Magazine. In it he discusses the new album and his musical journey. THE LIVING TRADITION “A ground-breaking project… a magnificent tour-de-force… a toweringly-impressive achievement”

Fretwork, his 1998 solo CD was “a stunning and stylistically-varied album, heaving with good tunes, from one of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” fROOTS (UK).“Revered” TAPLAS (Wales) “Spectacular” TIME OUT.

2010 saw the release of his fourth solo album Still Getting Away with It, a celebration of a 40-year career. * * * * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY “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” Mike Harding, BBC RADIO 2 “Amazing... One of our greatest musicians”

* * * * MAVERICK "Beauty and virtuosity from a master craftsman at the peak of his abilities... I couldn’t recommend an album more highly"

* * *THE IRISH TIMES “Precision-engineered, lovingly crafted tunes... Playful and incredibly dextrous” * * * * * ROCK N REEL “Dazzling... A genuinely uplifting album of some of the most remarkable - yet accessible - guitar playing you're going to hear all year." THE LIVING TRADITION “A triumph... I'm fully conscious that I'm in the presence of greatness here... one of the top guitarists of his ilk anywhere”

His partnership with Máire Ní Chathasaigh has made seven critically-acclaimed duo and two quartet albums. They’ve toured in twenty-two countries worldwide in 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.

In addition to his work with Máire, Chris toured 1994 - 1997 as a member of Boys of the Lough in North America, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Denmark, China and Italy. His book of guitar compositions and arrangements Adventures with a Flatpick was published in 2001.

“His playing boggles my mind” FLATPICKING GUITAR MAGAZINE (USA). “Nothing short of brilliant” DIRTY LINEN (USA) “Guitar players don’t come any better than Chris Newman. I’d blithely cross snow-capped mountains and ford raging rivers to see him play” THE LIVING TRADITION (UK)

Further information at www.maireandchris.com/aboutchris.html and www.oldbridgemusic.com