PLEASE NOTE: DOORS ARE AT 7PM/CONCERT IS AT 8PM
The Máirtín O’Connor Trio
Virtuoso accordion player Máirtín O’Connor, Ireland's 2015 Traditional Musician of the Year, brings his remarkable trio to the U.S. in the Spring of 2017. Back by popular demand, they’ll reprise their wildly successful East Coast tour of 2015, the first time the trio toured here on their own.
Máirtín O’Connor is one of the most respected and best loved musicians ever to emerge from Ireland. Recognized as a figurehead of the tradition, he has quite simply gone where no Irish accordion player has gone before. Máirtín was a main musical force in Riverdance and a member of the legendary Irish group De Danann. His unique playing has graced projects by many leading Irish artists as well as international stars Rod Stewart, Mark Knopfler, and Elvis Costello.
The Máirtín O’Connor Trio is one of his prized projects. The three members have each built reputations as masters with astounding skill, diversity and virtuosity. Together they produce a vibrant and charged experience that redefines one’s concept of Irish music. They draw on elements of swing, bluegrass, and more, with sophisticated arrangements and subtle musicianship.
Máirtín’s fluid accordion style and wide musical influences blend perfectly with the fiddle playing of Cathal Hayden, an All-Ireland champion and member of Four Men and a Dog. Cathal is also a dynamic banjo player and just released his CD “Hooked On Banjo” to universal applause and a sold-out NYC launch. Rising young guitarist Patrick Doocey will be subbing for the trio’s third member, Séamie O’Dowd, on this tour. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts and raised in County Mayo, Patrick is an All-Ireland multi-instrumentalist who has toured with such Irish stars as Lunasa and Sharon Shannon.
The Máirtín O’Connor Trio first toured the US for three seasons (2011-2014) as members of Martin Hayes's Masters of Tradition. The three drew standing ovations for their dazzling sets in venues from New York’s Lincoln Center to UCLA's Royce Hall. They have toured extensively through Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, and more recently in Australia and New Zealand. They've also toured with Irish singing legend Christy Moore and Australian guitar great Tommy Emmanuel. In 2009 the trio released the much anticipated album ‘Crossroads,' which The Irish Times raved "bottle[s] the essence of their dynamic live shows,” and in 2012 the powerful follow-up recording ‘Going Places.’
The 2017 US tour is made possible in part by the generous support of Culture Ireland.
http://www.cultureireland.ie/funding/about/logos-and-guidelines