In the late 1990's
the Celtic culture hit the international stage with the sounds of
Eyna and the stage shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. With the
success of those acts the time was right for even more of the Celtic
richness.
Shortly after the
turn of the 21st century David Downe, musical director of
Riverdance, joined forces with Sharron Browne and the two of them put
together the Celtic
Woman. Even though the group has been around for over a decade
there is still plenty things most people don't know. The following is
five of those little known facts:
Even
though the name is Celtic
Woman
it is actually a group composed of five women. The original group
consisted of Chloe Agnew, Orla Falton, Lisa Kelly, Meav Ni
Mhaolchatha and Mairead Nesbitt. There have been several changes with
some of the women leaving and new women joining the group but they
maintain five in the group. The current group consist of Mairead
Nesbitt, Mairead Carlin, Lynn Hilary, Susan McFadden and Lisa Lambe.
Other women that have been members are Alex Shape and Hayley
Westenra.
On
March 1 of this year marked 10 years since their first PBS special.
Since that day in 2004 the Celtic Woman has become a staple of the
public broadcasting system
One
of the original members of Celtic Woman, Chloe Agnew had the same
last name as former United States Vice President Spiro Agnew. Despite
having the same last name there is no direct relationship between the
two.
Mairead
Nesbitt, The only original member left, studied under world renowned
violinist Emanuel Hurwitz. She was later a member of the youth
orchestra of Ireland and an all-Ireland fiddle champion.
Before
becoming a member of Celtic Woman Lisa Lambe was a featured soloist
both with Ireland’s RTE Concert Orchestra and Ireland’s popular
TV program “The Late Late Show” leading to collaborations with
RTE affiliated musicians Shay Healy and Frank McNamara.
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