Blarney Star Concert Series: Gerry O'Connor

Gerry O’Connor of Dundalk is considered one of the great fiddle players of his generation.
Playing with Michael Coleman’s contemporary John Joe Gardiner in the 1970’s formed Gerry’s style of music, focussing on the fluid and ornamented lyrical fiddle playing of the great Sligo masters.
He has played and recorded with such highly-regarded groups as Lá Lúgh (Eithne Ní Uallacháin, Sony Music) and Skylark (Len Graham, Gary O’Briain & Mairtin O’Connor), recording four CDs on the Claddagh label. Gerry has toured and recorded with members of all the legendary groups including Planxty, Bothy Band, De Dannan, Boys of the Lough and Chieftains.
A four-time winner of The Fiddler of Oriel competition, Gerry has recently adjudicated the same competition and also the Gael Linn sponsored Siansa and RAAP /RTE sponsored Breakthrough competitions. He was co-founder and first Artistic Director of Ceol Chairlinn, an annual teaching festival in Carlingford, Co Louth. He is also the Traditional Arts coordinator at the newly established Creative-Connexions Irish/ Catalan Arts festival in Sitges. He teaches fiddle at the Willie Clancy Summer school and at master-classes throughout Europe.

Host or Publisher The New York Irish Center