Niamh Ní Charra in Concert

Niamh Ní Charra

Come join the festivities of Galway TradFest with Arts in Action as we present a fantastic afternoon concert of traditional Irish music and song with the world renowned fiddle, concertina player and singer Niamh Ní Charra and guitarist Kevin Corbett!

Niamh Ní Charra (Irish & English) hails from Killarney, County Kerry in the south west of Ireland. Strongly influenced by a wealth of local Sliabh Luachra musicians, she started playing music at the early age of 4. A multi award-winner on both fiddle and concertina, she toured from 1998 to 2006 as a soloist with Riverdance, before returning to Ireland where she is now based.

Her recently released 5th album “Donnelly’s Arm”, recorded under challenging circumstances during the Covid_19 pandemic and several lockdowns, has none-the-less received much critical and public acclaim. It was crowned Number 1 Trad Album of 2021 by Alex Monaghan, reviewer for several publications including Irish Music Magazine, Living Tradition and FolkWorld. She is the recipient of several other awards including “Instrumental Album of the Year” in 2014 in the Chicago Irish American News’ TIR awards for her previous album “Cuz”, "Female Musician of the Year" in 2012 and 2014, in the Live Ireland Music Awards, "Best Trad Music Act 2008" from UK publication The Irish World, and "Best Fiddle/Violin 2008" from the American based Irish Music Association. Her music featured on the programme “Ireland in Song” which aired on Aer Lingus transatlantic flights, and on America’s PBS and a selection of her compositions were showcased in the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA)’s Saothar series in July 2022. Along with touring extensively as a solo artist and with her own band, Niamh has also performed and recorded with The Chieftains, with Galician piper and Sony artist Carlos Núñez and with Basque musicians Ibon Koteron and Xabi Aburruzaga. She regularly gives workshops and masterclasses, has performed for several presidents and members of royalty and has additionally coordinated concerts hosted by Irish embassies abroad, on behalf of the Irish government.

Niamh is also a professional archivist and her work in both the music and archive professions was recently recognised when she was elected onto the ITMA’s board of Directors. We are proud that she is also a researcher here in the University of Galway.

Kevin Corbett - Guitar:

Kevin Corbett is a much sought after guitarist form Newport, Co. Mayo. He took up the guitar at 16 citing the classic rock players of the 70's and early blues players as major influences before a chance encounter led him down the road of traditional Irish acoustic accompaniment. Shortly after making this transition, Kevin toured extensively, working as a freelance session musician for many productions such as world renowned dance show Ragús, as well as musicals and theatrical performances. He has shared the stage with some of the top musicians in the country, including Michael McGoldrick, Matt Molloy and Seamus Begley among others. He began performing with Niamh in 2015 and is a core member of the group. He is also a member of the immensely popular Irish Trad band for children Speks and is somewhat of a rock-star among five-year-olds! In addition, he has taught at various festivals both home and abroad, and performs regularly on Irish television and radio.

Apart from his Guitar work, Kevin is also hugely in demand as a professional Graphic Designer, and has designed numerous album covers and websites for Irish Traditional musicians including David Doocey, Caroline Keane, Daithí Gormley and others. His cover design for Doocey’s 2013 album “Changing Time” was listed in the top ten Trad Connect album des

Host or Publisher University of Galway Arts in Action