INSTRUCTORS

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John Aherne, T.C.R.G. – Step Dance, Céilí Dance

John Aherne, T.C.R.G., began dancing at the age of 7 under the instruction of Cyril McNiff, TCRG/ADCRG, in Queens, New York. Under Mr. McNiff's instruction, and later, with the Marie Moore School, John competed in regional, national, and world championships. He co-choreographed and danced in a critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of Arrah-na-Pogue; his work was praised in the New York Times, Variety, Time Out New York, and Newsday.  He is a fully accredited teacher with the Irish Dance Commission in Dublin. In addition to teaching classes at the Irish Arts Center, he also teaches Irish Dancing to children and adults at the Aherne Sheehan School of Irish Dance (www.ahernesheehan.com).

Elaine Ní Bhraonáin – Irish language

Elaine Ní Bhraonáin is a native Irish speaker, writer, and Irish language professor. Elaine writes a weekly column for the Irish Echo.

Kate Bowerman –Tin Whistle

New to the Irish Arts Center staff this year, Kate continues Bill Ochs’ mission of making the tin whistle accessible to all people interested in connecting with Irish musical culture. She began her tin whistle studies with Bill at the IAC soon after moving to New York City.

A flutist since age 8, Kate eventually chose to attend college at the University of Michigan, where she received scholarships from both the School of Music and the Michigan Marching Band. Kate studied classical flute with Amy Porter and performed with the Symphony Band, Concert Band, and Philharmonic Orchestra. She was piccolo section leader for three years in the Michigan Marching Band and played various woodwinds in the pit orchestra for several productions by the Musical Theater Department. Kate graduated with degrees in music education and flute performance and moved to New York City to teach middle school instrumental music in Harlem. There she helped shape the fledgling music program, and she implemented a discount instrument rental program with a local music shop to allow more students the opportunity to have their own instrument.

Kate is now attending New York University for her masters in music education and studying flute with Robert Dick, an internationally acclaimed flutist.  She performs regularly on tin whistle and piccolo with the Irish traditional ensemble the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, and she has appeared on stage with Mick Moloney, Ivan Goff and Dan Milner.

James Cleveland – Fiddle

James Cleveland has been teaching at the Irish Arts Center since 1999.  He started playing the fiddle as an adult and learned much of his repertoire from classes at the Center.  He plays regularly in NYC sessions, is a member of the Irish Arts Center band and has played the fiddle in several stage plays.

Tom Downes – Bagpipes

Tom Downes has been involved with the Irish Arts Center since 1972. He was a performer in some of our earliest theatrical productions and has been teaching bagpipes here for about 15 years. Tom grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s with parents from musical families in West Limerick. Learning music at the piano from age seven, his love of traditional Irish music led him to focus on the bagpipes under the tutelage of the County Tyrone Association band, eventually directing the band as Pipe Major. Tom has enjoyed a 35-year career as a bilingual guidance counselor in the NYC public schools and for years was an adjunct evening instructor in music at St.John's University. He has taught piping to other bands and organizations, also playing uillean pipes, tin whistle and low whistle. Several of his students have gone on to lead bands and to use Tom's original music and arrangements. Tom has made a lifelong effort to collect, research, and adapt traditional Irish music for the bagpipe. He still performs regularly and has been a part of recordings, TV shows and live concerts. Favorite projects include playing solo pipes for Seamus Heaney's reading of his own poems in a dramatic presentation directed by Derek Wolcott at the 92nd Street Y.

Siobhan Egan – Bodhrán

Born in Philadelphia, Pa, Siobhan moved to the west of Ireland at a young age.  While living in Foxford, Co. Mayo, she began traditional music lessons at age eight with Martin Donoghue.  Learning by ear, she started on the tin-whistle and then went on to the flute, piano accordion, bodhrán and fiddle.  When her family returned to the Philly area in 1980, Siobhan started performing at festivals and concerts up and down the east coast with her brother, Seamus, and sister, Rory.  A founding member of Cherish the Ladies, she toured worldwide with the band for almost thirteen years.  While with CTL, she recorded seven cd’s, many of which feature several of her own compositions.  Since leaving the band, Siobhan has enjoyed teaching the bodhrán at the Irish Arts Center for the past few years.

Dan Hunt – Set Dance

Dan Hunt has been a member of the Irish Arts Center since 1986. A former  naval officer and merchant seaman, Dan came to the Irish Arts because he was looking for a  club and a community where he could pursue his love of  Irish music and culture.  Smitten with Irish folk dancing, he attended dance classes  taught by well known New York-area teachers such as Josephine McNamara, Kevin Westley and Paul Keating.  Later he attended set dance workshops given in the US and Ireland by such legendary dance masters as Joe O’Donavan, Connie Ryan, Pat Murphy, Timmy McCarthy, Larry Lynch, and Padraic McEneneny. He started teaching Ceili Dances at the Irish Arts Center in 1988 and taught his first Country Set Dance class in the following year.  He has been involved with Irish dance and music (especially at the Irish Arts Center) ever since. 

Dan’s approach to teaching Irish folk dance is more than mere choreography.  In his class he insists that only when you’ve begun to move to the phrasing of the music and above all, learn the footwork and movements unique to each dance will you experience the true pleasure of the sets.

Alexei Kondratiev – Irish Language,
History of Celtic Revival

As a child in rural France, Alexei Kondratiev was fascinated by the mysterious remains of ancient Celtic civilization in the landscape around him. This later led him to the discovery of the Celtic cultures still alive in the world today, and to spending extended periods over four years in the 1960's on the Aran Islands to learn Irish from native speakers. He has remained intimately involved with Irish language and culture ever since. A graduate of Columbia (anthropology and linguistics), he studied Celtic philology at the École des Hautes-Études in Paris. He has been teaching classes at the Irish Arts Center since 1985. He is the author of The Apple Branch (a book on Celtic tradition), and has taught all six of the Celtic languages at various times.

Shane O’Sullivan – Bodhrán

With an emphasis on traditional Irish music, percussionist/ guitarist Shane O’Sullivan has devoted himself to the spread of music progression.  Through his mastery of an array of instruments (bodhran, guitar, djembe, and congas), O’Sullivan combines distinctly different sounds for a contemporary portrayal of the traditional Irish idiom.  His hopes to continue to broaden the exposure of Irish culture are proven with every appearance he makes.

English born but County Offaly raised O’Sullivan honed his talents over the past twelve years in worldwide music scenes.  With appearances such as the Celtic Connections festival in Scotland, the musician’s international experience includes multiple venues within England, Germany, France, and Switzerland.  US performances with the Salt Lake Symphony, as well as appearances at the Milwaukee Fest and Stone Hill College have spurred O’Sullivan’s appetite for touring.  For the past nine years and counting, the Irish transplant has found his home in the time-honored US heart of Irish culture, New York City.  Carnegie Hall is O’Sullivan’s next great endeavor where he will be a guest artist featured in an upcoming concert. 

O’Sullivan has played alongside Irish and folk music luminaries such as John Doyle (Solas fame), Alison Browne and Gary West, Michael Mc Goldrick, Dirk Powell (Cold Mountain), and the world renowned traditional group Flook.  Heidi Talbot of Cherish the Ladies also highlighted his compositional and lyrical talents on her most recent solo CD, Distant Future, featuring two original songs written by O’ Sullivan.    

 Bill Ochs – Tin Whistle

Bill Ochs has been called a "central figure in the renaissance of the tin whistle" by National Public Radio's All Things Considered and "the leading tin whistle teacher in North America" by New York's Irish Voice newspaper. He has devoted over thirty-five years to playing and teaching the instrument.

Ochs is author of The Clarke Tin Whistle, an instruction book now in its eighteenth printing with over 237,000 copies in print. He is producer of Micho Russell's Ireland's Whistling Ambassador, and co-producer of Cathal McConnell's Long Expectant Comes At Last, both of which were nominated for "Best Celtic Album of the Year" in the NAIRD Indie Awards.

Ochs also plays the Irish uilleann pipes, which he learned from master pipers Andy Conroy, Pat Mitchell and Tom Standeven in Ireland and the U.S. Ochs's piping studies in Ireland were supported by a 1976 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His piping and tin whistle playing can be heard on the Rounder CD Light Through The Leaves.

Ochs's performing credits include playing for José Quintero's Broadway production of A Touch of the Poet, Pilobolus Dance Company's Broadway début, the soundtrack for Bob Rafelson's film Mountains of the Moon and the première of Wind by Eiko and Koma at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. He was also piper in the original touring lineup of The Green Fields of America, which included Liz Carroll, Jack and Charlie Coen, Michael Flatley, Sean McGlynn and Mick Moloney.

Ochs has written on Irish music for New York Magazine, Sing Out, The Pipers' Review and other publications. He is currently working on a book about the music of Micho Russell.

Pio Ryan - Banjo

Tipperary born and bred Irish Tenor Banjo musician Pio Ryan has been playing the NYC Irish Traditional circuit for over 3 years now.  His deep rooted traditional style mixed with blues and bluegrass influences creates a unique twist with a sound that is both driven and refreshing.
Pio learned his trade from his father John Ryan, a renowned whistle player from North Tipperary.  Early on, Pio earned the title Musician of the Year at Portumna Community School.  After years of dedication and many live performances on both television and radio, Pio furthered his studies at the Ballyfermot College of Music in Dublin earning a degree in Professional Irish Music Performance. Pio officially transplanted to the US in 2005, finding a home at the Irish Arts Center.  He originated the Irish Tenor Banjo program, whose strong following continues to grow.  When he’s not teaching, Pio remains very active on the Irish Traditional scene in the tri-state area and beyond.  Venues include Webster Hall in NYC, John D. McGurk’s music bar in St. Louis and the Kansas City Irish Music Festival, along with many other festivals and more intimate locations.  He has played among the ranks of such top musicians as Ivan Goff of Riverdance, Larry Nugent, Gerry O’Connor, The Chieftains, Seamus Egan and others, broadening his musical repertoire.

Mia Theodoaratus – Celtic Harp

Mia Theodoaratus is a composer, improviser and harpist who plays Celtic, Rock and Jazz harp. She has enjoyed working with Roscoe Mitchell, Susan Allen, Charlie Hayden, Daniel Carter, Dee Pop, Baikida Caroll, Antony and the Johnsons and Leona Naess. Her goal is to take classical sensibility and infuse it with the dynamics of free jazz and the rhythm of rock.  Performance highlights include Chaos & Candy, National Shakespeare Company production of Oedipus with Avery Brooks, Jason Schmidt opening with Gelatin performance group at Deitch Projects, and Butch Morris's New York Skyscraper.

This year Mia is playing in Dueling Harps with Ann Magnuson, Alex Rami and Adam Dugas at the Red Cat Theatre in Los Angles. Her touring duo with Adam Dugas is Ravens and Roses which fuses together Irish tunes, rock songs and Purcell.

Caitlin Warbelow – Fiddle

Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, Caitlin Warbelow began studying violin at age three in the Suzuki Method. While continuing with intensive classical music studies, she found a concurrent love of Irish music after meeting a few fiddlers and hearing a few seminal CDs around the age of seven.  Caitlin was given the chance to travel and study in Ireland at the age of sixteen, attending the Willie Clancy School and the BLAS school at the University of Limerick. Caitlin attended Boston University on a full music scholarship and obtained B.M. and B.A. degrees with honors in Violin Performance and Anthropology in 2005. After serving as an Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Alaska, she was accepted at Columbia University and graduated with an M.S. in Urban Planning in 2008 (which led her to her current entrepreneurial work as a research cartographer). She has performed at venues such as Joe's Pub, Rockwood Music Hall, and The Living Room, been written about in Irish Music Magazine, and recently won the Senior division of the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil, qualifying her to compete at the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in August 2009. The 2009 winner of the prestigious New England Fiddle Championships and the 2008 winner of the Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival, Caitlin continues to expand her musical expertise into yet more genres. Caitlin can also be found playing with the Garden State Philharmonic, and loves teaching both Irish and Classical music to fiddlers of all ages out of her midtown studio, at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan, and around the country at various festivals. For more information, please stop by her website at www.myspace.com/caityanna.

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