String Sisters | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United States, Scotland |
| Genres | Folk, Irish traditional, Celtic |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Grappa (Norway) Compass Records (USA) |
| Associated acts | Altan |
| Members | Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh Annbjørg Lien Liz Knowles Catriona MacDonald Liz Carroll Emma Härdelin |
String Sisters (or The String Sisters) are a folk supergroup made up of six of the world's leading female fiddlers. [1]
In January 1998 at the world-renowned Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, Scotland, Shetland fiddler Catriona MacDonald was commissioned to assemble the world's leading female fiddlers. Macdonald brought together friends and collaborators from Ireland, United States, Norway and Sweden to perform the festival's biggest concert of that year. Catriona arranged the concert set with fellow fiddle players Annbjørg Lien, Liz Knowles, Catriona MacDonald, Liz Carroll, Emma Härdelin and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, who also provides vocals for the group. [2] [3] [4]
It was not until 2005 that the name String Sisters was penned. Until then, the group members could not be together at once due to their solo careers, Mairéad's work with Altan and Liz Carroll's work with John Doyle. Thus, only almost seven years after their début concert, the group commenced a Norwegian tour, recording their début album and DVD simply entitled Live.
In 2009, String Sisters were working on a new album, yet to be released. The band toured throughout 2009 and in 2010.
String Sisters performed on 25 August 2016 at the Tønder Festival in Tønder, Denmark, their first show as a band since 2010. [5]
In 2018 was released Between Wind and Water, the band's second album and debut studio album.
The Donegal fiddle tradition is the way of playing the fiddle that is traditional in County Donegal, Ireland. It is one of the distinct fiddle traditions within Irish traditional music.
Emma Härdelin is a Swedish musician. She is a violinist and lead singer in folk-rock band Garmarna, which she joined in 1993 for their first album, and also lead singer for the folk band Triakel.
A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be a national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood. Four of the strings are strung and played like a violin, while the rest, named understrings or sympathetic strings, resonate under the influence of the other four.
Altan are an Irish folk music band formed in County Donegal in 1987 by lead vocalist Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her husband Frankie Kennedy. The group were primarily influenced by traditional Irish language songs from Donegal and have sold over a million records.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish folk music band Altan, which she co-founded with her late husband Frankie Kennedy in 1987. Today, Mairéad is recognised as a leading exponent in the Donegal fiddle style, and she is often considered one of the foremost singers in the Irish language, her native tongue. She was part of the Irish supergroup T with the Maggies who performed in January 2009 at Temple Bar TradFest in Dublin their first ever two concerts under that name and who released in October 2010 their debut album. After nearly 22 years with Altan, Mairéad released in February 2009 her debut solo album Imeall. After 29 years with Altan, Mairéad released in October 2016 her alternate band Na Mooneys' debut album Na Mooneys.
Another Sky is the seventh studio album by Irish traditional band Altan. It was released in February 2000 on the Narada Productions label.
The Green Fields of America is an ensemble which performs and promotes Irish traditional music in the United States.
Proinsias Ó Maonaigh or Francie Mooney was a fiddler from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland. He is known for his distinguished fiddle playing and his unique and vast contribution to Irish music and culture. He is the father of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and grandfather of fiddle player Ciarán Ó Maonaigh.
Annbjørg Lien is a Norwegian musician, playing the hardingfele, violin, and nyckelharpa.
Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strathspey. Christine Martin, in her Traditional Scottish Fiddling players guide, discusses the techniques of "hack bowing", "the Scottish Snap", and "snap bowing". These techniques contrast quite sharply with the most common bowing patterns of Irish fiddling. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish bagpipes which is better known throughout the world.
Liz Carroll is an Irish-American fiddler and composer. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship Award. Carroll and collaborator Irish guitarist John Doyle were nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010. She is considered one of the greatest contemporary Irish fiddlers.
Manus Lunny is an Irish producer and multi-instrumentalist from County Donegal, Ireland, best known as a member of Celtic supergroup Capercaillie. He is the brother of multi-instrumentalist and producer Dónal Lunny.
Chris Stout is a Scottish fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland Mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s.
Catriona Macdonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players.
Imeall is Irish musician Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh's debut solo album, self-produced on her own label "Moon" and released physically as a (numbered) limited edition in late 2008 / early 2009 and digitally available through her official website.
Live is a live album from the international music group String Sisters. The CD/DVD was recorded on the group's Norway tour in 2005/6 and was released in November 2007. Live features traditional and newly composed sets arranged and written respectively by the band members.
Waltz With Me is a live album by Annbjørg Lien.
The Widening Gyre is the twelfth studio album by Irish folk music group Altan and their eleventh studio album of original material, released in February 2015 on the Compass Records label. It was released to critical acclaim.
Na Mooneys is the debut (eponymous) self-produced album from Irish folk music band Na Mooneys, released in October 2016.
Na Mooneys are an Irish folk music band from County Donegal, formed in late 2013 / early 2014 by Altan's Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and her family.
