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Alex Davis
Alex Davis is 13 years old and going into the eighth
grade at The Living Education Center for Ecology and the Arts, a private
alternative school. Alex has been taking Irish fiddle with
current teacher Tes Slominski for about six months. Besides fiddle
Alex plays piano and guitar and has acted in numerous theatrical
productions
in Central Virginia, inluding a recent one in which
he performed Irish step dancing, which he has studied for a year. Besides playing music, dancing and acting, Alex enjoys
hiking, biking, nature and being alive. |
Alex
Davis
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Meghan
Madden
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Meghan Madden
Hi!
My name is Meghan Madden. I'm a fourteen year-old
homeschooler. I've been playing Irish music for about three years,
and six months with present teacher, Sara Nisenson. I've been Irish
step-dancing for about two and-a-half years. I love both the dancing
and the playing and I feel that this is a great opportunity to unite
the two. I'm also really happy to
be in the initial planning and figuring of the Central Virginia
School for Irish Traditional Music and Arts. This has been a wonderful
experience for me and I can't wait!
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Patrick Madden
Hi!
I'm Patrick Madden and I am 11 years old. I have been
taking bodhran lessons with Paddy League for eight months now. Up
until a short time ago I also took Irish step dancing classes. My
interest in Ireland and its arts and culture began a couple of years
ago. I enjoy playing Irish music with my friends and teachers. My
sister and I play at sessions in Charlottesville with people of all
ages and skill levels. |
Patrick Madden
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Cleek Schrey
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Cleek Schrey
15-year-old Cleek Schrey
lives in Charlottesville, VA. In addition
to being a traditional fiddler, Cleek is an accomplished step-dancer.
In June 1999, he tied for third place in fiddle at the Mid-Atlantic
Fleadh Cheoil, the qualifying competition for the All-Ireland, and
has won other fiddling prizes locally. In his spare time, Cleek
hosts an Irish music radio program on WTJU Charlottesville and is a
very active volunteer at the Prism Coffeehouse, an organization known
for presenting concerts of acoustic and traditional music. |
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Sara Nisenson
Sara Nisenson (fiddle, guitar) learned to play Irish fiddle in her
hometown of Washington, D.C., from Phillipe Varlet, himself a student
of Brendan Mulvihill. She has performed for listeners at the New
Zealand Embassy, the Supreme Court, and the Birchmere, and recorded
with hammered-dulcimer player Maggie Sansone. She is known in the
Charlottesville area as a teacher and fiddler for contradances and
sessions. Formerly an apprentice to master flute-maker Patrick
Olwell, Sara now teaches and works in the recording studio with
producer Bobby Read. |
Sara
Nisenson
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Tes
Slominski
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Tes Slominski
With over twenty
years' experience on her instrument, first as a
classical violinist and later as a traditional fiddler, Tes Slominski
is no stranger to the music. Her abiding devotion to Irish
traditional music and love of playing for dancers bring depth and
understanding to her teaching and performances. Recipient of a 1999
CCE Living Tradition award, Tes is in great demand as a teacher in
Washington, DC and in Central Virginia, where she and Sara co-direct
the Central Virginia School of Irish Traditional Music and Arts.
While not teaching, Tes performs with the Irish traditional group
Roaring Mary, volunteers at WTJU Charlottesville, and is an avid fan
of Middle Eastern music. |
Paddy League
(percussion, banjo, bouzouki, and guitar) is well versed in both music and
humor. A fluent Irish speaker, and accomplished bodhran player, Paddy also
plays drums in both jazz and Indian traditions. He has played with
bouzouki and guitar players Roger Landes and Zan McLeod singers Niamh
Parsons, Connie Dover and Danny Doyle, accordion player John Whelan, and
the Grammy-nominated jazz group Tim Eyermann’s East Coast Offering. He
has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the
Smithsonian Institution, and Blues Alley in Washington D.C.
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Paddy League
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