Séamus Connolly is one of the world's most respected master Irish musicians. A native of Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland,
he now resides in Groton, Massachusetts. Séamus won the Irish National Fiddle Championship 10 times, a feat unequalled
by any other musician. He was also the winner of the internationally acclaimed "Fiddler of Dooney" Competition. Séamus grew up in a home filled with music, both his parents
and two brothers were musicians. His brother Martin Connolly, a button accordionist, also won the National Championship
a number of times. Besides being an outstanding musician, Martin is also an accordion teacher and designer/maker of the Kincora
Button Accordion.
Séamus was only 12 years old when he began playing the fiddle.
His father encouraged him to listen to the recordings of the famed County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman. Colman was later
to became one of Séamus' musical heroes. Séamus would slow down the Maestro's 78 rpm recordings and re-tune his own fiddle
to match the sounds and tones of the record. He could then hear every note clearly and was almost able to visualize the movements
of the master's fingers and bow.
Before long, Séamus went on to national prominence. He was
a regular performer on Irish radio and television. He joined the famous Kilfenora Céilí Band, an ensemble noted for
its rhythms, musicality and rare tunes indigenous to North County Clare. He traveled with the band throughout Ireland and
Britain, playing for dances, concerts, radio and television programs.
Séamus came to the United States in 1972 as a member of the
first Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann (CCE) tour, an ensemble of 26 musicians, singers and dancers. In 1976 he immigrated to America
and settled in the Boston area. At the request of Larry Reynolds, President of the local branch of CCE, Séamus agreed
to teach and pass on to American-born students the various regional styles of Irish fiddling. Some of his better students
qualified to compete in the Irish National Music Championships, one of them, Brendan Bulger, won first place in the
under eighteen fiddle category, a competition Séamus had won twenty five years earlier.
Séamus has had the honor of representing Ireland on three "Masters of the Folk Violin" tours organized by the National
Council for the Traditional Arts. He has performed at most major festivals in the United States, including the National Folk
Festival, Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, Wolf Trap Irish Folk Festival and American Roots Fourth of July Celebration
at the Washington Monument. He also performed on the "Folk Masters" radio series, which was broadcast nationwide on
National Public Radio. As a performer, teacher and lecturer, he has traveled to places
as far afield as Australia, Spain, France, England, Canada, Alaska, and Ireland. In 1990 Seamus won a Massachusetts Cultural
Council Fellowship Award, one of three recipients from over 2,500 applicants. Refuge Arts (Country Roads) and the National
Endowment for the Arts recognized Séamus' mastery by awarding him three consecutive Master/Apprenticeship Grants.
Séamus has also appeared on the nationally televised "Today
Show" and was profiled by Boston's WCVB-TV5 "Chronicle Program." He initiated, produced and co-hosted with Larry
Reynolds Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann's ongoing weekly radio program of traditional Irish music on WNTN-1550 AM Boston. The
program is the only one of its kind in North America. He also co-hosted the Irish segments of Boston's WGBH National Public
Radio series "Ethnicity."
Séamus has numerous recordings to his credit. Released
on Green Linnet Records are his two solo CDs: Notes from my Mind and Here and There. Also released on Green
Linnet Records is Banks of the Shannon, (a recording with the legendary accordionist Paddy O'Brien and pianist/composer
Charlie Lennon) and Warming Up (a recording with accordionist/composer Martin Mulhaire, flutist Jack Coen and pianist
Felix Dolan).
Séamus is now collaborating with Laurel Martin,
a colleague and fiddle teacher in the Boston College Irish Studies Program, to produce a book of Irish tunes with accompanying CDs. The music will be printed and
recorded in both simple and more highly ornamented versions.
Seamus is Director of The Boston College Irish Studies
Music, Song and Dance Program. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Music Department and is Director of the Gaelic Roots Summer School and Festival.
Discography:
Rambles
of Kitty (Comhaltas Records 1966)
Banks
of the Shannon EP (Comhaltas Records 1974)
Solos
on the Human Voice (Sounding Board Records 1978)
Notes
from my Mind (Green Linnet Records 1988)
Masters
of Folk Violin (Arhoolie Records 1989)
Here
and There (Green Linnet Records 1989)
Playing
with Fire (Green Linnet Records 1989)
Celts
Rise Again (Green Linnet Records 1990)
From
the Heart (Oenoke Records 1990)
My
Love Is In America (Green Linnet Records 1991)
Rights
of Man (Green Linnet Records 1991)
Dear
Old Erin's Isle (Nimbus Records 1992)
The
Executive Session (Stonington Island Records 1992)
Banks
of the Shannon (Green Linnet Records 1993)
Warming
Up (Green Linnet Records 1993)
Tara
Hill -- Roll on the Day (Tara Hill Records 1993)
Were
You at the Rock (Beacon Records 1993)
Clare
Connection (Smokey Tinker Records 1993)
The
Twentieth Anniversary Collection (Green Linnet Records 1996)
Tommy
Makem --Ancient Pulsing (Red Biddy Records 1996)
The
Gift (Shanachi Records 1998)
The
Vow (North Star Inc. - Druid Stone Records 1999)
The
Spirit of Christmas (North Star Inc. - Druid Stone Records 1999)
Recordings Produced:
We're
Irish Still (Boston Comhaltas Records 1979)
Southern
Shore (by Brendan Bulger 1991)
The
Keltic Kids (Epona Records 1994)
Boston
College - Gaelic Roots (Kells Records 1997)
Books and Articles:
"Musical
Heroes" Treoir Magazine (Comhaltas Publication 1991)
Irish
Music Tune Book (in production)
Awards:
10
Time Irish National Fiddle Champion
Winner
of the internationally acclaimed "Fiddler of Dooney" Competition
2nd
Place Winner: Radio Telefís Éireann's National Music Competition for Best Musician (on any instrument)
1990
Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship Award (one of 3 recipients from 2,500 applications)
1990,
1991 and 1992 Boston Music Awards nominee
Solo
recording "Here and There" chosen one of the top 5 Celtic records for 1990 by The National Assn. of Independent Record Distributors
(NAIRD)
Selected Performances and Appearances:
Smithsonian
Institute's 1988 American Folklife Festival
Performed
in the National Council for the Traditional Arts 49th, 50th and 51st National Folk Festivals (1987 - 1989)
International
Folk Festival - Nice, France
Only
American musician chosen to perform on "Na Ridiri's" 1st national tour of Australia
Profiled
by Boston's WCVB-TV 5 "Chronicle Program"
NBC
"Today Show"
Positions:
Music
Director, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Association of Traditional Irish Music) Boston Chapter
Adjunct
Faculty, Phillips Academy Music Department, Andover, MA
Initiated,
produced and co-hosted Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann's weekly radio program of traditional Irish music on WNTN 1550 AM Boston
Co-hosted
Irish segments of WGBH (National Public Radio) series titled "Ethnicity"
