Chloë Alexandra Adele Emily Agnew (born 1989) is an Irish singer and songwriter, best known for being an original and former member of the
Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...
group
Celtic Woman
Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...
.
Early life and career
Agnew was born to Irish entertainer
Adele "Twink" King and Irish
oboist
An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette.
The following is a list of notable past and pres ...
David Agnew in
Knocklyon
Knocklyon () is a suburb of Dublin in county of South Dublin, within the old County Dublin, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely comprises modern housing built between the village ...
,
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, where she lived with her mother and younger sister, Naomi.
She made her first television appearance on her mother's programme aged four weeks old, and later sang on the show at the age of six. She attended
Notre Dame des Missions Junior School for her primary school education, followed by
Alexandra College
Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos.
History
The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...
girls' school.
In 1998, Agnew represented Ireland and was the winner of the Grand Prix at the First International Children's Song Competition in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
with a song called ''The Friendship Tree''. She then began to perform
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
at the
Olympia Theatre in Dublin and continued in that role for four years.
In 1999, she appeared in ''
The Young Messiah
''The Young Messiah'' is a 2016 American biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written by Betsy and Cyrus Nowrasteh, based on the novel '' Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt'' by Anne Rice. The film stars Adam Greaves-Neal, Sean Bean, ...
'', a modern adaptation of
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
's ''
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
''. In this production, she played one of the children and performed sign language.
Musical career
Agnew has sung in English, Irish,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, Italian, and German and has a soprano vocal range.
In 2000, aged 11, Agnew approached director
David Downes about recording a song to raise money for the children of Afghanistan. With his help, she recorded ''Angel of Mercy'' for the album ''This Holy Christmas Night'', which raised over £20,000 for the Afghan Children's Charity Fund in 2001. That same year, she joined the
Christ Church Cathedral Girls' Choir, and remained a member for three years.
In 2002, she was signed to Celtic Collections, and with the backing of Downes she recorded her debut album ''
Chloë''. In 2004, she released her second album, ''Chloë: Walking in the Air''. She also recorded a companion DVD for her second album, released in Europe in 2004 and in North America in 2007.
She appeared as part of the group
Celtic Woman
Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...
at
The Helix in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in 2004, the youngest member at the time. Agnew has been featured on 14 albums with the group, recording songs in multiple languages and taking part in several world tours.
In 2009, Agnew was invited by Italian tenor Alessandro Rinella to sing with him on his debut album.
In 2012, Agnew was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the Irish Music Awards.
On 5 August 2013, Celtic Woman announced Agnew would be taking a break from Celtic Woman to focus on solo projects. Her position was filled by
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
-born singer
Mairéad Carlin
Mairéad Carlin is an Irish singer. She is a former member of the ensemble Celtic Woman and was the first-ever member of the group that was born in Northern Ireland.
Early life
Carlin was born in Derry. "Derry, my hometown, is a very cultured a ...
.
After leaving Celtic Woman, Agnew was chosen to be the special guest of the
Celtic Thunder cruise. She, along with former Celtic Thunder member Paul Byrom, was also a special guest of
Lisa Kelly
Lisa Kelly (born 7 May 1977) is an Irish singer of both classical and Celtic music and a voice teacher. She has taken part in many musical theatre productions and concerts, and is a founding and former member of the musical group Celtic Woman ...
's concerts called ''The Voice of Ireland'' and ''A Celtic Christmas.'' Agnew was also part of
Ethan Bortnick
Ethan Jordan Bortnick (born December 24, 2000) is an American pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, musician and actor. He has been featured on ''The Tonight Show'', ''Oprah Winfrey Network'', ''Good Morning America'', Disney Channel, Ni ...
's concert with another former Celtic Thunder member
Damian McGinty
Damian Joseph McGinty Jr. (born 9 September 1992) is an Irish singer and actor. McGinty has been performing for over a decade, and a member of the group Celtic Thunder for thirteen years starting when he was fourteen. On 21 August 2011, McGinty ...
.
Agnew did a concert performance with her boyfriend Dermot Kiernan and American singer-songwriters Kate Steinway and Marissa Lauren in the LA Songwriting school on 2015.
On 22 January 2020, it was announced that Agnew was returning to Celtic Woman for the US Celebration Tour to fill in for
Éabha McMahon
Éabha McMahon (pronounced ''AY-va'') is a contralto Irish singer and a former member of the ensemble Celtic Woman. In 2020 she began recording music under the name AVA.
Early life
Éabha was born in Dublin, Ireland on 9 December 1990. She is a ...
, who was taking a leave from the group. However the tour was postponed shortly after due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On 21 April 2020, Agnew announced that she would be rejoining the group for the rescheduled Celebration Tour. Agnew then announced that she would participate in the Postcards from Ireland Tour as well as the Postcards from Ireland album and TV special/DVD. On 19 August 2022, Agnew announced that she would be taking a break from group once again to focus on solo projects.
During an interview by
Beliefnet
Beliefnet is a lifestyle website featuring editorial content related to the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment.
History
Launched in 1999 by Steven Waldman and Robert Nylen, Beliefnet ...
, Agnew commented on
Irish music
Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.
The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st century, despite globalis ...
:
Agnew is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. She often says prayers just before going on stage to "Calm her nerves".
Discography
; Solo
; With Celtic Woman
References
External links
*
*
Profile at Celticwoman.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnew, Chloe
1989 births
20th-century Irish women singers
21st-century Irish women singers
Living people
Celtic Woman members
Irish-language singers
Musicians from Dublin (city)
Performers of Christian music
German-language singers
Latin-language singers
Italian-language singers
Irish child singers
Irish sopranos
People educated at Alexandra College