Eileen Ivers (born July 13, 1965) is an American fiddler. Ivers was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

of Irish-born parents, grew up in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and attended

St. Barnabas High School Saint Barnabas High School is an American all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school located in the Woodlawn Heights section of The Bronx, New York. It also borders the southeastern section of the city of Yonkers in neighboring Westcheste ...

. She spent summers in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler

Martin Mulvihill Martin Mulvihill (born in Ballygoughlin, County Limerick, Ireland in 1923; died 21 July 1987) was an Irish traditional musician, composer, teacher, and author. He composed roughly 25 tunes in the Irish traditional style. Although his mother Br ...

. She toured with Mick Moloney's band The Green Fields of America, founded in 1977. She graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' from Iona College in New York and has done post-graduate work in mathematics.

History

Ivers was a founding member of Cherish the Ladies. She recorded and toured with them for several years. In 1995, she replaced the original fiddler in the ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions ...

'' Irish dance troupe and toured with them. Her original blue Barcus-Berry electric fiddle was eye-catching and inspired the name of her album ''Wild Blue''. She later replaced it with a blue ZETA Strados acoustic-electric fiddle, which is a one-of-a-kind instrument with unique sound and ambience. It was custom-made for her by ZETA Music Systems (who will be producing an "Eileen Ivers Signature Series" Blue electric violin exactly like hers). Ivers has recorded with Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, an Irish composer who uses folk, classical and jazz influences, on the television series ''River of Sound'' and on his album ''Becoming'' (1998). She also recorded a traditional air for the soundtrack to the film '' Gangs of New York'', entitled "Lament for Stalker Wallace". She appears on the soundtrack for the film '' Some Mother's Son''. Ivers was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Cherish the Ladies

As a session or guest musician

* '' Riverdance: Music from the Show'' (1995) * ''Song of the Irish Whistle'' by

Joanie Madden Joanie Madden is an Irish-American flute and whistle player of Irish traditional music. She is best known as leader of the all-female group Cherish the Ladies, but has also recorded and performed with numerous other musicians, and as a solo a ...

(1996) * "The Celtic Album" by

The Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symph ...

(1998) * "The Fiddling Ladies" by The Chieftains on the album '' Tears of Stone'' (1999) * "Becoming" by Micheál Ó Súilleabháin (1998) * ''Celtic Solstice'' by Paul Winter (1999) * ''

Seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

'' (2003) by Afro Celt Sound System * "New York Town" by Black 47 on the album ''New York Town'' (2004) * ''Voice of Hope'' by Tommy Fleming * ''Absolutely Irish'', a multi-artist session recording (2008) * ''Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World'' by Brian Keane (2010) * ''An Irish Christmas'' by Keith and Kristyn Getty (2011) * '' Copper: Original Soundtrack'' by Brian Keane (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivers, Eileenl 1965 births American people of Irish descent Iona College (New York) alumni Irish fiddlers Living people People from the Bronx 21st-century American violinists 21st-century American women musicians Green Linnet Records artists