''Celtic Woman: A New Journey'' is the third studio album by

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 ...

, released worldwide on 30 January 2007.

Background

''A New Journey'' was recorded with the Celtic Woman backing band led by musical director David Downes, the Irish Film Orchestra conducted by John Page, and the Aontas Choral Ensemble directed by Rosemary Collier. The six principal performers on the album are vocalists

Chloë Agnew 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 group Celtic Woman. Early life and career Agnew was born to Irish entertainer Adele " ...

Órla Fallon Órlagh Fallon (born 24 August 1974), professionally known as Órla Fallon, is an Irish singer, songwriter and former member of the group Celtic Woman and the chamber choir Anúna. Early life and education Fallon was born in Knockananna, Irela ...

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 ...

Méav Ní Mhaolchatha Méav Ní Mhaolchatha ( , ), mononymously known as Méav, is an Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist specialising in the traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary ...

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, ''Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million c ...

, and fiddler

Máiréad Nesbitt Máiréad Nesbitt ( , ) is an Irish musician. She is known for performing Celtic and classical music and being the former fiddler for '' Celtic Woman''. She was also one of the two original fiddlers in Michael Flatley’s '' Lord of the Dance'' ...

. It is also the first - and only - album to introduce Westenra as a new addition to the group. In preparation for the release of the album, a special concert event was held against the backdrop of

Slane Castle Slane Castle (Irish ''Cáisleán Bhaile Shláine'') is located in the village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The castle has been the family seat of the Marquess Conyngham, Conyngham family since i ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

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 ...

on 23 and 24 August 2006. Footage from both shows were professionally recorded, and the concert, also entitled ''A New Journey'', premiered on American television station

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in December 2006, later being released on VHS and DVD formats on 30 January 2007 in conjunction with the album.

Track listing

Notes * Tracks 1, 6 and 17 (18 on Japanese special edition) were composed and written by David Downes and

Brendan Graham Brendan Graham (born 1945) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Rai ...

. * Track 5 was composed and written by David Downes and

. * Tracks 19 (not on Japanese special edition) and 21 were composed by David Downes and written by Shay Healy.

Personnel

Celtic Woman *

- vocals *

- vocals, harp *

- vocals *

- fiddle Other musicians * David Downes - keyboards, piano, grand piano, percussion, harpsichord, whistles, backing vocals, arranger * Andreja Malir - concert harp * Desmond Moore - bouzouki, guitar * John O'Brien - uilleann pipes, whistles * Eoghan O'Neill - bass guitar * Raymond Fean - drums, percussion, bodhrán, additional vocals ("Dúlaman") * Nicholas Bailey - percussion, bodhrán * Robbie Harris - bodhrán Aontas Choral Ensemble * Rosemary Collier - choral director The Irish Film Orchestra * John Page - conductor * Alan Smale - concertmaster

Charts and certifications

The album opened at number 4 on the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

''Billboard'' 200, selling 71,000 copies in its first week.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Journey Celtic Woman albums 2007 albums Manhattan Records albums Films directed by Declan Lowney