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Hiya Everyone
We are well on the way into the start of the Fall leg of our Isle of Hope Tour with the first five shows done.
The shows have been going so well and the support of the audiences and our dedicated fans has been second to none! Thank you all so much!
We are on our way to Sioux Falls for our sixth show of the tour. It is supposed to be snowing there tomorrow and we're looking forward to seeing a white blanket and having our first snow ball fight this year!
Tinker Bell The Lost treasure CD is out and I had the pleasure of signing a few copies at our Meet and Greet tonight in Moline. Thank you to those who said they love it and keep an eye out for the DVD that's out very soon!
Both Lisa and myself enjoyed working on the beautiful score by Joel McNeely so much.
I can't wait to see it!
We're very excited to have our new DVD and CD Songs from the Heart coming out for the holidays. We will be having our own screening soon with the whole company. It will be so great to watch it in a relaxed space and make a night of it! Those of you who made the long trip to Powerscourt House and Gardens to see the show, know how beautiful the place is and how amazing it will look. I am very excited to see and hear the end result!
The material for my concert in the New Year with the Berne Symphony Orchestra is shaping up nicely and I am so excited about it. My brother Karl is going to grace the stage with me with his versatility on all those instruments that he plays so well.
The brilliant harpist Andreja Malir is orchestrating a suite by Colm Ó Foghlú, Joel McNeely has composed and orchestrated the stunning Tinker Bell Suite and of course David Downes has a gorgeous Suite composed and orchestrated by him. I am incredibly fortunate to have all this inspired and inspiring music to play to ring in the New Year in beautiful Berne, Switzerland.
Lastly and certainly not least, I want to thank three fantastic men who, along with the rest of our crew, work so hard with us on tour. In the middle of all this work, they organized, set up and presented me with the most amazing gift, with so much thought and detail. Larry Jacobski and Joe Fronek gave me a beautiful Fender Violin called Foxy! Those are the pics above! Foxy also has been 'blessed' by an Indian lady which the baby Eagle feathers convey. The feathers are only used when they have fallen off the Eagle. She also named me Little Running Fox, a name which I am honored to have.
Larry and Joe also went and got a Marshall Amp and a row of pedals called the Pod. This was all set up by Doug Trez in a room very secretly on our first show day!
I was, and am, completely blown away! All this in a clever road case to house everything. Being Hendrix fans like myself, they suggested that since the violin is called 'Foxy', the amp should be called 'Lady'!
That's a great idea! I will definitely be practicing my Hendrix now! I still can't believe it!
Thank you so much guys for this incredibly thoughtful gift which I will treasure forever.
That's all the news for now! Keep well and enjoy the music!
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hiya Everyone!
It has been quite a while since my last blog! Apologies!
It has been a busy time since our last concerts in Red Rocks!
Thank you so much to all of you and all our marvelous crew for making our long tour so special.
I have been at home catching up with family and friends, and playing music of course!
We filmed our latest DVD Songs from the Heart in the beautiful setting of Powerscourt House and Gardens in Wicklow. It was an incredible experience to be in such an historical place and we enjoyed every second of it! My parents, Seán, Caroline & Emma, Mike & Fiona, made it there, this was such a treat for me as I know how busy they all are. Frances, Noel and Karl were in Lorient, Brittany, but rang me just before I went on. Bruce, my webmaster also made it over from Germany and had a well earned break in Ireland over the next week.
It was fantastic too to see so many of our fans from America. What a trip they made and the support was incredible.We were all delighted so many made it over and I hope they enjoyed both nights despite the weather the first night!
Thanks too to all our friends from EMI, Ian Ralfini and Tara Chiari who were there cheering us on along with Dave Kavanagh, our Executive Producer, Scott Porter, our CEO, and Jonathan Hochwald of Madstone Productions.
We had huge help from Rachel Davis our Tour Manager, Scotty Ross our Production Manager and all our amazing crew from America and Ireland, who oversaw everything for us in Powerscourt. Our amazing Director Alex Coletti who, along with Tom Kenny our Lighting Designer, made it all look phenomenal. It really felt like a big family and everyone pulling together to make it work.
It was a big surprise that my parents were there and everyone knew except me!
I could not believe it when I saw them in the front row as I'm sure my expression conveyed! I was delighted and a bit nervous too, but it all went so well.
During a pause in the concert due to weather, my Mam got up from her seat and came up to us to the stage, and gave me a kiss. It was such a lovely spontaneous thing and was so moving.
Before and after our two nights in Powerscourt, it was studio time for us for the Songs from the Heart CD. David surpassed himself again with the stunning arrangements and compositions.
Andrew too was brilliant as usual with the recordings, mixing and all the other hard work that goes into making a CD. Thanks to both of them. We even got time to have lunch near my house and catch up in a more relaxed scenario!
It was great news too to hear that Celtic Woman won Best Celtic Group at Ireland's Music Awards at the World Fleadh this year, the competition was tough and we are delighted! Thank you to everyone that voted for us!
Moving on to the long awaited release of Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure! It hit the shops in the States yesterday I believe and I can't wait to see it!
It was again an honor to feature on such a beautiful score by Joel McNeely.
Lisa is singing the main title song 'If You Believe' which is really fantastic, warm and powerful.
There is beautiful work done by David and the choir on the score from the recording sessions in Dublin with Joel, David and Andrew. Alongside that, Méav, who sang in the choir, also sings 'Sunbeams', which is a lovely moving song.
I'm really excited to hear and see the movie, it's magical, and all the music and the songs are so emotive with a powerful message. It was a dream come true for me and I know you will all love it!
As I'm sure you must know, we are all heading back to the States in ten days to do our second leg of the Isle of Hope tour. We are very excited to be coming back to play and perform for you all. It gives us an opportunity to visit places that we didn't get to go to on our last tour. So the suitcase will be down in the next few days to get organized! As always your support is tremendous.
We are all doing interviews and some performances coming up to the tour and in the first week so keep tuned and look on www.celticwoman.com for info.
Other things too that have happened that are very special is that Karl's CD Vista Point is out and is available in all cool places, online and off!
Karl gave me some CD.S for the online shop at www.maireadnesbitt.com and ten are autographed! They will be up on the shop in the next few days.
It was so great to play on it and I know you will all enjoy the different tracks, compositions, arrangements and musicians that are on it.
Onto Berne in Switzerland, where I am honored to be soloist with the BSO for their New Year's Concert. This takes place on the 2nd January. I hope to be playing the premiere performance of the Tinker Bell Suite by Joel McNeely, music by David Downes, and music by Colm Ó Foghlú. More details will follow on www.maireadnesbitt.com and on the BSO site (link below).
http://www.bsorchester.ch/
There will be some new pics from the Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure sessions; the rehearsals at Powerscourt for Songs from the Heart; and pics from the World Music Festival Dunlaoighre '09, coming up on the site soon. The composer Colm Ó Foghlú has done a remix of Skidoo from Raining Up and as a thank you to all of you it will be available for free download from my site very soon! So don't forget to visit!
Thank you all for your continued support and see you on tour in ten days!
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hi All!
It's been a while I know!
We have finished our tour of the States and have been non stop preparing for our new DVD/CD!
Before that news though, I have to say a few words about our nights in Red Rocks, Colorado, the last two nights of our tour. It's always an honor to play in such an amazing place, both of such musical significance and also that of great natural beauty. It did rain the first night towards the end of the show which had me concerned about my violin. The next night I had some film on it exposing the F holes but it wasn't needed as it didn't rain that night! So that came off for the second half.
I also used a gift of an Incredibow from the maireadnesbittforum towards the end of the second half of our show both nights.
It was very interesting to use and lent itself very well to playing the fast numbers.
I did use it for 'You Raise Me Up' also and it was easy to use and sounded well.
Thank you to the forum for that gift and for all our fans who came and supported us in Red Rocks and throughout the whole tour.
We have done our rehearsals in Dublin for our DVD Celtic Woman Live that will be filmed on the 29th and 30th, this Wed. and Thurs. nights in the beautiful Powerscourt Estate and Gardens in Wicklow. We have also finished our recordings with David for our CD. The new numbers are really great and David has surpassed himself again with the beautiful compositions, arrangements and orchestrations.
We are all looking forward to getting to Powerscourt and starting on all the last details that have to be put in place.
It is incredible to be able to film the DVD in a place of such incredible beauty and history dating back to 1731. It is indeed a treasure and we feel very lucky to be able to perform there. It has so many different elements to it, from the Palladian House, to the Garden, and the Waterfall. Go to to http://www.powerscourt.ie/ to have a look at this gem in Wicklow, Ireland.
On a different note, I am delighted to say that Karl Nesbitt's debut CD Vista Point is finished and will be in stock on my website from next week! He has also signed 10 copies only so it will be first come, first served! I have been listening to it a lot and I love it. It was an honor to play on it and I loved every second of it! Have a look at www.karlnesbitt.com and check out his online tutorials on flute, bouzouki, and bodhrán.
Thank you again for your support on tour and also for the lovely posts on my guestbook, blog and twitter. They mean so much and safe travels to all who are coming over for the filming of Celtic Woman Live in Powerscourt. I hope you all have two amazing evenings.
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hi Everyone....
Firstly, sorry for the delay in getting this latest blog to you.
It has been very busy for us and the countdown is on for the last leg of our tour.
I want to say firstly that all our thoughts, hearts, music and prayers are with all the people on the Air France flight and their families. A very good friend of ours, Eithne Walls and two of her friends were on that flight. We are thinking of them and their families every day.
We had a week off to recharge and have since done shows in Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Savannah, Charlotte and Roanoke.
It is always lovely to get back to Savannah, it has such an atmosphere, beautiful places to go eat and browse with such gorgeous architecture.
There is also a lovely tune called The City of Savannah, it's very fitting for the place as it's very beautiful.
We are now going into five back to back concerts in different cities every night so it is quite busy and also the end of the tour is in sight.
It has been a great one and the audiences have been phenomenal.
I want to say a huge thank you to all our fans for your support, and for all your generous gifts throughout the tour, especially for our birthdays.
You were far too generous, and the gifts have and will be put to great use!
Every tour I have met so many young musicians and this tour has been no exception.
I have met so many budding violinists/ fiddlers and it really is an honor to be, in some way, a source of encouragement and inspiration to them. I have to say, the honor is all mine, and it makes everything worthwhile to see that and to bring happiness into peoples' lives.
Thank you also for the concern about my knee, it is fine and holding up pretty well!
I am privileged to be doing what I love to do and I know we all feel the same about that no matter how tired we become. We never lose sight of our audiences and we love performing for you all every night!
One of my birthday gifts this year is a bow from the maireadnesbittforum!
I'm hoping to play with this bow in the encore at our last two concerts in Colorado.
That's the plan anyway, I do have to get used to it first as I am so attached to my bow that I use all the time, but I'll see how I get on coming up to those dates!
I will be blogging again before the end of the tour so will keep you posted!
Thank you all again and will see you all before the end of the tour!
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hi All!
We had a great night in the Greek Theatre in L.A.
So many of our friends came to see the show and I saw a few Fiddler Crossing signs in the audience! Thank you for the support!
Some of the great people from Disney came to see our show and it was so nice to meet them all again after the recordings of Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure last week!
I am so honoured to be involved again on the beautiful score by the renowned composer Joel McNeely. It is pure joy to play music that has so much emotion, humour, and soul which conveys the adventurous nature of the movie. I loved playing throughout the score and also in the lovely songs.
It's fantastic that the main title song for Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure, If You Believe, has been recorded by my close friend and hugely talented colleague Lisa Kelly. I loved playing to her wonderful vocal. It was great to do something so different together and I can't wait to hear it in the context of the movie.
I also was thrilled to play on the song by the fabulous Demi Lovato, The Gift of a Friend, for the End Credits.
There is so much beautiful music played by wonderful musicians on this movie and I know everyone will really enjoy it!
I have seen some of it when I was recording last week and it looks incredible! There are so many fabulous characters in it as well as the magical Tinker Bell! I'm really looking forward to seeing it completely at the premiere.
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hi Everyone!
What a week it's been!
Firstly I want to say thank you so much for all the Birthday wishes!
It was a lovely day with lots of very thoughtful gifts from everyone.
The lovely bow I received from the Máiréad Fan Forum was an amazing surprise-thank you so much!
We had an amazing time in L.A. doing Dancing with the Stars.
Everybody was so lovely to us, the sound and band were incredible and we also had our own choir with us. We enjoyed it so much!
Here's the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJUIV0T9R6Y&fmt=18and some pics!
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d81/JRGT64/Celtic%20Woman%20on%20Dancing/
Coupled with that, I did the recordings for the second Tinker Bell movie, Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure.
What an amazing experience and honour to be playing once again on such a beautiful and inspired score composed by Joel McNeely.
It was like stepping in to the very warm feeling of a family when I got to the studio and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
I can't wait to see and hear the new movie!
We have just finished our night in Costa Mesa where the audience was explosive!
We will be travelling to L.A. tomorrow for our concert in the Greek Theatre.
I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and especially all my friends from Disney who are coming to see the show.
See you all at the Greek!
Le grá,
Máiréad.
Hi All!
In beautiful Boston where we have finished three very enjoyable shows in the lovely Wang Theatre.
What a lovely place to play in with it's lavish interior.
It's our third time here and it was great to be here for four days to settle in and get to walk around this very pretty city.
Some of our friends came over from Ireland and as we did a matinee today, we went to Finale Desserterie on Columbus Avenue tonight....it's the kind of place that you just skip the main act and go for the fun stuff!
We head for Atlanta tomorrow for two shows there in the Fox Theatre.
Some time in Boston was spent sorting out cases and switching clothes as we head into warmer weather now. The main challenge in going away for such a long time is how to pack for five months! So all types of weather has to be catered for and now it's the turn of the warmer kind.
It's farewell to Boston and the nice relaxing days here and onwards!
Le grá,
Máiréad.
