Máiréad's Blog

2012 Already!

2012-01-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Wow, it's been a LONG time since my last blog! Apologies but it's been a hectic year and at least tweets keep everyone out there up to speed day to day! I will try not to let it get this long again though!

What a year it's been!

We did a tour of the States, our second home at this stage, with Songs from the Heart. We then went on to do tours of Europe and Japan with lots of promo trips in between in Germany and Tokyo.
Here are some links below to the promo clip from one of our trips to Germany and also two links from Japan; a cause close to our hearts, the Tsunami fundraiser and our red carpet moment doing the theme song for the movie Princess Toyotomi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3cy69hBomo

http://www.celticwoman.com/tsunami-fundraiser/

http://www.tokyograph.com/news/celtic-woman-does-princess-toyotomi-theme-song/

We went on to do our new DVD and CD Believe at the beautiful Fox Theater in Atlanta. It was an incredible experience and one that we all hope you will enjoy when we go on tour in February.
As of today we are No.1 on the Amazon charts ahead of great company! Have a look above!!
Such exciting news!

I know my #Celticcuties won't mind me saying that the highlight of my year in 2011 had to be my marriage!! We got away to Maui, Hawaii and had the most amazing time! The beauty of the place was really astounding as you can see in the pic above. It was super relaxed and could not have been more perfect.
There have been a lot of questions about my dress! It was the first one I tried and I fell in love with it straight away! It is a 40's vintage couture Lillie Rubin silk & gold thread gown from the beautiful Goddess Room in Ireland. I also got my 40's vintage couture clutch from Paris 1900 in Santa Monica.
There you go! Two amazing places to check out!

We then had some TV shows in Germany for Christmas and also our Christmas Celebration Symphony Tour of the States which was a new departure for us! It was amazing to perform with orchestras in different cities and we hope to do it again in 2012!

Christmas and New Year was great for us with family and a lovely end to 2011!

It hard to believe it is now 2012 and we are about to start a new tour in a few weeks!
Believe, our new live tour, will be very exciting. We will not have the wonderful Lisa Kelly with us this time as you know. She has been with us from the beginning and will be keeping an eye on us and visiting from time to time! We will miss your beautiful presence on and off stage Lisa! I know though that Lisa is as happy as we are with our new Celtic Woman Susan McFadden. It will be fantastic to work with Susan and welcome her to the Celtic Woman family!
We start rehearsals really soon and are in studio too next week so keep tuned to see what's coming up next!
We can't wait to bring Believe to you and take you on a new journey with us.

2012 also brings us a new Tinker Bell movie! I am so excited to be doing Tinker Bell Secret of the Wings. It has always been a dream come true for me to be featured in the Tinker Bell movies and now that Tink is coming back to Pixie Hollow for the fourth movie in the series, I am beyond psyched to be featured once again! Here is a link to the new clip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKpiONdeK20&feature=player_embedded#!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and really looking forward to seeing you all on Believe very soon!

Le grá

Máiréad.

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Thanks so much for all the support and messages here on my blog, guestbook and twitter.
I'm sorry it's taken so long to do a blog but at least twitter keeps everyone informed day to day!

It's been a busy time and I hope you all had a great St.Patrick's Day yesterday! We had! and a busy one too!
The Today Show was fantastic and it so nice to be welcomed back by the lovely staff there. It was an early sound check at 5.30am and they could not have been more helpful and nice.
Our sound man Tom was fantastic and was there from 3.30am-thank you Tom!
We then had hair and make up with our amazing Lucy and Sara and then it was back to the NBC studios for the Today Show. Check out my twitter for pics too.

We then went to the beautiful Radio City Music Hall for our sound check for the show.
What a pleasure it is to be there every time! It was a challenge getting through the crowds that were out for the parade! Great outfits too! It was the first time in seven years we have been to NY on Paddy's Day, that it wasn't snowing! What a day! lovely sunshine.

We had a great sound check, dinner and then the show. The audience was fantastic and to look out onto Radio City Music Hall was breathtaking. What a beautiful place to perform, it never ceases to amaze me.

We arrived in Pittsburgh this morning. I've been lucky to see a lot of my relatives and extended family on this tour and on our last tour, tonight is one of those nights and that's always exciting for me.

The tour has been going great and I know you can all follow the day to day antics on twitter etc!....the audiences have been phenomenal and Lisa Lambe is incredible as our new Celtic Woman!
We all love her and welcome her to our family on the road!

There are, and have been, some really exciting projects for us. As well as all the touring, we did the theme song for the Japanese film, Princess Toyotomi. It was very special for us as it's the first time we've got to do a theme song for a film all together.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan at this time and we are constantly reminded every day how strong, noble, brave and resilient they are in the face of such tragedy.
We loved doing this song in the studio and hope you like it too.

Our European release of Songs From the Heart and our new album Lullaby kept us very busy with new songs when we got home from our last tour of the States, Australia and European trip. It is fantastic news too that Lullaby is no.1 in the World Music Charts and Songs from the Heart is up there in the top 12 of the main charts in Germany. All the hard work is worth it when that happens and when you get such positive feedback from everyone!

Our next project which was announced on twitter last night is our

Celtic Woman

A Christmas Celebration

The Symphony Tour

I am very excited about this and love playing with orchestras, it's such a powerful feeling.
This is from November 28th to December 22nd in the States. Details will follow on www.celticwoman.com and on my site too.

Next year promises to be a busy one and thanks for all the well wishes and support.

Slán,

Máiréad.

Holidays!

2010-11-20T02:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to send one last blog before the Holidays and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving coming up.

As you all know, the Australian Tour just done is our last tour with the lovely Lynn. She has a lovely message at www.celticwoman.com which I'm sure you have all seen.
Her elegance, purity of voice and fun loving personality will be missed by everyone and I wish her the very best of everything in the future. You never know, she might come out and visit us on tour!

It's a busy time coming up with some recording and promo to do nearer to home in the coming two weeks so look at the Celtic Woman website for updates and to my own website for some new pics!

On another note, I wanted to let everyone know, in case you have been swayed by some strange posts on my guestbook in the last few weeks, that I have never been more happy than I am now. These posts have been removed as it is a guestbook for relevance and truth and is always seen by me, friends and family as well as you who are so supportive in everything. I did not want you and the people I care about to worry needlessly. They were as much of a surprise to me as they were to you and I just wanted to clear that up and thank everyone for their continued love and friendship and wish you all Peace, Love, Happiness and Health for the holiday Season and the New Year.

It's a very exciting time of the year now and I love being at home getting to do all the cool normal things! Decorations are starting to go up in the towns and cities here and there's a buzz happening!
Thank you to the maireadnesbittforum for raising such a generous amount of money for Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped. It's especially at this time of year that this help is hugely beneficial to people in need and it not only alleviates pressures from day to day, but also in the long term with life sustaining programs.
So thank you for that.

Have a great Holiday Season and I will see you all in the New Year on our tour and thanks again for all the support!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Australian Tour and Home!

2010-11-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Again it's been a long time!
It's been mental since the end of our U.S. Tour! It was an awesome night in red Rocks Colorado which marked the end of our tour in the U.S. The audience were incredible and of course the venue is unsurpassed by anywhere in my book!

We had a short time at home which was spend relaxing a bit, and catching up on unopened post, things that had been put on the long finger, and family and friends.

Then it was off to Australia for our first tour there as Celtic Woman.
It was amazing! We started off in Newcastle rehearsing and had our first show there. Every show in every city rocked and the Australian Girls Choir certainly helped that to happen! It is also an honor for us to be Ambassadors for National Breast Cancer Foundation and we wear our pink ribbons and t-shirts proudly in support of the research that they are doing.
There are lots of pics and info on www.celticwoman.com
We were constantly tweeting so check those out on twitter too! There's a direct link on my website www.maireadnesbitt.com
There was a day off in Brisbane and it was great! We went to the Lone Pine Sanctuary and got to be near very beautiful and exotics creatures. I have some pics up on twitter of my chance to hold a koala, a snake and a raptor ( not all at the same time, ha!) and it was deadly altogether!
The next day was the show in Brisbane and as if all the other cities didn't rock hugely, Brisbane was not to be outdone. It was an incredible last show and the audience really made it happen for us. What a night!

Then it was on the plane the next day for the first of three flights home!
Home now, and I get to relax with family and friends, do the things that have been on the long finger! and I suppose I'll open my post too!
Thank you to all the lovely people we met, to those who came to our shows and supported us so well and gave us such a huge welcome.

Thank you to our marvelous management and crew who did an awesome job!

And lastly, a huge thanks to a great friend and colleague, Des Moore, who has been with us from the beginning. His last show with us was Brisbane. He is an incredible musician. I've never come across anyone who is such a calm, sensitive, musical, virtuoso.
His playing is always perfection and I will miss him on stage and as a friend off stage. I grew up working and listening to Des featuring in the Concert Orchestra from when I was 15 years old. I've learned a huge amount from him as a player and a person. I will continue to do so. So, thanks Des and I will come to see you in concert soon!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays and an amazing rest of the year.
See you in the New Year!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Halfway through Songs From The Heart Summer Tour!

2010-08-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe we are halfway through our Summer Tour which started off in Canada through to Omaha where we are now!

There are two places that have stood out for me so far. One is our day and show at the Bethel Woods Amphitheater.
This is next door to the original site where Woodstock happened in 1969! It was incredible to be standing there where so many our heroes played that weekend, like my man Jimi Hendrix!
We were looked after by Duke who showed us around the site area.
Here are a few pics of the stage area, the marker, and Duke, holding up a pic of all the people who were at the same area in '69!

The other time so far on this tour was
last night in Sioux City at the Tyson Events Center where we had storms, rain and amazing looking skies throughout the show! Some fierce weather sound effects were to be heard and gave the show an extra dimension!
Here's a pic!

Thanks to all of you for making our nights so special.
The audiences have been fantastic on this tour with people coming back time and time again.
The energy that I get from you when I'm on stage really becomes part of me and the performance, so thank you for that and for all your support!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

End of U.S. Tour/Australia and New Canadian & U.S. Tour!

2010-06-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm doing my blog from Melbourne Australia and what a busy time it has been!

After our tour of the States, we got a little bit of time off and got to catch up with family and friends.
It was an amazing tour and quite intensive taking in a lot of cities and getting to meet all of you lovely supportive people along the way!

It was also our last tour with the wonderful Alex who we miss dearly. It was an honor to work with her and it is wonderful to know her as a friend. I wish her the very best in everything and I know she will be brilliant in anything she does in the future as that's her way, she's a diamond!

We then came to Australia a few days ago and have been on a whirlwind promo trip here for our first ever tour here in October! Lots of radio, TV and press interviews have been the norm and it's been hectic and fun! Last night we did the 'Hey Hey It's Saturday' live show even though it was a Wednesday! It was really great and we loved singing and playing with the house band. We go home tomorrow evening and it's bye for the moment to everyone here until October!

We will have a few days at home before we head off to Canada and the States for our next tour and we are really looking forward to seeing you all again! It's almost like going home for us at this stage!

We will see you all then and how great will it be to have the last concert of our next tour in Red Rocks again?! It has to be my favorite place to play, so special!

See you all very soon!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Halfway on Songs from the Heart Tour!

2010-04-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

So sorry it's been so long again!

We are a little more than halfway through our tour and it has been non-stop for us!
We are now in Pensacola, Florida and have hit the great weather.
So nice to have sun at last and a breeze! My favorite!

We've had a busy and great tour so far. From being in NYC doing promo for our new tour Songs from the Heart in February, to our rehearsals and tour starting off in Roanoke Virginia, it has been a whirlwind!
We had been in beautiful venues from the Fox Theaters to Radio City Music Hall, interspersed with lots of TV shows along the way mainly in NYC, the highlight being Regis and Kelly for St. Patrick's Day!
Again your support has been second to none and it's so nice to see people we now know well coming back again and again to our concerts.
We are still excited about our new show. Everything from the songs, the staging, the gowns, the lighting, have really come into it's own and it makes it all worthwhile when everyone is saying to us that it's their favorite show so far!
It's hard to believe that we only have five weeks left but we will be back in July!
We are also going to Australia to do promo and a tour so it is a busy time coming up!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes in advance!
While I do appreciate the generosity of gifts and thank you for that, I would be really grateful if, instead of gifts to me, to support a good friend of mine, Darragh Fisher, who is going to Haiti shortly to build houses for the people there. With the Irish based charity, Haven Partnership, and his engineering degree and years of experience, he is going to put all that to the best use in helping people who are in great need.
Go to https://www.havenpartnership.com/html/donate/donateonline.php
Click on Donate; and in the spaces, fill in Darragh Fisher.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at www.maireadnesbittforum.com for their auctions and their efforts in raising $2000 for Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped. This is an incredible thing to have achieved and very giving of time and effort.
I was very moved by this and very glad to have been included in this generous act and I know that Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped are very thankful, as am I.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and support for the IMA awards to Celtic Woman for best group and myself for best Fiddle. I was very honored and we had a very nice time being presented with the awards in St. Louis on March 30th.

Well, I hope you all enjoy our new shows and there's always updated info on www.maireadnesbitt.com and www.celticwoman.com with our new webisodes added every few days and dates of our new tours!

Take care,

Slán,

Máiréad.

Songs From The Heart!

2010-02-28T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!!

O, it's been a while I know!

We're almost at the end of our first three weeks of our tour with our new show, Songs From The Heart.
It has really flown!
Shortly after my concert in Switzerland with the BSO, it was into the groove again with David in Ireland rehearsing for the upcoming tour and for fittings with the brilliant Sy O' Mahony for our amazing gowns for our new show.

We were in New York doing some promo for a week before our rehearsals in Roanoke,Virginia from the 3rd to the 8th, and then our concert there on the 9th. Our tour had officially started!

I have to say, I am really enjoying the new show with it's new set, stage, lighting, sound and especially the music and the way it is spaced during the concert.
The stage is a dream for me and perfect for what I love to do.
Musically, I love the way the numbers flow and I'm so constantly amazed by Lisa, Chloe, Lynn and Alex during every show that, as engrossed as I am listening at the side of the stage, I sometimes have to run on for my solos!

We have had the most fulfilling three weeks, most of all the last few days in New York.
We had the honor of having the PS22 Chorus sing with us in Radio City Music Hall and the experience was magical! What lovely, beautiful kids and what beautiful music they sing, with their teacher Gregg Breinberg.
Check out their blog and some pics and clips of them starring with us in New York on Youtube singing 'You Raise Me Up' and 'Spanish Lady'!

http://www.ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

It was such a wonderful experience listening to them alongside us on the stage of Radio City Music Hall and also when we went to their school to rehearse and really get to enjoy each others' company!
We had so much fun!
Check out the pics and performances of 'Empire State of Mind PT. XXII' and 'When You Believe'.
NY1 were at PS22 the day we went there to meet and make some music with the PS22 Chorus-
Check this out!

http://www.ny1.com/9-staten-island-news-content/top_stories/114349/graniteville-school-choir-to-share-stage-with-celtic-woman

It's fair to say that we are PS22's biggest fans and will never forget our experience with them!
Their lovely singing and arrangements are still in our heads and even at our show tonight in Manchester,when we came to 'You Raise Me Up', we all had the arrangement in our heads! We missed you all so much tonight PS22!!
Thank you Gregg for being such an inspiration to them and thank you all for being such an inspiration to us!

Keep safe everyone and hope to see you all on our tour, thank you for all your support!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Pics by Ms.Lisa and Mrs.Johnson@http://www.ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

Berne Rehearsals and Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hiya All! This is a very short blog but I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year and an amazing 2010!

I am in Berne at the moment and have had two rehearsals with the Berne Symphony Orchestra and Andrey Boreyko.
It has been a great two days and we are off for New Year's Eve and tomorrow New Year's Day.

The rehearsals have gone very well so far and I have one more before the concert on the 2nd of January.
The orchestra and Andrey Borekyo are very dynamic, musical and sensitive and it is a really lovely experience.
The program for the concert can be seen on this link;

http://www.bsorchester.ch/Sites/Konzerte/XMLSearchSite.aspx?inWindow=true&date=02.01.2010

There are two links up on youtube from the rehearsals today....they are rehearsals now ok?! and I am concentrating on my playing at the rehearsals as it is such a rare and different experience to play with such an orchestra. I thought you might like to see this and to keep you posted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkJKcgItmJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IdlanZczs4

Karl and all the soloists are really a joy to hear and watch.
The concert is sold out and I am delighted that I am here to spend New Year with Jim, Karl, Bláithín, Colm, Bruce and close friends.

I wish for my family, my close friends and all of you, a very Happy New Year with peace and happiness.

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Happy Holidays and New Year!

2009-12-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

You must be nearly ready for Christmas and the Holidays!

It has been a busy time and I'm getting to do my blog now at last!

We had such a great tour, thanks to you all.
We had a fantastic week after our tour of promoting our new DVD and tour Celtic Woman, Powerscourt House and Gardens, coming to the U.S. in Febuary,
We ended that week with the amazing honor of playing at the National Christmas Tree Lighting 2009 in President's Park, Washington for The First Family and all who were there AND all of you who watched online!
It was the most fantastic day and we got to meet President Obama and his family, Joe Biden and his family, and the fabulous artists that were playing that night.
Here's a link to the ceremony if you havn't seen it.

http://www.thenationaltree.org/tree-lighting/

There are some lovely photos from that day and night so keep an eye for those coming up after the holidays!
I can't describe the feeling to be playing there on such a momentous and historic occasion- it was really special.

I have my concert with the Berne Symphony Orchestra coming up on the 2nd January, 5pm, at the Grosse Salle, Kulture Casino in Berne, Switzerland.
I am very excited to be going over to spend New Year with the BSO and playing music by Joel McNeely, David Downes and Colm Ó Foghlú.
It will be a special night with acclaimed artists performing.
I am very happy that Karl Nesbitt is performing alongside me, I'm looking forward to getting to play music with my brother again in public! It's been far too long!
Here is a link to the details of the BSO concert.

Neujahrskonzert

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays and an even better New Year. Thank you all for your support and keep music in your lives!
I will see you all on tour in the New Year!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

First Five Shows and Foxy Fender!

2009-10-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Songs from the Heart/ Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure/ Isle of Hope Tour/ Berne Symphony Orchestra Concert!

2009-09-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Powerscourt!

2009-07-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Savannah....and Countdown.

2009-06-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Tinker Bell The Lost Treasure.

2009-04-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

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.

Birthday/ Dancing with the Stars/ Tinker Bell!

2009-04-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

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=18

and 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.

Boston!

2009-03-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Radio City Music Hall, New York!

2009-03-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Wow! what a time we have had and are having in New York!
I think it has been our busiest New York visit yet!

But before the Big Apple, there is a special mention for Wilkes Barre on the 11th March at the Wachovia Arena. The very hard working people at the Máiréad Fan Forum put together, to my surprise, a MáiréadFest! I have to say, I am very humbled by this and could not believe the amount of support and encouragement, not only for me, but for all of us, who work and love Celtic Woman so much. I was really touched by this and Chloe and myself, as we were on for doing our Meet and Greet that night, got to meet so many people who came to the show afterwards, some for the first time, and a lot of people who have supported us from the very beginning.
It was amazing for us to receive very meaningful gifts from my friends at the Máiréad Fan Forum. I was beyond touched to sign a fiddle and some other gifts that will be auctioned and the proceeds going to Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped, my charity of choice. I cannot thank everyone enough for this very generous and thoughtful action.
We then got to meet the lovely Kimberly and her wonderful parents. I have met Kimberly before a year ago and it was her dream to meet her role model Chloe and meet her she did! What a lovely encounter and I have to say, it made our night!
I also got to know the extraordinary distances that people made to be there on this night and I am really honoured and amazed by the dedication and effort to come and see us and put together this special occasion for me. It is probably the most thoughtful and wonderful occasion I have ever experienced.
I want to thank the Scott Manke who, by all accounts, organised this night!
Thank you Wickie, Glenn and everyone for the lovely gifts!
Also I want to thank the moderators on the Máiréad Fan Forum and Rachel, our Tour Manager.
I'm not sure if it was noticed but Rachel and Alison, our wardrobe manager, made sure that I had my new white gown for this night! It was flown in the day before from Ireland from Synan O'Mahony, the designer, and, after fitting and adjustments that day, I wore it that night for it's first show!

On to NYC! After our arrival into NY in the early hours of the 12th, we had a lovely day off in New York. We were up at 4.30am getting ready for the Today Show the next morning and anyone who missed it, the link is below!

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/today-show-celtic-woman-performs-danny-boy/1364105069/?icid=VIDLRVENT04

We then had our first of two nights, in the Radio City Music Hall which is our fourth time to play in this beautiful venue. It was four years ago to the day, which marks our 4th Celtic Woman performance there on the 13th March.
It was an amazing two nights with lots of guests from Ireland, from our record company EMI Manhattan, and lots of our friends who attended in Wilkes Barre!
It was lovely to catch up with close friends and get reacquainted with the great city that is New York!

It's countdown to Paddy's Day and we have two shows later on in Wallingford at the Chevrolet Theatre and in Baltimore for Paddy's Day in the France-Merrick PAC Hippodrome. In between, we have a performance on Mike and Juliet Fox Morning, Monday 16th and later on that day we are ringing the closing bell on the Stock Market on Wall Street!

Have a great St. Patrick's Day or Paddy's Day everybody!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Pittsburgh!

2009-03-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

We arrived safely in Pittsburgh this morning thanks to our great driver Terry who had to drive through apparently the worst snow storm in twenty years.
We had two great shows and audiences in Greenville, SC and then made the long journey to Pittsburgh.
There were a lot of cars and trucks stranded for hours. I hope that everyone got to where they wanted to be safely as we did today.

After concerts in Columbus, Knoxville and Greenville, we'll be in the beautiful Benedum Centre for the next two nights here in Pittsburgh.
It's nice to get the chance to be here for more than one night!
It's very cold, bright and looks beautiful here with the snow!

It a nice chance when in a more settled state, to listen to some music, pre-new, new and old recordings. Of the pre-new, a cd recorded by a very good friend, the Donegal fiddle player Johnny Byrne. This has some beautiful tunes, especially the airs and the hornpipes. I am lucky to have it as it was given to me before I left for my tour to have a listen to it before Johnny gives it his thumbs up! I'm honoured! It gets the thumbs up from me. It's an extremely honest recording, done in a day, the whole cd! It's simply lovely and so nice to hear it all the way from home.
Another cd to be out soon is Vista Point by my brother Karl Nesbitt.
Some of it can be heard on www.karlnesbitt.com
I loved playing on this and it's staggering that Karl has done most of the compositions, playing on nine instruments and bv's!, arrangements and production. I like listening and playing along to this cd! The love for what he does comes through from so many angles.

Yes, two very different recordings and two to keep an eye out for....

Looking forward to playing here and we love playing in these gorgeous venues from the old Fox Theatres to the Palace in Louisville and now the Benedum Centre, they really lend to the atmosphere on the night.
Hope to see you all there one of the nights!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Indianapolis/Louisville.

2009-02-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hiya!

Well, it's been a busy few days and we've been to Indianapolis and are now on our second day in Louisville.
The shows are going great and I feel a bit more settled into it now.
My costume have changed to my white on the previous tour and it's a perfect one to move around in!

Indianapolis was great and we got to meet Jesse McCartney after his sound check!
He was playing at the Murat also.
He was so nice and is voice sounded great and so did his band.
He does the voice of Terence in Tinker Bell too!
Our Production Manager Scotty Ross knows Nando and Dave from the band from the Hilary Duff tours. They were playing great.

We are now on our second day in Louisville.
There was a really nice feel from the show last night and we got to meet lovely people afterwards.
There are some lovely foodie spots here and hopefully will get a chance later to try one of them out.
Looking forward to the show tonight and then it's on to Columbus.

See you soon!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Detroit!

2009-02-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

We had a great two days and nights in the beautiful Chicago Theatre.
What a great city!

The shows went really well and we shot some footage for publicity and ourselves.
So keep an eye out for those new numbers on the telly soon!

I slipped last night during the show but am fine and I want to say thanks to everyone for their well wishes. It was in the middle of Ray and Nicky's solos in my number Shenandoah/ Contradiction. I was concentrating on their lovely rhythms going from one to the other at the time before I come in to play when it happened.... but these things can occur and the main thing is the violin, bow and myself are all fine!

We have a day off now before our show tomorrow in another beautiful venue the Fox Theatre in Detroit.
See you there!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Opening Night!

2009-02-14T22:55:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

I thought I'd write another post while on the bus to Grand Rapids....it's always a great time to get emails etc done on these journeys as well as some sleep!

Soon my Blog will be on my website with some more changes too, so drop in to www.maireadnesbitt.com for those.

Opening night in at the XCel Energy Arena in St. Paul Minneapolis went really well.
For me there's a lot to get used to. I have memorised the previous stage so well and was so used to the costumes that it's been a challenge to be at one with all that is new.
It was so great to see lots of people that I recognised, especially from the Máiréad Fan Forum-thanks for the support! Also meeting everyone at the Meet and Greet afterwards was really lovely. It was so nice to hear there that the show, for them, was every bit as good if not better than our previous show.
The audience were great and we all really enjoyed our opening night!

Tonight, we are coming from the Milwaukee Theatre and, for me, it was very enjoyable!
I'm finally getting comfortable with the beautiful stage and my memory for all the layout is kicking in!
It was a fantastic night with another lovely audience.
By the way, I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

We are in the Van Andel Arena tomorrow in Grand Rapids.
Looking forward to another arena and really tearing it up....
Thanks to our amazing band, choir, management, and crew for making every night so special and making sure it all goes so smoothly.
And finally, thanks to you, the audience, for making every night such a different experience and for being so supportive. See you at the concerts!

Le grá,

Máiréad.

Hi Everyone!

2009-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

This is my new blog!
It gives me a chance on the road to keep you all up to date on our new Celtic Woman tour Isle of Hope.

We had a great night in Evansville Indiana last night with an invited audience to our first Isle of Hope concert. It was great to see so many familiar faces there from our fan forums to the PBS stations!
I had a great time doing the new numbers as well as some of the numbers from our previous tour that I know you all love as much as us.
Everyone was really happy with the night which has been the culmination of months of hard work from everyone involved.

We are now in Minneapolis St. Paul for our first concert on our six month tour in the the XCel Energy Arena tomorrow night.
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone an keeping you on to date here also!

See you at the concerts!

Le grá,

Máiréad.