Level: Intermediate to Advanced

This workshop from award-winning Irish fiddle player, Manus McGuire, aims to improve the player wishing to play more in an Irish style. Listening to solo playing is paramount in this exercise and common tunes will be dissected and examined closely. For advanced players, the class focuses on the possibilities for variation and improvisation that exist within the tradition as a means to personal expression and interpretation. There is particular emphasis on bowing, rhythm, and ornamentation. The existing style of the individual is explored and encouraged with emphasis and feedback given to adopting fresh approaches.

$50 general / $40 members 2 hours

Manus McGuire is an acclaimed Irish fiddle player whose exceptional musical gift became widely recognized in 1970 when he won the prestigious Fiddler of Dooney, an Irish national fiddle competition at age 14. Since then he has gone on to record fourteen albums.

McGuire is honored to have been voted male Irish Traditional Musician of the Year in the U.S. in 2006 by the Irish American News in Chicago and to have received the Bravo Award from Trad Magazine in France in 2007.

Manus McGuire continues to perform and teach fiddle music at the highest level, primarily in the United States and this year alone, he has taught fiddle at Swannanoa NC and at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA in addition to performing a series of spring concerts for the Irish American Cultural Institute. He continues to support the links between Irish music and its historical journey into the United States.