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Smithfield Sessions: Workshop on Group Music-making with Zoë Conway and Dónal Lunny

Smithfield Sessions: Workshop on Group Music-making with Zoë Conway and Dónal Lunny

  • 13 November
  • Smithfield Square, Dublin
Lunny Conway1
As part of The Smithfield Sessions presented by Dublin City Council, renowned musicians Zoë Conway (fiddle) and Dónal Lunny (bouzouki) will lead a free 40 minute workshop focusing on ensemble-playing skills.

Tunes which will be explored during the workshop include The Big Man Within, Tolka Polka and Sporting Paddy. Some resources for learning the tunes in advance of the workshop can be found at the links below. Although this workshop is primarily for participants with 3 or more years’ playing experience, players of all abilities are invited to attend and participate. There is no need to register for this workshop in advance. Places will be offered on a 'first come, first served' basis on the day so please arrive in plenty of time to avoid disappointment!

Workshop Time TBC (expected start time 1.15pm)

"Folk Instrumentalist of the Year 2020" - RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards

"Featured Composer 2021" - ITMA (Irish Traditional Music Archive)


Internationally renowned fiddler player, vocalist and composer Zoë Conway effortlessly combines a background steeped in Ireland’s rich aural music tradition with a strong foundation in classical music.  She has toured worldwide and has appeared in many prestigious concert halls including Carnegie Hall, New York, The Kremlin Palace, Moscow and The National Concert Hall, Dublin.  Her versatility as an instrumentalist has allowed her to perform across a broad range of genres, from guest soloist with leading orchestras, to touring with Riverdance and working with mainstream international acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriella, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Nick Cave and Lou Reed among others.

Zoë tours regularly with her husband, John Mc Intyre on guitar, and the duo have been described as “simply one of the best folk duos on the planet” (BBC).  They have released two recordings to date  - Live in Concert, a superb collection of live European performances, and Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You), rewarded a glorious 5 stars from The Irish Times.

Zoë also tours with traditional music heavyweights Máirtín O Connor and Dónal Lunny (affectionally known as ZoDoMo).  The trio have been described by critics as a “trad music super group!”, releasing an album entitled Faoi Lán Seol (In Full Sail) recorded in Ireland's premier studio, Grouse Lodge.

 Zoë is a full time professional musician working primarily as a fiddle player in the traditional arts in Ireland. She has also studied classical music and is influenced by world music, and it's the mix of all these genres that informs her unique voice in the Irish music landscape.  Her compositions have been embraced by the wider traditional community, and been featured on television, film, theatre, advertising and also performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, leading Irish bands Flook and Altan, internationally acclaimed Scottish Gaelic singer, Julie Fowlis, Cór Scoil Eóin, Cór Taoibh An Leithid and Music Generation Louth's Harp Ensemble.

Zoë has released two solo albums, Zoë Conway, produced by Bill Whelan, and The Horse’s Tail, both critically acclaimed, and has also released a live DVD, Zoë Conway Live.

Her latest release, Allt, is a collaboration with two couples, Zoë and John, with Scots Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and her husband Éamon Doorley.  Recorded live in the round, Allt is the culmination of a composition project inspired by old and new Gaelic poetry from Scotland and Ireland.  Emotive and powerful melodies coupled with thoughtful and understanding accompaniment, the album has been described as a 'modern classic', receiving 4 stars from The Irish Times and an incredible 5 stars from Songlines Magazine UK.  

Zoë's remarkable fiddle sound has been featured on major film soundtracks including Finding You (Red Sky Studio 2021), Riverdance The Animated Adventure (Universal 2021), award winning  Float Like A Butterfly (Samson Films 2018) and Artemis Fowl (Disney 2020) where she recorded as soloist with a hand-picked symphony orchestra in George Martin's world-renowned AIR studios in London.

Dónal Lunny is popularly regarded as having been central to the renaissance of Irish music over the last four decades. Since the seventies Dónal has had involvement with some of the most innovative bands to emerge from Ireland during that great resurgence. He has toured across the world, collaborating with musicians of many different cultures.

Dónal co-founded Mulligan Records and produced 17 albums for the label. Since then he has produced tracks for, and collaborated on albums with Kate Bush, Mark Knopfler, Indigo Girls, Clannad, and Baaba Maal among others. He produced the internationally acclaimed album for EMI, Common Ground, featuring such artists as Bono, Neil and Tim Finn, and Elvis Costello. He continues his work in studio production, also occasionally composing music for theatre, television and film.

A founding member of bands such as Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, and Coolfin, more recent collaborations include Mosaic, with veteran collaborator Andy Irvine; and ZoDoMo, with Zoë Conway and Máirtín O’Connor. Latterly he co-founded Usher’s Island with Andy and Paddy Glackin, co-opting Mike McGoldrick and John Doyle.

Dónal became a member of Aosdána in 2008, and received an Honorary Doctorate in music from Trinity College the same year. Subsequently he was appointed Artist in Residence at the University of Limerick, where he frequently teaches. He is currently Artist in Residence in UCD’s Creative Futures Academy.

Current projects include Atlantic Arc, a 9-piece ensemble which explores the connectedness of current Celtic cultures and dares to imagine forgotten commonalities from Ireland to Galicia.

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