Biography
Nollaig Casey ranks among Ireland's foremost fiddlers and has shown equal command of classical repertoire and traditional Irish folk idioms. She previously belonged to both the RTE Symphony Orchestra and Planxty while recording or touring alongside Moving Hearts, Liam O'Flynn, Dan Ar Bras, Enya, Van Morrison, U2, Emmylou Harris, Frances Black, Mary Black, the Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, Nanci Griffith, Tommy Sands, and Elvis Costello. The early-eighties partnership she formed with Celtic guitarist Arty McGlynn produced the 1990 release Lead the Knave, which earned the Belfast Telegraph Entertainment Media and Arts Award for folk-music excellence. Her violin appears on the scores of more than two dozen films, among them Ballad of the Sad Café, Hear My Song, Sult: Spirit of the Music, and Waking Ned Devine, as well as the stage production Riverdance. She continues as a featured performer with Donal Lunny's Coolfin band. Music has occupied Casey for most of her life; after mastering uillean pipes, tinwhistle, and piano in childhood, she took up the violin at age eleven. During her teenage years she collected multiple All-Ireland Awards for exceptional fiddling and singing. At nineteen she received a music degree from University College Cork and was promptly engaged by the RTE Symphony Orchestra, where she stayed for five years. An encounter with McGlynn in Dublin in 1979 created a lasting musical alliance; in addition to their duo work they served as accompanists for Andy Irvine, Planxty, Makem & Clancy, and Maura O'Connell. Casey first sang on record with her 1995 solo album Causeway.
Albums
