Celtic Woman
Beautiful women , Angelic voices , Unforgettable magic
Entire
Group
Lisa Kelly
Chloe
Agnew
Meav
Mairead
Nesbitt
Hayley
Westenra
Lynn
Hilary
Orla
Fallon
Celtic Woman is the realisation of a dream for Composer and Musical Director, David Downes and Show Producer, Sharon
Browne. Together with Dave Kavanagh, Executive Producer of the Show, they created Celtic Woman to feature the very special
talents of four young Irish female vocalists and a very exciting young fiddle player. The five women vocalists, Chloe, Lisa, Meav
and Órla and fiddle player Mairead are led by David Downes, a prodigious young Irish talent, who has previously worked as
musical director of Riverdance. Celtic Woman portrays the unique voices and styles of each of the girls as soloists as well as
fantastic ensemble numbers. Performing beautiful and much-loved songs, Celtic Woman features unique renditions of Irish
songs such as: "Danny Boy," timeless classics like "Ave Maria", contemporary songs such as Enya's "Orinoco Flow" and
Clannad's "Harry's Game", and a host of spellbinding original songs created by David Downes.Celtic Woman started life as a
90-minute show for PBS, which premiered in the US in March 2004. The show was broadcast on over 300 stations and such was
its success that it was developed into a full scale touring production. The Celtic Woman CD & DVD were released through
Manhattan Records (EMI) on March 1st 2005. Since its release the CD has been certified gold and the DVD has been certified
platinum. The CD has also been No 1 in the Billboard World Music Chart for over 60 weeks.

Celtic Woman is an allfemale vocal ensemble that performs various traditional and contemporary celticbased songs. Often
compared to such artists as Clannad, Enya and Loreena McKennitt. The holiday themed A Christmas Celebration appeared in
2006 with A New Journey following in 2007. As well as the group recordings, each member of Celtic Woman has released their
own solo album.

David Downes: Musical Director/Composer
Lisa Kelly: Vocalist [ Current Celtic Woman Member ]

Lisa Kelly was born in Dublin and has been singing since the age of 7. Classically trained in both piano and singing, Lisa started
her professional career in musicals. She has played many roles including “Velma Kelly” in Chicago, “Florence” in Chess,
“Laurie” in Oklahoma and “Sandy” in Grease. Lisa has also performed in many concerts at Dublin’s National Concert Hall
including: “The Magic of Gershwin,” “The Music of Cole Porter,” and “From Romberg to Rodgers” to name but a few.

Lisa was the lead female vocalist of Riverdance. It was here that she met her husband Scott and they toured with the show for
four years taking in cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Toronto and many more. Lisa
recorded her debut album entitled Lisa. Now a mother to two boys, Cian and Jack, Lisa has just finished filming her first Solo
DVD.
Chlöe Agnew: Vocalist  [ Current Celtic Woman Member ]

Chlöe Agnew is a gifted musician studying piano, guitar and recorder as well as being a magnificent singer. Agnew made her
debut television performance at just four weeks old and first sang on television at the age of six! She won the Grand Prix at the
first International Children's Song Competition in Cairo in 1998 representing Ireland with a song entitled "The Friendship Tree.”


She recorded and released her debut album, Chlöe, at the young age of twelve. Her second Album Walking in the Air, was
released and drew huge attention in the internationally. It was the interest in her album and Celtic Collections other Irish
Female Soloists that spawned the concept for the Celtic Woman show.
Mairead Nesbitt: Fiddle Player  [ Current Celtic Woman Member ]
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Máiréad, who began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the fiddle at 6, is a former All-Ireland fiddle champion. She began
formal training in music at an early age, at the Ursuline Convent in Thurles, and continued at The Waterford Institute of
Technology, at the Cork School of Music under Cornelia Zanidache and at the London Royal Academy, London Trinity College,
with Post Graduate Studies under Emanuel Hurwitz on violin and piano. She is a past member of the National Youth Orchestra of
Ireland.

Following her formal training, she became a professional violinist with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in 1991. She also worked
on-stage and in-studio with many well-known musicians, among them Nigel Kennedy, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, Clannad,
Emmylou Harris, Aslan, Chris De Burgh and Jimmy Webb, and including more traditional Irish artists Dónal Lunny, Sharon
Shannon, Paul Brady, Frances Black, Cooney and Begley, and Jimmy McCarthy. Mairead had the honor of performing privately
for HRH - The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) on her secret visit to Dublin last September.
Méav: Soloist [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]
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Méav Ní Mhaolchatha has a broad range of performing experience in Ireland and abroad. Her first solo album, Méav, has sold
extremely well in the US, Japan and Korea. Her second solo album, Silver Sea, has recently been released and is available in
specialist music stores across Europe and America under the Celtic Collections Label.

Méav has been invited to perform her own music at many festivals worldwide. She headlined at a major open-air festival in
Seoul as part of the Korean World Cup celebrations and launched her second album there. She recently performed to great
acclaim at a prestigious Celtic Festival in Tokyo and sang in the Beo Festival of Irish Music at the National Concert Hall Dublin.
Orla Fallon: Harpist & Singer  [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]
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Orla has featured as a soloist in concerts around Ireland at such venues as The National Concert Hall, Dublin, The Opera House,
Belfast and The Waterfront Theatre, Belfast. She has recorded, performed and toured with Internationally renowned groups
Clannad and Anuna, as well as the oboist David Agnew.

A popular soloist in the corporate sector in Dublin, Orla appears regularly at such venues as Dublin Castle, Humewood Castle,
The Royal Hospital Kilmainham and Luttrellstown Castle. Orla was invited to play for The Pope in Rome and she is invited
regularly to perform at Aras An Uactarain for The President Of Ireland. Orla’s debut album The Water is Wide has earned her
much critical acclaim and has led to countless television and radio broadcasts. She has toured extensively throughout Europe
and North America where her reputation is steadily growing for her renditions of haunting Irish airs as well as her own vocal
and instrumental compositions.
David Downes: Musical Director/Composer
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David Downes is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, where he studied music and composition. Previously Downes had been
Musical Director of Riverdance for the US touring company, European touring company, and on Broadway at the Gershwin
Theatre. He was also the orchestrator of Riverdance On Broadway. As a producer David has recorded four albums with oboist
David Agnew, achieving Gold status in Ireland and Europe, and recently the Gold debut album of young Irish singer Chlöe. He
has also worked as orchestrator and arranger for Bonnie Tyler, Charlotte Church, and Secret Garden.

Recording credits as soloist include Grammy-award winning Michael W. Smith, Michael Crawford (on his Disney album), Clannad,
Moya Brennan, and Bill Whelan.
Hayley Westenra : Vocalist  [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]  THE ORDINARY GIRL WITH THE EXTRAORDINARY VOICE

At the age of twenty, Hayley Westenra has more than three-and-a-half million CD sales to her name, and is the fastest-selling
debut classical artist in British chart history-as well as the biggest-selling artist of all time in her native New Zealand.

Life started out very differently for this international singing sensation – it was a chance decision to busk for her dinner money
that set her on the road to stardom. Her enterprising mother, with financial help from a family friend, pressed a CD to capture
her daughter's voice for posterity. When top international record company executives heard that recording, she was signed up
on the spot.

For the first time Hayley reveals in her own voice what it's like to be the honorary mascot for the world-beating All Blacks rugby
team, as well as one of the youngest ever ambassadors of UNICEF, and how a teenage busker from Christchurch ended up
performing for the Queen, Prince Charles, President George W Bush ands Tony Blair – all at the same time.

Hayley Westenra is every inch a young woman of the 21st century: quietly determined, highly successful, yet a strong advocate
of the rights of young girls in Africa and passionate about environmental issues.
Lynn Hilary : Vocalist   [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]

LYNN HILARY has recently graduated with honours from her Bachelor of Music Degree at DIT, where she studied voice.
Lynn is a member of ANUNA and has performed with them around the world, in such countries as America, Morocco, Holland and
Finland. She has also made numerous television appearances (The Late Late Show, Open House, I.D., Songs of Praise and BBC
Proms In The Park) and also features as a soloist on many of their albums.

Lynn also appears on recordings by many leading Irish artists, such as BRIAN KENNEDY, LUKA BLOOM, JERRY FISH, and most
recently with the renowned singer/songwriter DON MESCALL.
She performed the lead vocal with Riverdance at the Opening Ceremony of the 2003 Special Olympics in Croke Park, Dublin, to
an audience of millions.
Just recently completing a tour with Riverdance in the U.S, Lynn can also boast headlining the prestigious Radio City Music Hall
to her ever growing list of accolades.

Currently writing and recording material for upcoming projects, Lynn is also showcasing her talents for several record company
luminaries. Oh.. and Lynn is the newest member of Celtic Woman! :)
Deirdre Shannon : Vocalist  [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]

Deirdre is one of the brightest new talents to emerge on the classical cross-over music scene. This versatile singer, classically
trained in Ireland at Dublin’s College of Music, embarked on a solo career after an illustrious series of achievements in critically
acclaimed singing groups and shows around the world.
Deirdre's music career began in 1996  when she was welcomed into the exclusive Irish choir Anúna, where she soon became a
prominent soloist in concerts all over Europe. She featured on their album Behind the Closed Eye with The Ulster Orchestra.

In 1997, she was chosen by Michael Flatley to be the soloist in his smash hit sensation Lord of the Dance. Cast in the role of
Erin the Goddess she performed extensively in the U.S.A., Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico to name but a few, to
great critical acclaim. She often returns to sing in the show.
Early in 2002, she featured as the soloist with respected Irish/American pianist Eily O’Grady on her sell-out US tour, paying
tribute to Eily’s late husband, Frank Paterson. On her return from America Deirdre joined forces with the legendary Dionne
Warwick and completed a sweeping tour of the UK. She recently sang with rising star Julie Feeney, on her Irish tour.

Her performances have placed her on some of the world’s most prestigious stages such as The Royal Albert Hall (London), The
Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), The Point Depot (Dublin), Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall (New York).
Most recently Deirdre has been touring the USA as a soloist in the new hit show Celtic Woman, the album of which remained at
the top of the World Music Charts for over 45 weeks, earning Deirdre a gold and platinum disc from EMI Manhatten in the
process. She left the show in February this year to begin work on her new album and to persue her own solo career.

Immediate future plans involve touring the USA and Canada with The Celtic Tenors and releasing her solo album Deirdre
Shannon.
Deiedre
Shannon
Alex
Alex - Vocalist : The newest member of Celtic Woman  [ Former Celtic Woman Member ]

At a tender age, Alex began her career in the coveted role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin. This
was the beginning of what was to become an outstanding career in Musical Theatre. She played Janet in The Rocky Horror
Show, Young Sally in Follies in Concert, Jenny in Aspects of Love, and Mila in Aloha Kamano by Sean Purcell.

Her musical talents did not go unnoticed and she was asked to play Eponine in Les Miserables for the Cameron Mackintosh
Company in England and Ireland and also in the Concert Tour of Les Miserables of which she won wide accalim.

Alex created the role of Bernadette in the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Ben Elton Musical The Beautiful Game. On her return to Ireland
she played the role of Kate Foley in The Wireman in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin.

Alex has also sung with some of the most renowned orchestra's in the world including the Icelandic Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, The Danish National Symphony, and the RTE Concert Orchestra. Among her many recordings, her amazing voice can
also be heard on the Evita film Soundtrack with Madonna.
Lisa Lambe
Lisa Lambe: Vocalist [ Current Celtic Woman Member ]

Lisa Lambe is a renowned Irish actress and vocalist who has starred in numerous title roles in top theatrical productions
throughout Ireland, Europe and the UK. Regarded as one of the most sought after performers in Ireland, Lisa Lambe’s natural
talent began shining from the young age of three and was polished with a degree in performance from Trinity College Dublin.
Lisa Lambe’s career accolades span from the dramatic stage to musical theater; film and television to radio performances. She
has been a featured soloist with Ireland’s RTE Concert Orchestra, and was a favorite soloist on Ireland’s popular TV program
“The Late Late Show” leading to collaborations with RTE affiliated musicians Shay Healy and Frank McNamara.
Lisa Lambe’s critically praised vocal roles include The Shaughraun directed by John McColgan (under the Musical Direction of
David Downes; The Abbey Theatre), The Wiremen by Shay Healy (The Gaiety Theatre), Sweeney Todd (The Gate Theatre). Lisa
Lambe was nominated for a Best Actress Award at The Irish Times Theatre Awards for her performance in the lead role of
“Philomena O Shea” in Rough Magic’s musical Improbable Frequency where she performed at The Edinburgh Theatre Festival,
in Torun (Poland), and in Dublin.

“Lisa Lambe is the finest singer and actress of her generation on whom a whole new foundation of theatre can be built” - The
Irish Times