Presented in association with Ceol na Coille, Sinéad will be joined by Micky Fearon guitar and Rachel Masterson piano, Paul McClure bodhrán and Oisin Murphy banjo/mandolin.
Releasing in March 2024, Sinéad’s debut album ‘Faoi Lán Ceoil’ illustrates her authenticity, skill, and mastery of the fiddle. Her singing in both Irish and English marries haunting melodic lines with sensitive and colourful arrangements of traditional songs.
One of seven siblings, multi-instrumentalist, and singer Sinéad McKenna from Augher, Co. Tyrone hails from a family steeped in Irish traditional music. Her music clearly signals her North Monaghan roots and draws its inspiration from her granduncles, fiddle players Pete and Pat McKenna. Echoes from master Ulster fiddle exponents Tommy Peoples and Ed Reavy resonate throughout this collection of fiery, raw traditional fiddle music and song.
Sinéad has performed extensively throughout Ireland, Europe, the USA, Dubai, and beyond. Recent highlights in her career include performing alongside a star-studded line-up of artists at the Tommy People’s Tribute Concert in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, at headline events at Belfast Tradfest and at The Pádraig O’Keefe festival.
As an established, young, up-and-coming artist, Sinéad has performed on various TV and radio platforms, including RTÉ, TG4 and on the landmark BBC documentary, “The Northern Fiddler.” She has multiple all-Ireland medals from Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, and also won the prestigious Ed Reavy International Fiddle Competition in 2019.
Since moving to Belfast to study, Sinéad has built a strong following in the traditional music community there, collaborating with the Duncairn Collective, and regular performances on Belfast’s trad trail and Ceol na mBan at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich. In 2022, she was one of the inaugural recipients of The Belfast City Council’s Gradam Ceoil Bursary Award; this has given her the time and space to perform, collaborate, compose and record with highly respected musicians, resulting in her debut album.
“For one so young, her craft and technique as a fiddle-player, singer and composer are second to none – these finely-honed skills enable her to travel to, and to share with us, that magical space where music enters an extra dimension, where both player and listener are transported to another place. Only the best of musicians can do this. The arc and lines of her playing and singing are as clean and clear as lark song, and the youthful vigour and boldness of it all is utterly compelling. Put alongside that the choice of material, the originality of the arrangements, the high production standards and the delightful contributions from her very fine co-performers, and we have here a timeless gem.” – Neil Martin
