Zoë Conway & John Mc Intyre
With an exciting blend of eclectic fiddle and guitar music, Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre bring to the stage sympathetic arrangements of traditional Irish music, compositions and songs, old and new. The husband and wife folk duo possess a rare facility to draw pieces into their repertoire from other genres such as classical, jazz and world music and express this material in way which not only displays the sheer range and knowledge of both instrumentalists but also exhibits the wonderful versatility of their instruments.
They have released two recordings to date - one is a superb collection of live European performances, Live in Concert, released in spring 2017. The album showcases their mesmerising musical interaction on-stage, and also reveals some of their more virtuosic repertoire outside of the Irish traditional genre. Their debut duo album, entitled Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You), received a glorious 5 stars from The Irish Times. The release of these albums has brought international attention to the duo.
Zoë has performed with an impressive list of international artists including Riverdance, Damien Rice, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Rodrigo y Gabriella to mention but a few. In contrast to this, she has been an important figure within classical music circles in Ireland and abroad, as her crossover discipline has allowed her the pleasure of appearing as soloist with acclaimed orchestras such as The Irish Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and German WDR Symphony Orchestra; pieces recited include her own compositions and works composed for her by world renowned Irish composer, Bill Whelan.
John grew up in the Cooley Mountains of north County Louth where he took up guitar at 8 years of age. He began his career as electric guitarist with the successful indie band, The Revs with whom he performed on many famous stages and festivals including Oxygen, and Slane in Ireland, Reading and Leeds in the UK, and toured extensively in USA, Australia and Europe. He has worked alongside many world-renowned producers and is now also producing and recording in many genres. John studied classical guitar and piano for many years, and from early childhood was immersed in the language, songs and traditional dance music of south west Donegal - his father's homeplace.
Zoë and John have collaborated over the past five years with award winning Scots Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and bouzouki player of international renown, Éamon Doorley, both based in Inverness in Scotland. Releasing a groundbreaking recording of newly crafted songs and tunes, Allt is the culmination of a composition project inspired by old and new Gaelic poetry from Scotland and Ireland. Emotive and powerful, their album was awarded five stars from Songlines UK, listed as "one of the albums of the year" from The Irish Times, and described as "a modern classic" by Folk Radio UK.