Meet the teachers
Kevin Burke
Fiddle
One of the greatest fiddlers of this or any generation, Kevin Burke is known far and wide, a legend in traditional Irish music. His bow has driven the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Open House and Celtic Fiddle Festival. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in the US, and in Ireland the prestigious Gradam Ceoil Award.
Barry Kerr
Flute & uilleann pipes
Barry Kerr is one of Ireland’s most accomplished artists. He has toured the world as a solo artist and has been equally at home sharing the stage in the company of other artists including Steve Cooney, Cara Dillon, Julie Fowlis, Lumiere and Dervish. Renowned folk acts such as Karan Casey, Flook, Jiggy, Beoga, Brian Finnegan, Damian O’Kane and Kate Rusby include his compositions in their tour repertoires.
Siobhan Butler
Sean nós dance
Siobhan Butler is an American raised visual artist and traditional percussive dancer based in Ireland. Informed by decades of study and engagement with traditional dance, alternative photographic methods, and ethnographic research, Siobhan’s creative methodology is a holistic incorporation of historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts.
Aoife ní Fhearraigh
Songs in Irish and sean nós singing
Aoife Ní Fhearraigh was born and raised in the Donegal Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region) of Gweedore and Northwest Donegal is home to some of the most famous names in Irish music: the members of Clannad, Enya and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan.
Small wonder then that Aoife found herself surrounded by music from an early age. These early influences included the late Prionsias Ó Maonaigh, the father of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh who taught her the fiddle. Later at school, she was taught music by Máire Uí Bhraonáin, mother to some of the Clannad-members. The strong local song tradition of Gweedore and neighbouring Ranafast also provided her with a wealth of beautiful songs.
Brendan T. Monaghan
Whistles, bodhrán, guitar
Brendan is from Banbridge in Northern Ireland and has worked as a professional folk musician since 1991. He is a multi-instrumentalist specialised in uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipes) and tin whistles.
Back in Ireland, he was teaching in primary and secondary level schools as well as in several Comhaltas branches. He has several years of experience teaching music to children and adults alike.
Zara Curtis
Modern Irish dance
Zara Curtis began performing professionally at the age of 15, alongside her academic studies. Since then, she has been touring extensively with both ‘Riverdance the Show’ and ‘Celtic Thunder’.
She currently resides in Dublin and teaches in the Zara Curtis Academy of Irish Dance.
Marie Nivel
Celtic Harp
Starting out on the violin at age seven, Marie Nivel took up Celtic harp in 2008 and has since deepened her passion and skills for Irish music. In 2021 she released her first album The Road Less Travelled a personal selection of traditional Celtic and Scandinavian tunes, as well as her own compositions.
Marie Nivel is known for her sensitive playing and beautiful song writing. She has been performing solo and with a wide variety of musicians since 2012 at concerts, festivals and for private events.
Cecilie Stensrud
Sean nós dance for children
Cecilie started out with modern Irish dance in 2008 and has since then developed her passion for Irish music and more traditional dance styles. She is currently the only one in Norway to teach Irish ‘sean nós’ or ‘old style’ dance.
She is a member of “Sound Irish Dance Company” as well as a teacher at the dance school “Sound Irish Dance Factory”.
Åse Kristine Waglen
Ceili
Åse Kristine Waglen teaches Irish dance at the dance school Sound-Irish dance Factory in Oslo and is a member of the Sound- Irish Dance Company. She took up Irish dancing at 16 and began teaching only a short time after this. Her main motivation is always to give people the opportunity to enjoy Irish music through dancing and community building.
Åse is our ceili caller at the Féile Oslo and will teach a ceili crash-course for all those who want to join the ceili night but want to be prepared.