Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman

Chris and Máire made their début as a duo at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival and since then have played in twenty-one countries - from Shetland to New Zealand and from San Francisco to Kyoto - and have given TV and radio performances on five continents. They've recently toured in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Ireland and the UK.

Harpist Máire Ní Chathasaigh is one of Ireland’s most important and influential musicians. As a teenager in Co. Cork she developed her own techniques which made it possible for the first time to play traditional music on the harp in a stylistically accurate way. Máire won several All-Ireland and Pan-Celtic harp competitions and in 1985 recorded the first harp album of traditional Irish dance music. She has toured in over twenty countries and given TV and radio performances on five continent and in 2001 she received Irish music’s most prestigious award, Traditional Musician of the Year.

Chris Newman is one of the UKs most revered acoustic guitarists. He dabbled in the jazz scene in his late teens, playing with and learning from musicians such as Stephane Grappelli and Diz Disley. A prolific composer, arranger and producer, Chris now concentrates on traditional music and composition. His celebrated musical partnership with Máire made its debut at the 1987 Cambridge Folk Festival and since then they have toured all over the world and recorded six albums together. Chris has been principal guitar tutor for Newcastle University’s Folk BMus course since its inception.