EAMON O'LEARY
While growing up in Dublin, Eamon developed an interest in Irish music through his friendship with the Mayock family, noted traditional musicians originally from County Mayo. When he moved to New York City in 1992, he met guitarist John Doyle and fiddle player Patrick Ourceau, among others, and has since become a fixture in the city’s thriving Irish music scene. Eamon has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, performing with many of Irish music’s great players, including Paddy Keenan, Mick Moloney, Tommy Peoples, and James Keane, and has recorded with singer Susan McKeown and flute player Emer Mayock. In addition to his performance schedule, Eamon has taught at numerous music programs including the Augusta Heritage Center, the Catskills Irish Arts Week, and the Alaska Irish Music Camp. In 2004, he and Patrick Ourceau released a live recording, Live at Mona’s, documenting their many years hosting a Monday night session on New York’s Lower East Side.

IVAN GOFF
Dubliner Ivan Goff has performed on uilleann pipes, wooden flute and tinwhistle in several well-known productions including extended engagements with Riverdance (U.S. tour and Broadway) and Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance. A former member of Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, Ivan has performed with numerous bands and artists including the world-renowned Paul Winter Consort and internationally-acclaimed Irish traditional bands, Dervish, Lúnasa, and Téada. Ivan’s music has been featured in work as diverse as the acclaimed art-film, Cremaster 3, which was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, and in theatrical productions such as Peter and Wendy, and The Voice of the Sea. Recent performances include a number of engagements as soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Ivan has taught at many workshops in both Ireland and the U.S., including Meitheal, in County Limerick, and the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College. Now based in New York, Ivan is currently pursuing a PhD in music at New York University.

JOHN SKELTON
John Skelton is considered one of the finest flute players currently performing, and is probably best known to American audiences from his work with The House Band, with whom he has recorded six albums on the Green Linnet label. He has also released a solo album, One At a Time. John has performed at most of the major folk festivals in North America and Europe including Vancouver, Edmonton, Edinburgh, Sidmouth and Philadelphia. He is an experienced teacher, and has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center, summer schools in the United States, Europe and Africa, and eight previous years at the Gathering. In addition to his background in Irish music, John is also well-schooled in the music of Brittany. He visits there regularly, and is a highly-regarded player of the Breton bombarde, a double-reed folk shawm. NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock described him as “the finest bombarde player outside of Brittany.” He also plays the ‘Piston’ (Low Bombarde) and the ‘Veuze’ (the bagpipe of eastern Brittany). John acts as the ‘Host’ of Celtic Week. www.barrelmusic.com

STEPHANIE JOHNSTON
Stephanie began playing the bodhran as a teenager, later adding rhythm guitar and Cape Breton step-dancing to her rhythmic arsenal. The former singer for the Celtic music and dance group, Cucanandy, she has performed all over North America at venues including the Kennedy Center, Piccolo Spoleto and Celtic Colours in Cape Breton. Her more recent endeavors include teaching Cape Breton step-dancing classes and founding the percussive dance group, Twisty Cuffs. She has taught bodhran to students of all ages and abilities in schools and camps from Florida to Maine. Her humorous and supportive style provides a fun and non-threatening learning environment. After filling in so admirably last year for the ailing Mark Stone, she’s back by popular demand for her second year on staff.

KIMBERLEY FRASER
Kimberley Fraser was born on Cape Breton Island, and nurtured within its rich musical heritage. She first began to impress audiences at the age of three with her step-dancing talents, and soon thereafter took up both the fiddle and the piano. Like many in Cape Breton, music is not new to Kimberley’s family. She proudly owns the fiddle of her great-great-grandfather, spanning the musical tradition within her family over a hundred years. Though still in her 20s, Kimberley’s career is already a distinguished one. With two recordings to her credit, she has played with Cape Breton’s finest, including Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, Buddy MacMaster, Brenda Stubbert, Jerry Holland, Gordie Sampson and the late John Allan Cameron, and shared the stage with such notables as Alasdair Fraser, Lúnasa and Danú. In 2004, she was the pianist for Cherish the Ladies, during their tour of Sweden. Kimberley holds an honours degree in Celtic Studies and a minor in Jazz from St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and is currently studying at the Berklee College of Music. She has been a long-time instructor at Cape Breton’s renowned Gaelic College and Ceilidh Trail Music School and conducted workshops at the University of Wisconsin and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Aberdeen, Scotland.

KEVIN CRAWFORD
Born in Birmingham, England, Kevin Crawford’s early life was one long journey into Irish music and Co. Clare, to where he eventually moved while in his 20’s. He was a founding member of Moving Cloud, the Clare-based band who recorded such critically-acclaimed albums as Moving Cloud and Foxglove, and he has also recorded with Grianin, Raise the Rafters, Joe Derrane, and Sean Tyrrell, and appears on the 1994 recording, The Sanctuary Sessions. Kevin now tours the world with Ireland’s cutting-edge traditional band, Lúnasa, called by some the “Bothy Band of the 21st Century,”with six ground-breaking albums to their credit: Lúnasa, Otherworld, The Merry Sisters of Fate, Redwood, The Kinnity Sessions and Sé. A virtuoso flute player, Kevin has also recorded several solo albums including The ‘D’ Flute Album and his most recent, In Good Company. www.lunasa.ie

ROBIN BULLOCK
Called a “Celtic guitar god” by the Baltimore City Paper, Robin Bullock is a prolific composer, highly respected instructor, and virtuoso performer on 6- and 12-string guitars, mandolin, cittern and piano. A founding member of the INDIE Award-winning acoustic world-music trio, Helicon, Robin’s solo career has earned him three Washington Area Music Association WAMMIE Awards, a Governor’s Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, and a featured broadcast on NPR’s Thistle & Shamrock. His recorded work includes seven critically-acclaimed solo CDs and four collaborative projects including Celtic Guitar Summit with fellow Guitar Week staffer Steve Baughman, which was honored by Acoustic Guitar magazine with an “Editor’s Pick” as one of the top CDs of 2003. His new CD, Rosewood Castle, continues his exploration of Celtic music for solo and duo guitar, featuring duets with guitar greats Alex de Grassi, Tony McManus, John Doyle, Steve Baughman and Al Petteway. A native of Washington, DC, Robin now lives in Tripleval, France, and tours and records on both sides of the ocean. This is his thirteenth Gathering. www.robinbullock.com

EILEEN MULLIGAN EVANS
Eileen Mulligan Evans has been involved in Irish Step Dance for nearly 40 years. She trained in New York and danced competitively in the Northeast and Canada for many years. Eileen is recognized by the An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelacha and holds the T.C.R.G. teacher’s certificate. She founded the Mulligan School of Irish Dance in 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia, and their members have traveled as a performing group throughout the world, competing, educating and sharing their Irish culture. Eileen was the honorary Grand Marshal of the 1998 Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day parade and was named the Atlanta “Gael of the Year” by the Mayor of the city. Eileen believes that we are all given a gift by God and it is our job to share that gift with others. She teaches that if you dance with your heart it will follow into your toes! www.mulliganschool.com

MARTIN QUINN
Martin Quinn comes from a family of musicians and raconteurs of traditional stories with roots in Co. Armagh. He took up the accordion in 1981, and with a highly refined, unique style, he is regarded as one of Ireland’s finest exponents of the instrument. Since 1994, Martin has toured Europe and the US, appearing at numerous festivals in France, Finland, Britain and Germany. In addition to his solo appearances and those with his wife, Angelina Carberry, Martin also performs with the traditional group na Dorsa, with whom he has recorded two CDs, and has also toured with Lá Lugh, and with players such as fiddler Gerry O’Connor and Gerry Harrington of the group, Doon. Martin has been featured on TV and radio at home in Ireland and abroad, and his recording credits include tracks on Paul Bradley’s fine solo album, The Atlantic Roar, and composer Josephine Keegan’s double CD, Lifeswork. In 1996, Martin received the TTCT Diploma from the Irish Department of Education and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann for teaching the two-row button accordion. www.reeltrad.com

ANGELINA CARBERRY
Angelina Carberry was born in Manchester, but returned to Ireland in the 90s, well-rooted in the music of her Co. Longford family. Although she started on the tinwhistle, she quickly followed in the footsteps of her grandfather Kevin, and took up the banjo. In 1998, she recorded Memories of the Holla with her father, button accordionist Peter Carberry, which won critical acclaim from newspapers and Irish music journalists. Though her style echoes that of her grandfather, Kevin, who was a well-known player at Longford ceilis and house dances, Angelina has developed her own light-handed, sparkling touch on the banjo. In addition to performances with her husband, Martin Quinn, she also tours with the all-female traditional group, the Bumblebees, with whom she recorded two albums. Her solo 2005 CD, An Traidisiún Beo, was hailed by Irish Music magazine as “a landmark recording in traditional Irish music.” www.reeltrad.com

DENISA RULLMOSS
Denisa (known as “The Queen” to kids everywhere) will once again bring her exuberant, creative energies to the Gathering. She is a multi-talented and innovative organizer who has managed to retain a child’s viewpoint on the world while remaining a fully-functioning adult! In addition to being the homeschooling mother of two teens, and part-time nanny to toddlers, Denisa is the Coordinator for the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) Kid’s Village. With shaving cream, parachutes and donuts being tools of her trade, she also provides wild & wacky games and activities for families and kids at LEAF. Her past accomplishments include co-founding the newspaper Mothertongue: A Progressive Parenting Source; Panther Paws, a public school newspaper for and by kids (funded by a grant from the Asheville City Schools Foundation), Kindred Kids, the Mothertongue paper for kids, and the newsletter HOME (Homeschooling Opens Minds Everyday). As a kid’s crafts & games specialist Denisa is excited to bring her silly songs, cool crafts and good times to the Gathering for the 13th year, as she teaches and coordinates the Children’s Program during Sing & Swing/Dulcimer, Celtic, Old-Time and Fiddle Weeks.