2013 Biographies — Celtic
Dan Lowery
Irish Flute and Tinwhistle
Dan Lowery is originally from Dallas, Texas and has been playing Irish music for nearly twenty years. Beginning on the tin-whistle at the age of 10, he eventually picked up the wooden flute, and soon became heavily involved in the Dallas Irish music scene. In 1999, he went on to play and compete around Ireland and the U.S., leading him to win first place at the 2001 Midwest Fleadh Cheoil. A subsequent tour with Surreel, a band of up-and-coming American Irish musicians, prompted him to move to New York City in 2002, where he has played professionally for the past ten years. In addition to his work around New York, he currently tours full-time with the legendary Irish singer Derek Warfield in his band The Young Wolfetones.
Niall O'Leary
Irish Dance
Niall O’Leary TCRG, ADCRG, 'Irish Dance for All' Instructor, is an architect and a former All-Ireland and World Champion dancer. He is from Dublin, Ireland, but his parents are both from County Kerry. He runs his own architectural practice in NYC, as well as the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance. His Irish dance teachers included Kevin Massey, proclaimed by Michael Flately to be the greatest Irish dancer ever, and Rory O’Connor, the first man to do Irish dancing on the radio. He is the Artistic Director of the New York City Irish Dance Festival presented by the Irish Arts Center NYC in May each year. O’Leary performs regularly as a solo artist, in duet with Darrah Carr, and with Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of America, as well as with his company The Niall O’Leary Irish Dance Troupe. He is in constant demand as a performer, choreographer and master instructor and conducts regular workshops and master classes around the US, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Japan, and Vietnam. He has made an instructional video in Irish step dancing entitled Cuts from the Kitchen. He also teaches and plays piano-accordion, keyboards, bodhrán and spoons. O'Leary was honored in 2004 by Irish America Magazine as one of the Top 100 Irish-Americans of the Year.
Keith Paton
Pipes
Keith is a member of the six-time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band. He is an approved adjudicator for the British Columbia Pipe Band Association and also serves on their grading committee. He is an educator by profession, and has been a private and group piping instructor for students of all ages for more than 30 years.
Kyle Sanna
Guitar
Kyle Sanna is a multi-dimensional guitarist and composer. A master of genres that include everything from rock to jazz to the traditional music of Ireland, he has performed with some of today's greatest virtuosos, including Edgar Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma, and Chris Thile. Kyle's arrangements have been performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and by Irish fiddler Martin Hayes, among others. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Oregon and has studied composition at the Université Lumière in Lyon, France. Kyle currently lives in New York City.
Mark Stone
Bodhrán
Mark teaches both beginning and intermediate/advanced classes specializing in techniques involving the use of both hands to fully explore all of the intricacies of a tune with the ultimate goal of "playing" the tune along with the lead instruments. Mark Stone got his start in Irish music with the All-Ireland winning band, St. James's Gate. He is best known for his work with renowned Irish fiddler James Kelly, and guitarist Zan McLeod. Mark's recording credits include James Kelly's critically-acclaimed solo fiddle album for Capelhouse Records and with the group Ceoltiori on their award-winning “Women of Ireland” CD for Maggie's Music Records.
Caitlin Warbelow
Irish Fiddle
Caitlin performs, records, and teaches extensively in NYC and around the country in a variety of genres including Irish traditional and rock, country and bluegrass, Texas swing and contest fiddling, and on occasion returns to her roots as a classical violinist. An in-demand teacher with a unique self-developed curriculum blending classical technique and theory with folk music's oral tradition and styles, Caitlin teaches students of all ages and abilities and is on the faculty at Manhattan's Irish Arts Center. A former New England Fiddle Champion, Caitlin has toured nationally with Cherish the Ladies and Celtic Fire. Her recent CD Manhattan Island Sessions was nominated for a 2012 Independent Music Award.