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Introduction to the Irish Fiddle
Tom Morley

Bio:
As a classical, folk, bluegrass and swing musician, Tom is one of the most visible violinists on the Gulf Coast. Classically trained with a degree in music education, Tom has earned a living with his violin in almost every conceivable musical direction. He has played professionally on stage or in the recording studio in Celtic, Cajun, country, folk, bluegrass, classical, swing, and jazz styles. As a member of ‘new traditionalist’ country artist John Anderson’s band in the 1980s, he earned a gold album for his contributions on Wild and Blue, which broke new ground in the country-crossover genre.

 As an Irish/Celtic fiddler, Tom has made multiple trips to Ireland to perform and research the music of County Clare and western Ireland. Along the way, he’s studied with and played alongside legendary musicians including Tommy Peoples, Manus and Seamus McGuire, Kevin Burke, Liz Caroll, Brendan Mulvihill and Robin Bullock. His band Mithril is one of the premiere Celtic/World music groups on the Gulf Coast and has performed on concert series and with symphony orchestras in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, California, Illinois, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. With five CDs in release, Mithril been featured on a number of syndicated radio programs, including Celtic Connections and Prairie Ceilidh, heard across the US and Canada, as well as on AOL World Radio and XM Satellite Radio. His own composition The Poet of Tolstoy Park was recently featured on Wisconsin Public Radio’s A Chapter A Day program and generated exeptional interest from listeners.

 Besides his work as a performer, Tom currently teaches privately, is in demand as a lecturer for the University of South Alabama’s Exploritas/Elderhostel program, and has appeared as a guest performer/clinician at several area colleges, string camps, and his own Irish Fiddle workshops. Tom is a certified Mark O’Connor Violin Method teacher and an endorser for Barcus-Berry electric violins. Learn more at www.mithril.us and:

Course Description:
In this workshop for intermediate fiddlers new to (or somewhat familiar) with the Irish style, we’ll explore some history of Irish fiddling, listen to solo playing, and learn several typical jigs and reels from the Irish fiddlers’ standard repertoire. In addition, we’ll study bowing styles and ways of ornamenting notes for that authentic Irish sound. Tunes will be taught mainly from written sheet music (provided), but some playing by ear could be included, so students will want to bring an audio recording device as well.

Extra supplies fee: none

Please bring: Your fiddle and an audio recording device.

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