Aoife Ní Bhriain / Catrin Finch

Violin / Harp

Aoife Ní Bhriain violin Catrin Finch harp copy

Date & Time: Saturday 15th November 2025, 9pm
Venue: The Manor House, Tulfarris
Ticket Info: Tickets €25 / €12.50 student concession
(+ booking fee)

For group bookings or for those having any issues booking, please contact westwicklowfestival@gmail.com
Artists: Aoife Ní Bhriain violin
Catrin Finch harp
Programme: (Traditional, Classical & Contemporary fusion)

Featuring works from their award-winning debut album Double You including:
Wonder
Whispers
Wandering
Woven
Caerdroea an Cheoil
Wings
Bright Lights
Why?
Wish

On Saturday 15th November versatile Irish violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and Welsh harpist Catrin Finch present a late-night classical/traditional/contemporary fusion recital bound to enthral audiences of all ages!

A late-night fusion concert on Saturday night bound to thrill. Aoife and Catrin have formed an award-winning duo and will perform selected works from their hugely successful debut duo album Double You. Traditional, classical and contemporary styles are married together by two exceptional artists of great skill and creativity. A truly special concert awaits, one not to be missed!

"Spellbinding" 5 star review (BBC Music Magazine)

Book Now BOOK FOR MULTIPLE CONCERTS

'Woven' by Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain

“Both astonishing musicians individually, as a duo they connect on an almost transcendent level, bringing their classical knowledge and folk heritage together to create a work of breadth and beauty, inspired by Bach, bees, mathematics and wanderlust.”
Ellen Cranitch, RTÉ

“A special connection between two ace musicians.”
Mark Radcliffe, BBC RADIO 2 FOLK SHOW

Born in Dublin to a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain has established herself as one of the most versatile and gifted violinists of her generation. Her Irish traditional musical heritage joined with classical studies and Aoife began studying classical violin at an early age. After a concert debut at the age of 9 with the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, Aoife has gone on to perform as a soloist and record with numerous orchestras across Europe and Asia, winning multiple prizes for both Irish traditional music and classical music, including All Ireland titles, and has performed with musicians from all genres including Oscar winner Tim Robbins and his Band of Rogues, Declan O’Rourke, Kris Drever, Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill, Julie Fowlis and John Sheahan of Dubliners fame.

Aoife Ní Bhriain has performed as soloist and recorded with numerous orchestras including the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Esker Festival Orchestra, l'Orchestre de Chambre Ariege, MuKo Orchester Leipzig and HMT Felix Mendelssohn Symphony Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Goodman Trio, Crash Ensemble, Neil O Loghlin's Cuar, Concorde Ensemble and the newly formed Wooden Elephant String Quintet.

Aoife has won prizes for both Irish traditional music and classical music, including All Ireland Titles at the Fleadh Cheoil, Bonn Óir Sheáin Uí Riada, The Fiddler of Dooney, a TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award, Camerata Ireland Young Musician of the Year Award, the Campus Internazionale da Musica, Pontino Festival Young Musician Award, 2nd Prize at the Concours International du Violon Marie Cantagrill as well as 3rd Prize at the Vasco Abadjiev International Violin Competition. Other awards include the Bill Whelan Bursary for exceptional musicians, the Prix d'Or from the Conservatiore de Pays de La Loire, Nantes, an award from Music Network Ireland for the purchase of a violin bow, a Leipzig Live Music Now Scholarship with the Osmosis Quartet and a scholarship awarded by Herr Dr. Bunge for further studies in Leipzig. Aoife is also honoured to have been nominated/elected onto the board of Directors of the Irish Traditional Music Archives in 2016.

Aoife has performed at many festivals, including Podium Festival Esslingen, Hitzacker Festival (both Germany), Crosslinks Festival, Explore the North Festival (both Holland), Gregynog Festival Wales, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Bantry Masters of Tradition Festival, Sligo Chamber Music Festival, Galway Jazz Festival (All Ireland), Festival Due Mondi Spoleto, Ravello Festival (both Italy) and the Camden Folk Festival (London).

Website

Catrin Finch, from Llanon on the west coast of Wales, is the most gifted classical harp virtuoso of her generation, grounded in prodigious early achievements and intense classical training, and serving as Royal Harpist to H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in her early twenties. Like Aoife, Catrin has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras; she has also achieved chart success with her number 1 rendition of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and has recorded for the world’s leading classical labels. Catrin’s boundless curiosity and adventurous spirit has led her into a parallel universe of musical success, most notably through her collaboration with kora virtuoso Seckou Keita with whom she won Best Group at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2019.

In her classical career, Catrin Finch has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra. She has graced the stages of A-list classical music festivals, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, Spoleto and MDR Musiksommer in Leipzig and toured throughout Europe, north and south America and the Middle East.

Website