Eileen Ivers to perform at Council of the Arts

NORWICH – Growing up as the child or Irish immigrants, Eileen Ivers Bronx home was always filled with the sounds of traditional Irish music, and those sounds convinced her early in life that music was something she was passionate about. Years later, after winning nine All-Ireland Fiddle Championships – the first at age 10 – and touring the United States and beyond with various musical groups and her own band Immigrant Soul, Ivers will be performing in Norwich at the Chenango County Council of the Arts.

Hoping that she would go into dance, Ivers’ parents encouraged her to take up something traditionally Irish. “They encouraged dancing, but I wasn’t any good at it and I didn’t like it,” Ivers said. Instead, at age eight she choose the fiddle, and just two years later, she won her first All-Ireland Fiddle Championship. “It was a big deal for an American born player to win,” Ivers said of the competition, “and it was positive reinforcement for a kid. The legacy was part of the tradition, so I kept competing.”

Among her musical accomplishments, Ivers had the privilege to perform with the London Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the Boston Pops, The Chieftains, Hall and Oates, Afrocelts, Patti Smith, Paula Cole, Ad Di Meola and Steve Gadd. In addition she was the musical star of Riverdance from 1995 to 1998.

Ivers admitted that initially she turned down Riverdance Composer Bill Whelan’s request to be a part of the show due to other commitments, but eventually she freed herself for the performance. “I had worked with Bill in Ireland and here, and he is amazingly talented,” Ivers said. The composer wrote two pieces specifically for Ivers to perform.