Winifred Horan
Musical artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winifred Horan is an American violinist/fiddler of Irish descent. After classical training, she played with the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies before becoming an original member[1][2] of the Irish traditional music group Solas.[3]
Winifred Horan | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Classical Celtic, Irish folk |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Violin/Fiddle |
| Labels | Compass, Shanachie |
| Website | https://www.winifred-horan.com/ |
Biography
Horan was born in New York City[4] to Irish parents[5] and studied piano (taught by her father, a carpenter and musician)[6] and Irish fiddle playing at a young age.[7] She attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory[8] in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied classical violin,[7][9] and the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado.[5] She played with multiple orchestras, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, and string quartets, before joining the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies in 1990.[7] She co-founded[2][10][11] Solas in 1994,[12] and is on fiddle and backing vocals.[8][13] On her participation in Solas and, in particular, touring with the group, Horan expressed in a 2008 interview: "Traveling the world with Solas has been one of the best things about being in the band."[12]
Outside of her work with Solas, Horan was a member of and toured with The Sharon Shannon Band,[8] and also performed with Irish singer-songwriter Pierce Turner.[7] She was "featured fiddler" on When Juniper Sleeps, a 1996 solo album by Séamus Egan, and co-writer of certain tracks for the 1995 film The Brothers McMullen.[7] She is also a nine-time champion Irish stepdancer and an All-Ireland fiddle champion,[14][15] having won an All-Ireland Junior Championship at age eleven.[7] In a December 2001 interview, Horan identified Liz Carroll, Egan, and Sharon Shannon as her top musical influences.[6]
Horan released her first solo album, Just One Wish, in October 2002 on Shanachie Records.[7][16] In 2006, she and fellow Solas member Mick McAuley, an accordionist, released Serenade on Compass Records,[17] with covers of "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young and "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan.[18] Siobhán Long, writing for The Irish Times, listed Serenade as fifth on her list of top five Irish traditional music albums released in 2006.[17] Horan composed two of the album's tracks: "Little Mona Lisa" and "A Daisy in December",[19] which was featured during the third season of the American reality television competitive dance series So You Think You Can Dance.[20]
Selected discography
with Cherish The Ladies
- 1992 – The Back Door
- 1993 – Out And About
- 1998 – One and All: The Best of Cherish the Ladies
with Solas
- 1996 — Solas
- 1997 — Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers
- 1998 — The Words That Remain
- 2000 — The Hour Before Dawn
- 2002 — The Edge of Silence
- 2003 — Another Day
- 2005 — Waiting for an Echo
- 2006 — Reunion: A Decade of Solas – CD and DVD
- 2008 — For Love and Laughter
- 2010 — The Turning Tide
- 2013 — Shamrock City
Solo and other selected albums
- 1996 — The Irish Isle: Traditional Irish Music (James Keane with Winifred, Seamus Egan, Sue Richards)
- 2002 — Just One Wish
- 2002 — Pleasures Of Home (Cracker Barrel label)
- 2006 — Serenade (with Mick McAuley)
- 2014 — Lost Girl Found
- 2019 — The Memory of Magic