Awarded traditional Irish music’s highest honour

WOMEN lead the way in this year's Gradam Ceoil TG4 accolades, as Musician of the Year, Young Musician of the Year and Composer of the Year are awarded to highly-talented female musicians.

Harper Laoise Kelly from Westport has been announced as TG4's Musician of the Year, and is one of the youngest recipients of the main award to date.

Laoise will be awarded the title at TG4's Gradam Ceoil gala concert which will take place in Belfast's Waterfront Hall next February.

She is one of Ireland’s most significant harpers of her generation and uses a style of playing combining the techniques of fingerpads in the bass and fingernails in the melody on a thirty-four gut strung Paddy Cafferky harp.

Laoise was a founding member of the traditional group Bumblebees, who recorded two albums, Bumblebees (1997) and Buzzin (1999), and who toured extensively across Ireland, the UK, Europe, the US and Canada. She was also a founding member of Fiddletree, a folk group from the US, Ireland, Cape Breton and Scotland, who all play instruments made from the same tree and who have released two albums, The Fiddletree (2011) and The Unfathomable Menagerie (2013).

Fiddle and cello player Sharon Howley from Kilfenora, Co. Clare has been selected as this year's Young Musician of the Year, while Lillis Ó Laoire, two time winner of the premier sean-nós singing competition Corn Uí Riada in 1991 and again in 1994, is to be awarded the title of Singer of the Year.

The other award recipients are Lifetime Achievement Award to Séamus Connolly, Outstanding Contribution Award to Nenagh's Ned Kelly and Composer of the Year to Josephine Marsh.

Nuacht TG4 will broadcast live tonight at 7 p.m. from the official launch of Gradam Ceoil TG4 2020.