- Lily Neill
Lily Neill is an American-born
harp player who specialises in traditional Irish music and related folk music traditions. She is recognised for her solo performances as well as for her collaborations with artists in genres outside the realm of folk music.Neill was born in
Maryland ,United States and started playing the harp at the age of nine, after taking several years of piano lessons. She gave her first professional public performance the following year, earning many awards at harp competitions in the USA including the U.S. National Scottish harp competition where she was undefeated. She also earned a prize at the 1998 All-Ireland competition inBallina ,County Mayo . As a teenager she performed for then-PresidentBill Clinton , Congressmen Neal and SenatorsTed Kennedy andGeorge Mitchell as well as withThe Chieftains andDerek Bell at theKennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington DC, in his final two performances there.Neill received a first class honours degree from the
University of Limerick 's "Irish World Academy" and released her debut CD, "Without Words", while still a student. The CD earned her the 2006 "New Female Artist of the Year Award" from "LiveIreland.com" and the "Irish-American News".She is currently based in Europe. She recorded with Finnish rock band
Carmen Gray on their debut album for Sony BMG and performs in both solo and group line-ups in Europe and the United States. She is also known for her collaboration with tap dancer Cartier Williams. She performed inBrittany at theFestival Interceltique de Lorient in both 2007 and 2008.Albums
* "Without Words",
2005 External links
* [http://www.lilyneill.com Lily Neill official web site]
* [http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=LILYNEILL Lily Neill at the Kennedy Center in Washington]References
* [http://www.irishamericannews.com/columns/imsc/imsc0306.htm The Irish American News]
* [http://www.liveireland.com/news_awards06.shtml LiveIreland.com]
* [http://www.hotpress.com/archive/2819660.html HotPress Review]
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