VIRTUAL
WORKSHOPs
Echo Bridge Sounds offers in-person and virtual Irish dance and music focused workshops to groups of all sizes and ability levels. Past and upcoming collaborations include K-12 string/music & physical education programs, college university music and/or Irish studies departments, classical music string camps, and Irish dance schools wishing to further educate Irish dancers on music and rhythm.
private lessons.
LEARN FROM THE BEST.
Echo Bridge Sounds offers beginner to advanced private and group lessons, both virtually or in person for Chicago-area residents on the following instruments:
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Fiddle (Intermediate through advanced students only)
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Tin Whistle
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Irish flute
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Concertina
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Button Accordion
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Piano Accordion
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Mandolin
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Banjo
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Piano accompaniment
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Bodhran (Irish drum)
Lessons can be focused on preparing to compete at the local or national level (fleadh or feis), to train to become a musician at Irish dance competitions (feis), to grow as a session or individual musician, or purely just for fun!
events.
Echo Bridge Sounds specializes in playing a mix of traditional and contemporary Irish music for weddings, cocktail receptions, funerals, birthday parties, porch concerts, or any special event you are hosting! We have played hundreds of these events in the past and can customize our instrumentation package to meet your budget and repertoire requests.
weekly sessions.
Echo Bridge Sounds hosts a weekly Zoom Irish jam session on Sundays from 3-6 PM CST.
The first hour is a "slow" session, designed for those new to Irish music, and the second two hours are at a regular speed. We send participants two new tunes at the start of each week to build repertoire.
Drop us a line if you'd like to be added to our mailing list!
Katie Grennan
Katie Grennan's traditional fiddle playing carries the articulation of a gifted classical musician tempered by the soul of a champion Irish dancer. Her wide ranging experience as an international touring performer in both live stage productions and television have given her a unique platform as an ambassador for the music of her heart.
Katie is the current fiddler in the Celtic fusion band Gaelic Storm, is a featured musician on the FEIS App, and is involved in a number of musical projects, including The Bow Tides & the STEAM Quartet. Echo Bridge Sounds allows Katie to blend her skills as an arts entrepreneur, avid educator, and performer.
John Williams
John Williams is internationally regarded as one of the foremost players of Irish music today -- with five All-Ireland titles to his credit. On button accordion, bodhran, flute, piano, and concertina (the instrument also played by his father and grandfather in Doolin, County Clare, dating back to the late 1800s), John has entertained audiences in pubs and concert halls from his Chicago hometown across North America and Europe. He appears on dozens of recordings, including Raven (Alliance), his collaboration with guitarist Dean Magraw.
On the silver screen, John Williams appears as a bandleader, music consultant, and composer in Dreamworks' classic Chicago thriller Road to Perdition. Centrally featured in the Academy Award-Nominated score by Thomas Newman, Williams' autumnal Perdition Piano Duet was released on the 2002 Universal soundtrack album as performed in the film by stars Paul Newman and Tom Hanks.
