New York born fiddler Brian Conway is a leading exponent of the highly ornamented Sligo fiddling style made famous by the late Michael Coleman. The winner of two All- Ireland junior titles in 1973 and 1974 and the All-Ireland senior championship of 1986, Brian’s early studies were with his father Jim of Plumbridge County Tyrone and with Limerick born fiddler/teacher Martin Mulvihill. However, it was the legendary fiddler and composer Martin Wynne who taught him the nuances of the County Sligo style. Later, Brian met and befriended the great Andy McGann of New York a direct student of Michael Coleman, who further shaped his precision and skill on the instrument.
Brian remains faithful to the rich tradition handed down to him. The distinctness of his tone, the lift of his playing, and the deft ornamentation he brings to the tunes have placed him among the finest Irish fiddlers of any style, Sligo or otherwise. He has performed all over North America from San Francisco to New York and places in between such as Chicago, Milwaukee and Colorado. His talents have also been enthusiastically received throughout Ireland and the rest of Europe. He is also a noted instructor who has mentored many fine fiddle players, including several who have gone on to win All-Ireland championships.
Brian’s recordings include The Apple In Winter (Green Linnet), A Tribute to Andy McGann (Cló Iar-Chonnachta), First through the Gate (Smithsonian-Folkways), Consider the Source (Cló Iar-Chonnachta), and Pride of New York (Compass). He’s also featured on My Love is in America, recorded at the Boston College Irish Fiddle Festival, and on the documentary “Shore to Shore” which highlights traditional Irish music in New York. The Irish Echo honored Brian with the award of the Traditional Irish Artist of 2008.
Brian was the first instructor to agree to teach in Portal, and he has become a veritable Portal Irish Music Week institution!
Forty years ago, when Marla got bit by the Irish music bug, her late grandfather’s mandolin was the instrument that found its way into her hands, and soon into her heart. It has been her primary instrument and partner ever since. She has become one of the prominent voices of the mandolin in Irish music, bringing a deep and distinctive sensibility to the tradition on one of its lesser-heard instruments.
Her dynamic playing is featured on the 2017 Noctambule release A Sweetish Tune, on the eponymous Three Mile Stone recording with San Francisco favorites, fiddler Erin Shrader and guitarist Richard Mandel, and on The Morning Star, a duo CD with legendary Irish singer and bouzouki player Jimmy Crowley released in 2011. In 2020 she released her first solo recording, The Bright Hollow Fog.. Marla also plays mandola, tenor guitar and button accordion, and is a singer and a composer. She is known for her musical settings of works from a variety of poets, as well as original tunes written in traditional forms. This work is featured in the duo Noctambule, her longtime collaboration with guitarist and husband Bruce Victor. Their earlier releases include Travel in the Shadows in 2013 and The Waking in 2015. She has performed and taught nationally and in Ireland, and was a featured performer at the 2018 Masters of Tradition festival in Bantry, Co. Cork.
An experienced and sought after teacher, Marla teaches private students and classes, and has been a staff instructor at many music camps, including The Mandolin Symposium, The Swannanoa Gathering, California Coast Music Camp, Colorado Roots Music Camp, Lark Camp and O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat. She has taught at Portal Irish Music Week since its beginning! She also provides video-based instruction online with Peghead Nation, and her instructional DVD Irish Mandolin Basics: Tunes & Technique has been a popular self learning tool, focused on acquiring the foundational technique for playing Irish music on the mandolin.
Originally hailing from Chicago, Isaac discovered Irish traditional music early in life. Picking up the uilleann pipes, whistle and flute as a teenager, Isaac studied for years under the tutelage of the great flute and whistle player, Laurence Nugent, as well as pipers such as Al Purcell, Patrick Cannady, and Kieran O’Hare.
Moving to the vibrant New York City Irish scene at age 18 helped Isaac refine his playing to a new level. In 2002, Isaac won the All-Ireland Senior Championships on all THREE instruments in which he entered (uilleann pipes, flute, whistle), being the first American to ever win for pipes or flute!
Isaac is a member of the critically acclaimed band, The Yanks, and has performed with the likes of Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, Runa, Celtic Crossroads, Téada, Bua, and Jameson’s Revenge. He has also done stints with the high profile shows Riverdance, Celtic Woman, and Come From Away.
As a teacher, Isaac has led workshops in flute, whistle, and uilleann pipes at the Great Northern Irish Pipers’ Club tionól, the St. Louis Tionól, the Re-Jigged Festival in Nova Scotia, the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Texas, MAD Week in the D.C. area, the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in Canada, Common Ground in Maryland, the Corofin Trad Fest in Co. Clare, and also has led small workshops for students in Rio Negro and Villa de Leyva, Colombia. He also teaches private lessons online and in person to students of all levels.
2025 will be his second time teaching flute/whistle at PIMW!
Matt Heaton is the son of noted organist/composer Charles Heaton, who instilled in Matt a love of music from an early age. His earliest exposure to Irish music was through an unlabeled cassette tape which contained “The Planxty Collection.” His search for more led him to the vibrant Chicago session scene, and eventually to flute player (and now wife) Shannon Heaton.
Matt’s guitar style reflects an amalgam of influences without losing the context of the music. (His background includes a degree in Classical Guitar, recordings with a tango ensemble, late nights with a rock band and more recently, an early morning career playing music for young kids.) Through it all he remains a sensitive and informed accompanist for whom the music is more important than the instrument.
He has taught at a number of camps including: Portal Irish Music Week, Milwaukee Irish Fest School, Catskills Irish Arts Week, O’Flaherty Retreat, Acadia Trad week and others. His easy going manner and ability to demystify both technique and theory make him a favorite among students.
We’re pleased to announce a new addition to the PIMW Family, as Johnny B Connolly has agreed to teach button accordion!
Johnny B. Connolly was born and raised in Dublin, and has been immersed in Irish traditional music since he was eight years old. By the age of 15 he was a regular feature around his hometown, performing with musicians sometimes twice his age. Johnny’s dexterity on the accordion earned him a slot with established Celtic ensemble Anam at the age of 17. For the next two years, he continued to build his reputation back home in Dublin’s trad music scene and abroad with Anam, touring festivals throughout Europe and Ireland.
In 1996, Johnny moved to the U.S., eventually finding himself Portland, Oregon. A friendship with Kevin Burke, legendary Irish fiddler and fellow Portland resident, led to Johnny’s signing with Green Linnet Records in 2001. His CD Bridgetown was released to universally glowing reviews. A collection of traditional Irish and French tunes, the album features guest appearances by Burke and production by guitarist Ged Foley. In 2014 Johnny joined the internationally acclaimed Irish band Solas and is featured on their latest CD All These Years.
Johnny has also toured with such artists as Eammon McElholm, Kevin Burke, Nuala Kennedy, Tony Furtado, Aidan Brennan, and Casey Neill. He currently calls Colorado home, and performs regularly with Portal co-founder, Pete Strickler.
Having spent his entire adult life being involved in music, from playing and promoting, to teaching, Pete Strickler finally found exactly what he was looking for when he was first introduced to Irish Traditional Music in his 30s.
In 2006, Pete took over the reins of leading the Small Circle Tune Learning Session in Colorado (originally founded by Matt & Shannon Heaton), and helped develop it into an incredibly popular and successful conduit for introducing people to Irish music. He still teaches the learning session weekly, gives private lessons out of his house and online, and has taught at camps including P.I.M.W. and O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat.
In 2016, Pete released his debut album, Giotár, along with accompanist Charlie Branch, and they launched their second album, Some Assembly Required, at P.I.M.W. 2019.
Pete is one of the founders of P.I.M.W., and his banjo classes have many returning students each year!
Fiddler and concertinist Colin Lindsay was introduced to Irish music as a child growing up in New York, where he had the good fortune to learn from the renowned fiddler (and Portal Irish Week tutor) Brian Conway, attend many festivals and concerts, and win the Mid Atlantic Fleadh in every age category over twelve.
After moving to western MA for college he performed at festivals and many contradances, helping to found the band Magic Foot and performing with them from Maine to Georgia. Around the same time he picked up the anglo concertina, developing an ornamented style with the help of workshops from Fr. Charlie Coen, Bernie Geraghty, and Edel Fox, as well as two years building (and thoroughly testing) new concertinas at The Button Box Inc.
Now a proud resident of Seattle, WA, Colin is a patient and passionate teacher who delights in passing on tunes and techniques. This fiddle class is for you if you want to focus on technique and tone and not so many new tunes.