The truly global Fiddler of London Live Gala Final will take place on Saturday, April 15th, at the ICC Hammersmith following months of auditions, with ten finalists competing for the prestigious title of The Fiddler of London 2023. Zoë Conway, our esteemed judge, will make their decision live on the night. The winner of the Up and Coming Fiddler of London 2023 competition, as well as our Diaspora Award winner, will perform. A thrilling evening of world-class performances by top traditional fiddlers from all over the world. This is a night not to be missed!
Zoë Conway is the adjudicator for The Fiddler of London 2023
Zoë Conway effortlessly combines a background steeped in Ireland’s rich aural music tradition with a strong founding in classical music. She has toured worldwide and has appeared in many prestigious concert halls including Carnegie Hall, New York, The Kremlin Palace, Moscow and The National Concert Hall, Dublin. Her versatility as an instrumentalist has allowed her to perform across a broad range of genres, from guest soloist with world renowned orchestras, to touring with Riverdance and working with mainstream international acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriella, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Nick Cave and Lou Reed among others. She has released two solo albums, Zoë Conway, produced by Bill Whelan, and The Horse’s Tail, both critically acclaimed, and has also released a live DVD, Zoë Conway Live.
Zoë tours regularly with her husband, John Mc Intyre on guitar, and the duo have been described as “simply one of the best folk duos on the planet”. (BBC) They have released two recordings to date – the newest release is a superb collection of live European performances, Live in Concert, released in spring 2017. Their debut duo album, entitled Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You), received a glorious 5 stars from the Irish Times. For this album, they commissioned twelve leading Irish composers to each compose a piece for fiddle and guitar with the aim of collectively presenting a snapshot of traditional Irish music alive today. The renowned composers who took part in the project were Liz Carroll, Steve Cooney, Frankie Gavin, Andy Irvine, Charlie Lennon, Donal Lunny, Máirtín O’Connor, Peadar Ó Riada, Mícheál Ó Súilleabhán, Tommy Peoples, Niall Vallely and Bill Whelan
