Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin
(gliogáil leis an phioctiúr a fheiceal
níos mó /click to enlarge)
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Ceolann Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin
don chuid is mó i nGaeilge, sa tSean Nós agus sa stíl comhaimseartha, agus ceolann sí i mBéarla fosta.
Lá éigin amach anseo beidh an uirlis busúcai i ndiaidh a h-ainm fosta. Tá sí ag obair air.
...plays bodhrán and sings mostly in Irish, in both Sean-Nós
(unaccompanied traditional singing in the Irish language) and contemporary style, and also in English. One day she would like to add "bouzouki" to that.
She’s working on it...
Click here to read biography in Arabic as .pdf
Click here to jump to ENGLISH version
Click: FAQs eg "JAYSUS, how do you pronounce yer name?".
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flora, 5: "wenn du in deine trommel so verliebt bist, dann must du sie unbedingt heiraten!"
("if you’re so in love with your drum, then you’ll just have to marry it!")
Rugadh Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin i gKajiado, an Chéinia san Aifric Thoir agus bhí fhios aice ó na céad laetha sin i
measc a cuid bráthar Maasai gur mhaith leí bheith ina ceoltóir craguirlisí (nó ina cragcheoltóir craicáilte),
sin nó ina damhsóir, nuair a thiocfadh ann dí.
("Leoga bhí sí ag damhsa roimh siúil daoithe" - Mama Uí Mhaoileoin). Ba é craitheoir Masach, líonta
le h-eorna, a céad uirlis ceoil. Chuaidh sí ar aghaidh uaidh sin go dtí droma de chraiceann bó, rud a bhuail sí le fuinneamh
go dtug duine éigin bodhrán dí le "in ainm Croim, a leinbh, caidé shíleann tú atá ionat - cineál
inteacht de Afro-Cheilteach, an ea"?
Bhí sí mar bhall de ’n ghrúpa teaghlaigh, "Ceoltóirí Ghoill", agus rinne siad ceolchoirmeacha go leitheadach
fríd Éire, An Bhreatain Bheag, Alba, Sasana, An Bhriotáin agus Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá, go dtí gur scior an
grúpa sa bhliain 1985. Seineann Bríd an bodhrán agus is amhránaí í. Ceolann sí don chuid is mó
i nGaeilge, sa tSean Nós agus sa stíl comhaimseartha, agus ceolann sí i mBéarla fosta. Lá éigin amach anseo
beidh an uirlis busúcai i ndiaidh a h-ainm fosta. Tá sí ag obair air.
Tháinig Bríd i méadaíocht ar leathinis Ros Goill ar chósta chreagach fhiánta iarthuaisceart Dhún na nGall in
Éirinn. Fríd bliantaí a hóige agus na déaga bhí sí ag seinm agus ag amhránaíocht lena cuid deirfiúrach
agus deartharach sa ghrúpa teaghlaigh, Ceoltóirí Ghoill, agus iad ag taisteal go spleodrach ar fud na hEireann, Na hAlban, an
Bhriotáin agus Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá. B’iad an chéad "Banna Buachaill/Cailín" ariamh
iad ag amhránaíocht i nGaeilge agus i gKiswahlili. Is féidir gurb iad an chéad Bhanna Ceoil
Buachaill/Cailín ariamh iad lán stad. Mar fhianaise ar sin bhí leantóirí óga acu ó cheann
ceann na tíre, daltaí cuid scoil darna leibhéal na tíre Theas is Thuaidh, Thoir is Thiar a chruinnigh siad ar a gcamcuairt
fad-bliana ag tabhairt ceolchoirmeacha ins na scoileanna agus ag briseadh talaimh úir lena linn.
Ba é ceann de thréithre shuntúsacha an teaghlaigh a gcuid amhránaíochta a capella sa Ghaeilge agus a gcuid
amhránaíochta Swahili le 5 guth agus tionlachan 5 bhodhrán/bongos/cnaguirlisí duchasacha Maasai
cibí caidé. Ba í Bríd bodhránaí an ghrúpa, agus ba í a bhí ag teacht chun
tosaigh mar phríomhamhránaí nuair a bhris siad suas sa bhliain 1985.
Nuair a d’aithin sí nach raibh sé i ndán dí a bheith mar céad "Spice Babe" Cheilteach ariamh,
phill Bríd ar a darna grá, ’sé sin teangacha, rud a théann siar go dtí laethe a hóige sa Chéinia,
áit a raibh Gaeilge aice sa bhaile agus Swahili sa "chlós imeartha" (nó san iargúltacht - sa "bush" a ba
chórtha a rá). Agus í i mbun staidéir foirmealta ar na teangacha, tréimhse ama ar chuir sí trí bliana leis
le ligint dí bheith ag saothrú agus ag déanamh staidéir thar lear, bhí deis aice ceol a dhéanamh le díséid
agus le grúpaí éagsúla. Cuimhníonn sí le cion ar an ghrúpa ceoil "Lustucru", a raibh sí mar
aoicheoltóir tráthrialta acu agus í ina cónaí seal i gQuebec, agus mar i gcéanna ar an ghrúpa ceoil "De
Reelium" ó Hanover agus í ina cónaí sa Ghearmáin. Ba sa bhliain 1998 agus í ar ais i mbun staidéir i
mBaile Átha Cliath a casadh uirthi an cumadóir Iodálach, Antonio Breschi agus go cionn trí bliana ina dhiaidh sin bhí
sí mar aoi aige go rialta ina sheó Arabach/Flamenco "Al Kamar". Fríd Breschi chas sí don chéad uair ar an
cheoltóir/giotaraí Alan Burke agus i mbeagán ama thuig sí gur seo an páirtí ceoil a bhí á
chuartú aice.
Nuair a chríochnuigh Bríd a céim san aistriúchán le Fraincís agus Gearmánais,
bhog sí go dtí an Ostair, le dhul i mbun post i dteagasc an aistriúcháin in Ollscoil Graz.
Chaith sí cúig bliana sonasacha ansin agus ag a’ phointe sin shocair sí gur b’shin an t-am le tuilleadh
ama a thabhairt dá tionscnaimh eile, sé sin ceol agus ealaíon. Ghlac sí bliain saor óna post
léachtóireachta lena céad DD, "Ar Mhuin na Muice", a chríochnú, agus chomh maith le sin, rinne cúrsa
teagaisc sa "PanArt", faoi bhunaitheoir na ceardaíochta sin, "Masu". (Cliceáil anseo le cuid dá cuid
péinteála a fheiceáil). Phill Bríd ar a post i nOllscoil Graz i Mí na Samhna 2004, agus le cois
na h-oibre sin bíonn sí i mbun ceardlanna péinteála go rialta i nGraz i gcuideachta a fir céile, Manfred Url,
ealaíontóir. Tá sí féin, Manfred agus an cumadóir Ghréagach, Alexis Porfyriadis, ag obair i láthair
na huaire ar bhun-thionscnamh ina mbeidh amhráin traidisiúnta Gaeilge, amhráin traidisiúnta Gréigise agus
Nua Cheol leictreonach i gcomhpháirtíocht lena chéile i léiriú beo, agus bunphioctúir ollmhóra PanArt
mar ghné sa seó fosta.
Agus chan ionann sin is a rá go bhfuil dearmad déanta aice dá ghrá don damhsa a thug sí léi ó laethe a
hóige. Sa lá atá inniu ann, áfach, ’sé an damhsa Latino a rogha, go mór mhór Salsa agus Meringue.
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Biography GAEILGE
(gliogáil leis an phioctiúr a fheiceal
níos mó /click to enlarge)
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Ar chlé: "an chéad ghriangraf ar ardán domh le mo dheirfiúracha agus le mo dheartháracha núin,
Máire, Pádraig, Caoimhe agus Briano - furas m’aithint!"
left: "The earliest photo of me on stage with my beloved sisters and brothers
Máire, Pádraig, Caoimhe and Briano - no prizes for guessing which one is me" (Bríd)
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Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin was born of Belfast parents in Kajiado, Kenya, where she spent the first few years of her life
emersed in the music, colours and rhythms of the Masai.
She knew from her first days with her Masai Brothers and Sisters that she would
like to be a percussionist or a dancer when she grew up ("Sure, she was dancing before she could even walk" - Mama Ní Mhaoileoin). Her first
instrument was a Masai shaker filled with barley. She then progressed to a cow-skin drum and played that with gusto until someone, most likely from Cobh,
donated a bodhrán saying "feck’s sake, what do you do think you are child, some sort of Afro-Celt".
Bríd grew up on the Ros Goill peninsula on the rugged rocky rowdy north-west coast of Donegal, Ireland.
During her childhood and into her early teens she played with the family group Ceoltóirí Ghoill, together with her four siblings, jaunting around Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and the United States.
They were the first ever Boy/Girl Band to sing in Irish and Swahili.
In fact they were the only ever Boy/Girl Band to sing in Irish and Swahili. They were probably the first ever Boy/Girl Band fullstop. To prove it they even had kiddy-fans
who they picked up on their groundbreaking year-long tour of secondary schools in Ireland, North and South.
One of the family’s characteristic features was their a capella singing in the Irish language and their Swahili numbers with five voices and five bodhráns/bongos/masai-shakey-things. Bríd played bodhrán with the group
and was emerging as the group’s lead singer when they split up in 1985.
When she realised her dream of becoming the first ever Celtic Spice Babe was not to be, Bríd turned to her second love - languages -
which also stems from her early days in Kenya, where she learnt Irish at home and Swahili in the "playground" (the bush would be more like it!). During the course of her
language studies, which she extended by three years to study and work abroad, she had the opportunity to play in various duets and groups, and fondly remembers
guest appearances with the group "Lustucru" while living in Quebec, and the Hanover group "DeReelium" while living in Germany. In 1998 while studying in Dublin,
she met the Italian composer Antonio Breschi and guested with him playing bodhrán in his Arabic/Flamenco show "Al Kamar" over the next three years.
Through Breschi Bríd met Irish singer/guitarist Alan Burke and very quickly knew that he was the musical partner she had been looking for.
On completion of her degree in translation with French and German in 1998, Bríd moved to Austria
to take up a job teaching translation at the University of Graz. After five happy years there she decided it was the right
time to devote more time to her other projects, which are music
and art. She took a year out to complete her debut cd "Ar Mhuin na Muice",
and also did a teaching course in PanArt under ‘Masu’ the founder of the technique. (Click here to view some a her paintings.) As well as returning to her teaching job at
the University of Graz in November 2004, Bríd regularly gives
workshops in Graz, Austria, together with her husband, artist Manfred Url. She is also working with Manfred Url and Greek composer Alexis Porfyriadis on a
new performance art project comprising Irish language traditional song, Greek traditional song and electronic New Music together with a live performance involving large-scale PanArt paintings.
And she hasn’t forgotten her childhood love of dancing - nowadays it’s
Latino she prefers though - especially Salsa and Meringue.
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