Eileen Ivers

Eileen Ivers (born July 13, 1965) is an American fiddler.

Eileen Ivers on stage in Lorient, Brittany in 2003

Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents, grew up in the Bronx and attended St. Barnabas High School.^[1] She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill.^[2] She toured with Mick Moloney's band The Green Fields of America, founded in 1977. She graduated magna cum laude from Iona College in New York and has done post-graduate work in mathematics.

History

Ivers was a founding member of Cherish the Ladies. She recorded and toured with them for several years.^[3]

In 1995, she replaced the original fiddler in the Riverdance Irish dance troupe and toured with them.^[4]

Her original blue Barcus-Berry electric fiddle was eye-catching and inspired the name of her album Wild Blue. She later replaced it with a blue ZETA Strados acoustic-electric fiddle, which is a one-of-a-kind instrument with unique sound and ambience. It was custom-made for her by ZETA Music Systems (who will be producing an "Eileen Ivers Signature Series" Blue electric violin exactly like hers).^{[citation needed]}

Ivers has recorded with Micheál Ó Súilleabháin, an Irish composer who uses folk, classical and jazz influences, on the television series River of Sound and on his album Becoming (1998).^{[citation needed]}

She also recorded a traditional air for the soundtrack to the film Gangs of New York, entitled "Lament for Stalker Wallace". She appears on the soundtrack for the film Some Mother's Son.^[5]

Ivers was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.^[6]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS [7]
Fresh Takes (featuring with John Whelan)	Released: 1987 Label: Green Linnet Format: LP, CD, cassette	—
Traditional Irish Music	Released: 1994 Label: Green Linnet Format: LP, CD	—
Wild Blue	Released: 1996 Label: Green Linnet Format: CD	—
Crossing the Bridge	Released: 1999 Label: Sony Classical Format: CD	96
Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul (with Immigrant Soul)	Released: 2002 Label: Vivo Format: CD	—
An Nollaig – An Irish Christmas	Released: October 2007 Label: Compass Format: CD	—
Beyond the Bog Road	Released: March 2016 Label: eOne Format: CD, digital	—
Scatter the Light	Released: March 2020 Label: eOne Format: CD, digital	—

Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details

Title	Details
So Far: The Eileen Ivers Collection 1979–1995	Released: 1997 Format: CD Label: Green Linnet
The Best of 1979-1996	Released: 1999 Format: CD Label: Earth Songs

Cherish the Ladies

Main article: Cherish the Ladies

As a session or guest musician

• Riverdance: Music from the Show (1995)
• Song of the Irish Whistle by Joanie Madden (1996)^[8]
• "The Celtic Album" by The Boston Pops Orchestra (1998)
• "The Fiddling Ladies" by The Chieftains on the album Tears of Stone (1999)
• "Becoming" by Micheál Ó Súilleabháin (1998)
• Celtic Solstice by Paul Winter (1999)
• Seed (2003) by Afro Celt Sound System
• "New York Town" by Black 47 on the album New York Town (2004)
• Voice of Hope by Tommy Fleming
• Absolutely Irish, a multi-artist session recording (2008)
• Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World by Brian Keane (2010)^[9]
• An Irish Christmas by Keith and Kristyn Getty (2011)
• Copper: Original Soundtrack by Brian Keane (2013)^[10]