The Fourth Annual Irish Tenor Banjo Summit takes over Creative Alliance on November 14th and 15th! Join us for a full weekend of dancing, performances, and workshops celebrating traditional Irish music.
While the Summit is dedicated to the Irish tenor banjo, we have something for all lovers of Irish traditional music! On Friday night we’ll have an instructor concert featuring Shane Mulchrone, Pauline Coneely, the Simon Lace Trio, Patrick Winch, Billy McComiskey, Matt Mulqueen, and more, and on Saturday night there will be an Irish social dance, or ceili, with a world-class ceili band. We’ll also have sessions all day on Saturday led by Brendan and Ryan Callahan and Keira Noonan. The lobby of the Creative Alliance will also serve as an instrument flea market - feel free to bring banjos or other instruments that you’d like to display or sell!
Banjo players who register for workshops will receive four intensive workshops with our banjo tutors, and will be divided into four groups to keep workshops intimate. We also offer four non-banjo masterclasses in fiddle, flute, bodhran, and guitar during each of the slots, which can be purchased individually or in addition to the all-day banjo classes. Scroll down to view this year’s staff of instructors!
Our Banjo Faculty
Shane Mulchrone
Shane Mulchrone hails from near Ballina, in county Mayo. He has been playing the banjo for over 20 years and he cites John Carty and Tommy Finn as early influences on his music. In addition, Shane’s music has also been shaped by local musicians in Mayo and Sligo. Shane has taught and performed for many years at numerous summer schools, workshops and festivals across Europe and North America. In 2018, Shane released his debut album Solid Ground on Raelach Records.
“In an age when commercial Irish banjo music has drifted towards Celt-Grass this collection from Mulchrone reminds us of the joy that the banjo has been bringing to traditional music for nearly a century.”
Sean Laffey, Irish Music Magazine
Pauline Conneely
Pauline was born in Bedford, England. The youngest of four children, she was raised by Irish parents, economic migrants who were themselves steeped in Irish Music, Dance, and Culture. Like many such Irish households in the UK and America in the 1960’s, these homes were filled with the sounds of music and dancing on a daily basis. The Conneely children were encouraged by their parents, and indeed their mentors (one of whom was Brendan Mulkere) to experiment with a variety of different instruments, with Pauline eventually electing to concentrate on the banjo- although that focus didn't stop her from becoming a Champion Irish step dancer.
Since her first visit to the USA in 1988 as a musician and dancer with Ceomhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Pauline has made her home in Chicago. She has shared the stage with, and has become close friends with, most of the well-respected Irish artists performing on the world stage today, including Liz Carroll, John Whelan, John Doyle, Daithí Sproule, The Chieftains, Cherish the ladies, Sean Keane, Mick McGoldrick, and Troy MacGillivray. In addition to performing, Pauline has also been a regular instructor at many Irish traditional music festivals including the Catskills Irish Arts Week, Irish MAD week in DC, and Baltimore Irish Trad Fest. She released her first solo CD, All Because, in 2016.
Simon Lace
Simon Lace has established himself as one of the most prominent rising talents in Irish Traditional Music west of the Atlantic. Hailing from Northern California, he got his start in music learning rock and jazz but was exposed to Irish music from an early age through the traditional music community of his hometown, Nevada City. While studying composition and jazz at San Francisco State University, Simon honed his guitar and banjo skills in the SF Bay Area trad community. Since moving to Boston, his sophisticated banjo and guitar playing has made him a fixture in the Irish music scene. He has been heard performing at events such as the Maine Celtic Celebration and Boston Celtic Music Festival, in addition to hosting weekly sessions in the greater Boston area.
Simon has taught at programs such as CCÉ Boston Music School and the Baltimore Irish Tenor Banjo Summit, and won 1st place at the 2023 and 2024 Mid Atlantic Fleadh on banjo, mandolin, and guitar accompaniment. In addition to his own projects, he also tours the US and Australia as featured guitarist with A Taste of Ireland Dance Company
Patrick Winch
Patrick Winch is an Irish tenor banjo and guitar player residing in Washington, D.C. Growing up, Patrick was surrounded by traditional Irish music, mainly due to the fact that his father, Jesse Winch, is a renowned Irish traditional musician who co-founded the award-winning Irish traditional band “Celtic Thunder” in the 1970s - so in many ways, Irish music is a family tradition for the Winches. During his undergraduate years, Patrick decided to take up the tenor banjo and hasn't looked back since. In 2023, the Winches released their debut family album "The Irish Riviera." Patrick also plays and performs with his band “The Good Folk,” who are preparing to release their debut album, and the ceili band “Rambling House.”
These days, you can find Patrick at sessions and gigs up and down the east coast. He has taught banjo for the Blue Ridge Irish Music School, the Baltimore Irish Music School and is an instructor for the 2025 Irish Tenor Banjo Summit. He is also artistic co-director of DC’S MAD Weekend.
Our Masterclass Instructors
Anna Colliton, Bodhran
Anna Colliton’s lively and inventive playing has made her one America’s leading exponents of the traditional Irish drum. Based in New York City, Anna has shared the stage with Cherish the Ladies, Eileen Ivers, Comas, the Paul McKenna Band and many more. Anna lived in Orlando, Florida, from 2013 to 2017 and performed daily as part of a residency at Walt Disney World. After returning to New York, Anna was a sub for the bodhrán chair with the original company of the Broadway hit “Come From Away.”
Anna has performed and taught at festivals across the country, including Catskills Irish Arts Week, The Swannanoa Gathering Celtic Week, The O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, CCE MAD Week, and Augusta Celtic Week, to name a few. As a teacher dedicated to advancing the tradition of bodhrán playing, Anna inspires students of all levels to incorporate both “the old” and “the new” into their playing, emphasizing the importance of both personal style and ear training in traditional music.
Closer to home, Anna performs with Eileen Ivers new project The Brigideens, and Boston-based traditional music group Ship in the Clouds.Boston-based traditional music group Ship in the Clouds.
Eamon Sefton, Guitar Accompaniment
Born and raised on traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, and Cape Breton, Eamon Sefton has established himself as one of the top fretted instrument players in the American Celtic music scene. He has performed both locally and internationally with some of the top traditional musicians inside and out of the US, including Liz Carroll, Alasdair Fraser, John Doyle, Hanneke Cassel and many others.
An All-Ireland qualifier, Eamon was featured on RTE One's Fleadh Cheoil 2023 program broadcast from Mullingar. In 2017 he performed at Celtic Connections, one of the top traditional music festivals in the world.
In addition to being the fretted instrument instructor for Boston's Comhaltas traditional Irish music branch, he teaches across the US at music programs including Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Camp, Boston State's Fiddle Camp, Pure Dead Brilliant Fiddle weekend, and Fiddle Hell. In 2023 Eamon was the lead vocalist and guitar player of the Germany-based Irish music and dance show, Celtic Rhythms. He was also the guitarist for the USA tour of the Irish dance sensation, Taste of Ireland.
Noah Kelly, Fiddle
Noah Kelly is a multi-genre musician currently based in Boston, MA. He was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1999 and later adopted by his parents of Irish heritage in 2000. Noah was raised in Boston and started playing the violin at the age of six through the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and the non-profit music program Project STEP (String Training Education Program). Though Noah spent most of his childhood and adolescent life training as a classical violinist, he also learned how to improvise in a variety of musical styles by attending many summer music camps and festivals. It was through these eclectic learning environments in which Noah discovered his profound passion for playing Irish traditional music on the fiddle. He took this passion to his studies at the New England Conservatory as a part of the Contemporary Musical Arts Department (formerly Contemporary Improvisation) and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 2022. At NEC, he further honed his Irish fiddle playing while branching out into a variety of improvisatory concepts in world music styles such as Klezmer, Bluegrass, and Jazz, further informing his distinct musical style.
Noah went on to attend the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy for his Master of Arts in Irish Traditional Music Performance in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland graduating with First Class Honors. Since completing his degree, Noah has been back in Boston enjoying his work as a full-time musician. His virtuosic musicianship and technical prowess as a fiddle player have gained him recognition as an integral part of the Boston Irish music scene and beyond. In 2019, Noah won first place at the Mid-Atlantic CCÉ Fleadh Ceoil in the Slow Airs competition. He can be regularly found playing at Boston’s most iconic pubs such as The Burren, The Druid, The Black Rose and more. Noah is also a skilled guitarist, tenor banjo and Irish bouzouki player.
Calum Bell, Flute
Calum Bell is a dynamic Irish traditional musician based in Boston. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, Calum excels on the fiddle, bagpipes, and banjo, with a particular flair for flute playing that captivates audiences.
From his early days performing with the Bell Family Band at the age of six to running Boston’s sought-after Irish music sessions, Calum has been steeped in the tradition. Self-taught and deeply connected to his Scottish roots, he specializes in Irish music and is renowned for his exceptional musicality and ability to spark enthusiasm in any crowd. Whether leading a session or lighting up a festival stage, Calum Bell is a true force in Irish music.
Calum performs regularly on international music tours, with which he has toured regularly in Germany, Australia. He also tours across the US with his trio, The East Coasters, and he has taught at the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat, Celtic Fest Mississippi, and for Irish music schools in Boston, Baltimore, and Nashville.