Test Festival

Ado came to Irish traditional music as a teen, captured by a thriving Irish music scene in Canberra in the mid-1990s. From the early days Ado’s style was shaped by local players, as the pull of the session drew him ever deeper into the tunes of Clare and Donegal. As a performer Ado is best known as a member of seminal Aus-Irish trad band Trouble in the Kitchen and trio The Freewheeler. As a teacher, he has been sought-after for workshops at festivals and camps far and wide, including the National Folk Festival’s Easter School and New Zealand’s Ceol Aneas.

Dougal started out learning the highland pipes at a young age and subsequently became fascinated with Irish traditional music. The transition was cemented by a trip to Ireland in the early 1980s and he has been playing the flute ever since. In 2015 he had the pleasure of recording with long term musical friends Ado Barker and Ben Stephenson which resulted in the release of the CD “ The Freewheeler”. The trio were invited to play at the Strokestown Festival in Ireland in 2016. In addition he has taught the flute at various festivals including the Ceol Aneas festival in New Zealand.

Ryan’s creative practice focuses on performing and creating improvisatory & exploratory music, ancient music, traditional music from Eastern Europe, North America, Ireland & Japan, and much more. Regularly performing with a broad variety of arts companies, including a recorder & uilleann pipes duo, Ryan especially loves skill-sharing collaborations with other artists and community musicians. At Boxwood 2022 Ryan will be leading the classes for pipes and whistle participants.

Australia’s legendary harper Andy Rigby started playing Celtic music in 1981 before discovering the harp styles of Paraguay and Ecuador a few years later. Since 1990 he’s been a full-time musician and instrument maker specialising in medieval Gaelic brass-strung harps, Spanish Baroque chromatic harps and other Celtic and Latin harps.

Claire is an award-winning musician with a passion for traditional Irish, Scottish, jazz, baroque and classical music, often intertwining these styles in her music making. A sought-after choral director and educator, her specialty is bringing out the best in singers by creating an environment that is inviting and fun, while extending singers’ vocal ability and musicianship. She is a singer and harpist, and has directed, performed and recorded with a number of Australian ensembles.