Latest News from Siobhan - Irish Music Awards winner!

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SATAC released the first round university offers on January 13th. They are first announced online after 6pm that evening, then appear in the newspapers the following morning. Of course, so many students try to log o on to the SATAC server at 6pm, the servers can't cope with the demand! It took Siobhan about 1½ hours before she was able to get to her offer - but it was worth it! She was offered her first choice of "Bachelor of Music Education" at Adelaide University's Elder Conservatorium. She will specialise in classical voice. It's a 4 year course - so wish her luck!!

We have to thank everyone who voted for Siobhan in the Irish Music Awards. Although she was way ahead in the "Top Harpist" section, she was a little behind in the "Best New Irish Artist" section. The voting was quite complicated, so we weren't sure which way it would go!

The results were announced at the Irish Music Awards evening on Wednesday 26 January (US CST), and was streamed live on their website. I tuned in whilst at work (it was about noon in Australia). Siobhan was at home and had decided not to watch it herself. When it got to the "Best New Irish Artist" I was shaking like a leaf! As he announced the winner, the first word he said was "Australia" ...and I knew she had got it! He said it was "Foundation Day" (although we now call it "Australia Day"), and that one of "Australia's native daughters" (not quite right as she was born in Wales) had won the award! I immediately phoned Siobhan and Arthur to tell them, and they were also delighted with the news! A little later, the announcement for the winner of the "Top Harpist" was made, and again he made reference to Australia and Foundation Day, and hinted this was the day all the "prisoners were set free"!

So Siobhan is the proud winner of two Irish Music Awards. The trophies will be sent, I presume, though I'm not sure if they will come directly to Siobhan or will go to an Irish organisation here to be officially presented to her.

The day after Siobhan learnt of her university offer, we set off to Tasmania for the Cygnet Folk Festival. We flew with Virgin Blue, who have been very good when handling the harp (which we include in our baggage allowance). Unfortunately, they no longer have direct flights from Adelaide to Hobart, so we had to transfer at Melbourne. Surprisingly, the flights went very smoothly. Our luggage and the harp all arrived with us, and the Artist Transfer volunteer was there to meet us... But that turned out to be a problem... Although we had told them there would be 3 of us, 2 pieces of luggage and a harp (with its dimensions), there had been an administrative error and a guy with a sports wagon turned up with instructions to pick up one person with a harp! The airport is about 1½ hours away from Cygnet and there was no other vehicle available to pick us up. We could have waited except Siobhan's first gig was at 8pm that evening, and it was almost 6pm by then! We decided that Arthur should go with the harp in the wagon, and Siobhan and I caught a taxi there.

We arrived in Cygnet and, after unloading and reloading the gear at the wrong venue, we eventually arrived at St Mark's with just enough time to unpack and tune up the harp, and for Siobhan to quickly register as a performer, sort out her music and get changed for her performance! With all that stress, I was amazed she put on such a great show! I think she was working on auto-pilot!!

Siobhan's second performance was in the Drill Hall on Saturday evening. This turned out to be her best performance of the weekend and a really appreciative audience. Her performances were meant to be 45 minutes, but this one had gone for an hour! (The MC was so into her performance he forgot to stop her). The audience were still shouting for "more"! The MC said it was "one of the most beautiful sets he had heard in many, many years", and called it a "sublime performance". Unfortunately, the person selling the CDs that evening was sitting in a dimly lit corner (which took us a little while to find) and Siobhan didn't sell many CDs at that venue (although some people did go to the shop afterwards to purchase CDs).

Siobhan was originally booked for one performance on Sunday - 2pm at the Supper Room. However, the lovely Ian Paulin had organised a Benefit concert for the Queensland Floods in the park on Sunday morning, and Siobhan went there to sing 2 songs. This turned out to be fortuitous for Siobhan, because a lady from a local gallery had been passing through and heard her singing. She approached Siobhan afterwards and asked if she would mind selling her CDs in her gallery (Cobweb Designs) after the festival was over. So if you are in Cygnet, that is where you can pick up copies of Siobhan's CDs! Siobhan had another fantastic performance at the Supper Room, upstairs in the Town Hall, and felt relieved her performances were over and had all gone well! But that was not the case! Steve Gadd (the Festival organiser) was at that performance and caught up with Siobhan afterwards to ask her to perform at the Volunteers' Cabaret that evening at 10pm. This concert is for the many volunteers who don't get a chance to see much of the festival because they are working hard keeping things running smoothly. So they are treated with the "highlights of the weekend". How could Siobhan say no to that? We met some great performers that evening, so it was also a treat for us. Siobhan sang 3 songs there and received fantastic cheers and applause! She left there on a real high!

We had a busy but fantastic weekend in Cygnet. We were billeted by a lovely family - Paul, Kaye and Bella. Bella and her friend (who were both 12 or 13) had come along to see Siobhan on the Saturday evening and were blown away by her talent! The next day they asked for her autograph and asked questions about performing and recording CDs etc. So lovely to see other young people appreciate good music!

After the Ovation TV Channel Shop had started to follow Siobhan on Twitter, we got into discussions with them and they asked us to send copies of Siobhan's albums to them. They were really impressed with the albums and after checking out her Youtube page, asked us to send a copy of her "Dark Iniseoghain at the Adelaide Festival Theatre" video. They explained they wanted to make an interstitial (short promotion to be broadcast between 2 scheduled programs). They would show the video and advertise her "Celestial Echoes" CD which would be available for sale in the Ovation online shop.

They were planning to start broadcasting the video this week, and her "Celestial Echoes" CD is now advertised on their website. At the moment, there is a link to it on the home page. It can also be found on the "Classical Crossover" page and the "Folk" page. Just look at the other artists on the pages!

By sheer coincidence, a couple of weeks later a London based cable/satellite TV Music Channel contacted us to ask if Siobhan had any videos of her performances they could broadcast on their channel (which airs worldwide). They told us they found Siobhan when searching through LastFm and the Classical Crossover site and were really impressed with her voice and music. They requested the same "Dark Iniseoghain" video, but also want us to send any future HD videos she has recorded. So it looks like that might be our next project! We're not sure when Siobhan's video will be broadcast. She is on the list, but they only add three new videos per month.

Siobhan is delighted to be one of 16 artists invited to be part of the Classical Crossover Compilation CD. The CD has been produced by Classical-Crossover.co.uk to "help raise funds for the community and the many exceptional artists that make up the Classical Crossover genre".

There will be a limited number of these CDs available, but pre-orders are now available from the ClassCross Compilation CD website. Details of performers and tracks are also on the website. Please support this fund raiser if you can.

I'm sure everyone will have heard about the tragic loss of life, homes, businesses and property in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The damage these floods have caused will take years to repair and rebuild. Queensland was hit the hardest, with an area the size of France and Germany combined under water.

We are all trying to do our bit to help in whatever way we can. Siobhan performed at a Floods Benefit concert during the Cygnet Folk Festival, and will be performing at the Benefit Concert for Flood Victims - 2pm on February 27th at Christ Church, North Adelaide:

Tickets: $10, Concession: $5. All proceeds will directly assist victims of the recent floods.
If you're in Adelaide, please come and support this worthy cause.

* News from the Woodford Folk Festival site in Queensland
We heard the Woodford Folk Festival site has been affected by the floods. The festival organiser said:

The town of Caboolture, where we stayed whilst at the festival, was cut off completely - the Motel we stayed at most likely flooded. This happened about a week after we left there. We are thankful we weren't there when the flash floods occurred, but we feel deeply for everyone affected by these devastating events.

Those of you who know Siobhan well, will know she has a passion for musical instruments. Folk festivals are a great place to see, hear and purchase many different instruments. In the past she has brought home: Irish whistles, Japanese flute, harmonica, mandolin...

While at Woodford she fell in love with the accordion... So she brought back a mini piano accordion! She enjoyed learning it so much that she decided to buy a larger one. With enough practice she may be able to add some songs with accordion to her performances!

27 February, 2pm- Benefit Concert for Flood Victims. Christ Church, Jeffcott Street North Adelaide.
Tickets: $10, Concession: $5. All proceeds will directly assist victims of the recent floods.

26 April - Performing at the "Lest We Forget" Anzac Day Concert, Adelaide. Further details closer to the date.

15 May, 2pm - Performing at the "Tribute to Wales" concert at St Mary's Church, Wallaroo. This concert is part of the "Kernewek Lowender" Festival on South Australia's Copper Coast.

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Siobhan's albums "Purely Celtic" and "Celestial Echoes" can be ordered from her website. "Celestial Echoes" is also available to download at iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby.

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