SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 17, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — GRAMMY-nominated global music sensation Celtic Woman will visit the Eccles Theater next week as part of the group’s 20th Anniversary Tour.
The tour began in February this year and has seen the group perform in dozens of locations across the U.S. and Canada, and will conclude on May 26 in Denver. The group will take the stage at the Eccles in downtown Salt Lake City on Thursday, May 23, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and more information are available here.
In the two decades since its debut, Celtic Woman has emerged as both a formidable musical presence and a cultural phenomenon. The group’s albums and DVD releases have been consistent multi-platinum best-sellers and its concert tours continue to touch the hearts of a devoted audience that spans the globe. Both an accomplished recording ensemble and a world-class performing collective, Celtic Woman introduces some of Ireland’s most talented singers and musicians to the world stage.
The group’s repertoire encompasses classics, contemporary songs, classical favorites and stirring originals. In concert, they are accompanied by an ensemble that includes Irish dancers, bagpipers and a full band playing an array of traditional Celtic instruments, including bodhrán, tin whistle, bouzouki and Uilleann pipes.
The lineup of performers has evolved in the years since the group’s inception; for this anniversary tour, returning to the group is soprano Mairéad Carlin, a former member. Joining her is fellow soprano Muirgen O’Mahony, as well as fiddle and Irish harp maestro Tara McNeill and the newest member of the group, the multi-talented Emma Warren, who has toured with Riverdance, “Heartbeat of Home” and most recently performed in “Les Misérables” in London.
Celtic Woman has sold over 10 million CDs and DVDs and amassed more than 3 billion streams, making it the only all-female act to achieve multi-platinum success in the classical crossover and world music genres during the past decade. Named Billboard’s No. 1 World Music Artist of the Year six times, 12 of its studio CDs have debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s World Album chart. The group’s 2016 album release, “Destiny” was nominated for a GRAMMY award in the category of Best World Music Album, marking the group’s first-ever nomination.
Gephardt Daily chatted with soprano Muirgen O’Mahony, who joined the group in 2021, over the phone from the group’s tour stop in Seattle Wednesday. She said the group was enjoying Seattle because the weather is similar to the Emerald Isle; they had just come from California where it was much warmer.
Originally from County Cork, O’Mahony, a fluent Irish speaker, has been performing as an actor, singer and instrumentalist for almost 10 years. She studied as a classical soprano at the Cork School of Music before furthering her training in musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has performed on several occasions as a soloist with the renowned RTÉ Concert Orchestra at the National Concert Hall, most notably in their New Year’s Eve Gala Concert in 2018.
O’Mahony has said that she has admired Celtic Woman since she was in her teens. We asked her what it was like to actually join the group.
“So we’d had the pandemic, and like many other performers, I was very unsure as to what the future held, but it really was a whirlwind,” she said. “Like many other young females who are interested in singing and performing in Ireland, I genuinely grew up watching and adoring Celtic Woman and so it just didn’t seem real when this opportunity came about. It was almost too good to be true. And genuinely since then it has been an absolute whirlwind. One of the best experiences, I think, of my life and yeah, it just continues to be such a pleasure to be a part of.”
I mention to her that from her Instagram, it seems as if all of the members of the group get on famously. There are pictures of all four out and about in places ranging from Graceland and Beale Street in Memphis to Times Square in New York City, and even seeing The Rolling Stones in Houston.
“A lot of people say, you know, how is it traveling with a bus full of women and honest to God, we’ve just become like a family and there’s a support network here that this tour wouldn’t be possible without that kind of support network that we have,” she said. “It’s kind of a once in a lifetime thing and it really is something beautiful.”
We asked O’Mahony about the 20th Anniversary Tour and what audiences can expect from it.
“It has been absolutely fantastic so far,” she said. “We obviously filmed the 20-year Anniversary Special [on PBS] in the summertime and the response to that has been so wonderful, but there’s nothing quite like live theater I must say, and being able to see people’s reaction kind of in real time has just been wonderful. It really is a show that encapsulates the journey that Celtic Woman has been on over the last 20 years. There’s songs that are definitely fan favorites from over the years but we have some brand new compositions and workings of fan favorites as well and it really just feels like it paints a landscape of the journey that Celtic Woman has been on, and it’s very, very surreal to say that I am a part of that of that legacy. So it’s been wonderful.
“And in the show, I don’t know if this is a spoiler but I sing a song called ‘Caledonia’ which I have grown up genuinely watching Lisa Kelly who obviously was an original member, and I adored [former member] Susan McFadden’s version of it, and it’s actually one that I’m now singing in the show so it really feels kind of like a passing on of the baton so it’s incredible to be a part of, really it is.”
Ahead of this tour, PBS aired Celtic Woman’s “20th Anniversary Special” in more than 60 markets beginning on Thanksgiving. Filmed in The Helix Theatre in Dublin, the special takes fans on a journey back to where it all began, in the very same theater. Following the PBS broadcast, Celtic Woman’s 20th Anniversary album and DVD was released in January and features brand-new compositions and arrangements plus some fan favorites. The group also released a new single, with accompanying video, called “I Know My Love.”
O’Mahony told us more about these projects.
“We have a fantastic new musical director, Brian Byrne, we started working with him in the summer of last year,” O’Mahony said. “He has just been absolutely incredible. Our new single ‘I Know my Love’ is such a fun number, it’s upbeat, there’s dancing, there’s singing, and it’s one that audiences kind of love each night; we can kind of see a great reaction from people so it really is wonderful. The album, as I say, it’s a fantastic amalgamation of old and new; there are some reworkings of fan favorites and then other new ones. And yeah, it’s an amazing year to be a part of it really, each night we’re onstage is like a celebration, but the reaction to the 20th Anniversary album has been fantastic, especially for the fans that have been around since the inception of us. It’s just so lovely to kind of hear from them and get a reaction from people who’ve been there since the very beginning.”
O’Mahony explained that the PBS concert features a lineup of eight present and former Celtic Woman, backed by a choir, orchestra, dancers and a full band.
“We filmed that in Dublin, in The Helix, where the very first Celtic Woman special was actually filmed,” she said. “There were four of the original members with us as well; Chloë Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Máiréad Nesbitt, and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and they joined us on stage with the current lineup of women so it really was just something magical to be a part of and I never thought that I would be stood side by side with the likes of these women. So it was just really special. People can feel that from the screen as well; it’s something that fans have been waiting for for a while, so it was really wonderful.”
We asked O’Mahony if there are any foods from Ireland that she loves to have on tour with her.
“So we always come armed with bags of tea bags. It’s cliche, but we have to have those,” she said. “I personally am a peanut butter fanatic so I often bring a tub of this particular peanut butter that I love, the girls think I’m absolutely crazy because it adds about 2 kg (4 pounds) to my case, but it’s so worth it. Chocolate, definitely, we’ve had some partners and all that and husbands come out to join us, they’ve stocked us up with Dairy Milk chocolate, and Custard Cream biscuits, so just a few home comforts.”
O’Mahony also told us what some of the highlights of the tour have been so far and what cities or landmarks she’s particularly enjoyed visiting.
“Honestly, some of the theaters we’ve visited really are breathtaking. I always say the Fox in Atlanta is one that kind of blows me away every time,” she said. “Last night actually in Portland [the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall] was one of the most stunning theaters I’ve ever seen, and actually it’s funny, we revisit theaters that we have been to before but when you’re stood up on stage you’re really hit with the magnitude of it again, you kind of forget how amazing it is, so that’s been fantastic. We’ve also had an amazing opportunity to be in different types of cities and a few corners of the States that I never, ever thought that I’d be able to see in my life.
“Getting to see Nashville was really fun, being surrounded by that music and that history. Memphis is always an incredible place, we actually went to Graceland this time around; it was phenomenal. We really try to make the most of the time that we have; obviously we’re quite limited because we need to get into soundcheck and into hair and makeup each day but we try our best to kind of get up as early as possible and make the most of each city. Honestly it’s hard to believe that I get to call this a job, yes it is tiring in other aspects like the travel, but other aspects like the show don’t seem like work; honestly we have so much fun on stage, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, I know that’s a cliche, but once you get to that theater, that’s our playtime.”
I mention to her that their onstage costumes are beautiful.
“It’s every little girl’s dream, to be dressed up in these wonderful dresses, and get your hair and makeup done, and as I say, the support system we have and the people we share the stage with and the people who are backstage and everything are just one of a kind so it just makes everything so much more enjoyable,” she said.
Finally, I asked O’Mahony what the rest of the year is looking like for her.
“We head back to Ireland in less than two weeks now, it’s hard to believe I’m saying that given it seems like yesterday we were saying we had nearly four months out here,” she said. “We have a little bit of a break in the summertime just to kind of see family and touch back to solid ground again and then towards the end of the year we’re headed back to the States for our Symphony Tour which is just one of the most incredible experiences, getting to perform with symphony orchestras around the U.S., I believe we’ll be back in Salt Lake again, that actually is one of my favorites, so I’m so looking forward to it this time around.”
For more information about Celtic Woman click here and for tickets to the Salt Lake City show, click here.
