About

Gypsy and Veronica

Celtic Folk is the inspiration of Gypsy and Veronica who have pulled together a group of classically-trained musicians to embark on this journey of playing together in a Celtic-style band. We have been influenced in this genre by many brilliant artists, such as Lunasa, Flook, Altan, Deiseal, Kasir, Matt Molloy, Solas, Beltaine and Beoga (just to name a few!). We don't attempt to replicate these musicians, but aspire to create our own unique style.

What sets us apart? Well, we’re definitely not a boring folk band (a negative stereotype that we’ve discovered is out there!), and have no significant preconceptions on what a Celtic band should be, so we’re paving our own way and having a good time doing it.

The music we play is based on the folk music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia (Spain) and Brittany (France), and we enjoy the artistry of shaping these traditional melodies and harmonies on tin whistle, violin, voice, guitar and double bass.

Our performances are appealing for diverse audiences; we are energetic and fun, and thoroughly enjoy expressing the music with flair, but also can stir the emotions with our artistry, finesse and sophistication.

Gypsy

Gypsy is the musical director of Celtic Folk, as well as being our amazing whistle player.

Gypsy is a tenor horn player, music tutor, and community musician currently persuing a PhD at the ANU School of Music. Although her academic research focuses on belonging in Australian brass bands, for this project, she's swapping one bit of metal out for another and playing the tin whistles. Gypsy's whistle playing started after a $2 garage sale purchase a number of years ago, and has developed into a much loved hobby- albeit with slightly better instruments! She's eager to play some fun tunes with like-minded musicians and to continue exploring the wonderful music of Celtic Folk.

Veronica

Veronica manages the band, and generally looks after all the admin, as well as playing the double bass.

She has a lot of experience as a brass musician, with a particular passion for community brass bands. She began playing the cornet at the age of nine and as an adult has continued her involvement, playing in and conducting many community brass bands across Australia. She has a PhD through Griffith University with a focus on brass bands in schools in Australia. Playing double bass is a newly acquired skill (and passion) that commenced in COVID lock-down!

Guitarists

Sam is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator. He has played and taught guitar about every day for 15 years as well as playing other instruments and directing ensembles and choirs.

Chris is a regular performer and is highly sought after for musicals and musical theatre.

Violinists

In her spare time, Shirahni also learns piano, viola, and cello. While she loves teaching, Shirahni also enjoys playing in ensembles, quartets and orchestras, and has played with ensembles from a young age.

Samara is a vibrant music educator and performer and holds a Bachelor of Music in Viola from the University of Queensland, an Associate Diploma in Music (Classical Singing) from the Australian Music Examinations Board, and is currently deep-diving into a Master of Music Studies in Vocal Pedagogy at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University (she loves learning almost as much as she loves chocolate!).

Logo

Our logo was created by Sue Wilmington. The musical element of four treble clefs represents four musicians, with the tails forming a lucky four-leaf clover. Four-leaf clovers have their roots in ancient Celtic traditions and are seen to have mystical powers that ward off evil spirits. The four-strand Celtic knot that forms a ring symbolises the four elements of earth, air, fire and water and also the interconnectedness of playing music together.

Sue Wilmington

Sue is a multi-medium artist with 30 years of experience in equestrian portraiture, predominantly in pastels and pencils. Whilst Sue also dabbles in other mediums, such as outdoor murals, textiles, ceramics and mosaics, a new passion has been emerging over the last few years in scrap metal art. Having developed the skill of welding, Sue has been exploring larger-scale works using scrap metal such as horseshoes, nuts, bolts and unwanted metal off-cuts. This has sparked a new passion for creating beauty out of unwanted scrap. More recent pieces include a life-sized baby giraffe, and large pears and orbs from horseshoes. New technology is also leading Sue into the digital art world in which the Celtic Folk logo was created.

You can view examples of Sue’s work and contact her via her website