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 boring! We're a little bit of everything - we're a folk band, an Irish band, a Scottish band, a Welsh band, a Klezmer band and whatever we feel like being band! You'll even hear us sneaking in a few pop tunes. We have no significant preconceptions on what a folk band should be, so we’re paving our own way and having a good time doing it.

The music we play is based on folk music from all around the world, including Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Galicia (Spain), Brittany (France), Russia, Turkey, Romania and Central and Eastern Europe (including Klezmer). We enjoy the artistry of shaping these traditional melodies and harmonies on tin whistle, violin, guitar, double bass and percussion.

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!

Guitar

Jeremy is something of the black sheep of the group, being the only member not classically trained on guitar, however he did receive classical flute training in his younger years before teaching himself guitar! Jeremy's performance journey began at the age of 12, playing with his family's bush band, and he has been entertaining audiences in one form or another ever since. Jeremy is a seasoned all-round performer and has enjoyed a diverse and ongoing career as a vocalist, rhythm guitarist, actor, and entertainer, performing as a solo artist, in duos and bands.

Percussion

Tim is a drummer and concert percussionist with 15+ years’ experience, from four-piece rock bands to orchestras and everything in between. He is currently principal percussionist with Canberra Brass and Canberra City Band, and a regular player across many of Canberra’s community brass bands, concert bands, orchestras, musical theatre pits, and other ensembles.

Violin

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.

Charlotte's main instrument is 'cello, and she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician within Australia and abroad. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Canberra Concerto Orchestra, as well as a devoted teacher.

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