Alex Reidinger: Fiddle, Harp, Concertina, and Harp accompaniment - With Vincent Fogarty: Bouzouki
Influences
Grainne Hambly, Brian Conway, Oisin Mac Diarmada, Rose Flanagan, Tim Collins, Mícheál O Raghallaigh, Edel Fox, Michelle Mulcahy, Ernestine Healy, Patrick Orceau, Gráinne Hambly, Michael Rooney, Billy Jackson, Jeff Thomas, Damien Stenson, and Aisha Moughrabi (my first fiddle teacher!).
“Alex is one of my favorite young musicians and is, without a doubt, one of the finest musicians of her generation. In her talented hands, the music is safeguarded and will be nurtured for the foreseeable future.”
-Brian Conway ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alex Reidinger began the fiddle at an early age and later took up the harp and concertina. Drawing on the influences of Michael Coleman and Andy McGann, Alex plays in the traditional Sligo fiddling style, which she learned from Brian Conway and Rose Flanagan of New York. Grainne Hambly of Co. Mayo taught Alex the harp and concertina and her influence can be heard across all instruments. Alex is continuing the new movement to bring the harp out of the parlor rooms and into the sessions playing driving jigs and reels alongside the fiddles, accordions, and banjos.
Alex has competed successfully, collecting medals in many competitions throughout the eastern U.S. and holds an All-Ireland title on the harp.
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“This CD is fantastic. What I like is that Alex’s music is of a consistent high standard right across all instruments. I admire her for what she has done in light of the fact that she doesn’t have access to the multitude of musicians that we have here (in Ireland). She obviously listens well and assimilates what she hears.”
-Tim Collins
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“Spend a passing moment on Youtube, Myspace, Facebook, or I-tunes and you can be influenced by the playing of virtually anyone in the world. I really admire Alex in that despite the overwhelming array of choices and influences brought upon today’s young budding musicians by such marvelous technology, she has managed to find very solid, deep-rooted traditional influences upon which to base her playing. Just to hear her play, one would not expect Alex to be but a teenager. Add to that her gift as an accompanist and one gets an entirely new perspective. You meet someone who has reached the highest standard in several areas of Irish music already. I have spent the past ten years in the US and I rarely enjoy our music more than when I hear it played well by young Americans who have barely visited Ireland. Even at that, there are still some surprises. Alex Reidinger is certainly one who surprised me. She is a multi-instrumentalist in the true sense, with a keen sense of harmony and rhythm. Well capable of displaying all her talents on this recording, Alex is someone from whom we’ll hear much more in years to come. There is a serene gentility throughout this entire album, yet an accomplished assertiveness keeps it all together. An astute listener, her music is full of style, life, expectation and surprise. Not alone is she a model musician for any young people interested in Irish Traditional music, but a model of humility in how she handles her accomplishments. She appreciates her gifts and is more than willing to share them with other musicians. That, I think, is why I admire her most.”
-John Daly
Director, Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago
January 2008
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 162 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): TEES TO TYNE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS - SUMMER 2001
Where traditions are not so rare; Sea, country and works scent the air; A multitude of monuments, Planted tubs and patterned pavements.
The longish pedestrian malls; The remnants of defensive walls; Historic buildings are a gauge Of the respect for heritage.
Wheat, rape and pines in the fields; Estuaries guarded by shields; Long sandy beaches and wide scenes; Romantic-ruin go-betweens.
Rivers in parts licked by trees, Or fringed by boat clubs, wharfs, gantries, And crossed by practical delights - Varied spans, forming pleasing sights.
Fine churches headed at Durham; Football kits ad infinitum; Kept castles - one for study; Masonry behind masonry.
And, with moulding-works out that way, It’s somewhere for a longer stay..?
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 2 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): WALKABOUT WITH MY PEN
Once drove an old sedan, up north, From a place in Sydney to Cairns; Then to Kuranda I went forth, By train, to look without set plans.
I browsed through the trendy market, With fresh fruits of tropical kind; Walked to the creek through lush thicket - Nature’s hand giving peace of mind.
I dined in a scenic cafe; Then, outside, as I wrote for yen, Some passing Kooris called-out: “Hey, You go walkabout with your pen.”
Request or question, I don’t know - Assured voices, elderly men. That’s now several years ago, And I’ve seen the world - with my pen.
Hey Alex, glad you accepted my request. Thanx. I really like your music. Sounds so sweet to my ears... Hope you'll like my modest tunes too. Take care Cheers from France Steph
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Olá Alex, muito obrigado por me deixar fazer parte de sua rede de amigos. Acredito que você toca vários instrumentos, e muito bem, suas músicas estão lindas. Gostei muito de sua página, um grande beijo, até breve!
Bonjour je vous invite à passer dans la nouvelle année en musique. Extrait du concert en première partie de Tri Yann à Auxerrexpo. Merci et à bientôt. Christo pour Maltavern .. Maltavern Gavotten ar koadour
Hi Alex! Just thinking about you and hope college is going great. I have been practicing my cello!!!!! For some reason I remembered that Boyne Hunt tune from yrs ago the other day - you used to love that one and you played it soooo fast!!!!! Made me smile to remember...
Hey Alex, Thanks for the kind words. We are lucky that we shave both put out albums that people have had a great response to. Lets get together in T-Town!!!!
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