String Sisters (or The String Sisters) are a folk supergroup made up of six of the world's leading female fiddlers.MIC Norway
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History

Formation

In January 1998 at the world-renowned

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

festival in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland,

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

fiddler

Catriona MacDonald Catriona Macdonald (born 1969 or 1970) is a fiddler, composer, researcher, and lecturer from Shetland, located some 320 km (200 miles) north of the Scottish mainland. She is considered to be among the world's leading traditional fiddle players, ...

was commissioned to assemble the world's leading female fiddlers. Macdonald brought together friends and collaborators from Ireland, United States, Norway and Sweden to perform the festival's biggest concert of that year. Catriona arranged the concert set with fellow fiddle players

Annbjørg Lien Annbjørg Lien (born 15 October 1971) is a Norway, Norwegian musician, playing the hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle), violin, and nyckelharpa. Career She first came to national prominence in 1986. Shortly afterwards got a recording deal with the H ...

, Liz Knowles,

Liz Carroll Liz Carroll (born September 19, 1956) is an American fiddler and composer. She is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship Award. Carroll and collaborator Irish guitarist John Doyle were nominated for a Gr ...

Emma Härdelin Emma Härdelin (born 26 September 1975) is a Swedish musician. She is a violinist and lead singer in folk-rock band Garmarna,Dupont, Linn.Tystnaden gav Garmarna ett nytt sound (in Swedish), Helsingborgs Dagblad, November 27, 2017. which she join ...

and

Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (; born 26 July 1959) is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish folk music band Altan, which she co-founded with her husband Frankie Kennedy in 1987. Ní Mhaonaigh is recognised as a leading exponent in ...

, who also provides vocals for the group.Biografi
/ref>String Sisters
at ''

Compass Records Compass Records is an American independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet and Xenophil ...

''EU Irish
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Career

It was not until 2005 that the name String Sisters was penned. Until then, the group members could not be together at once due to their solo careers, Mairéad's work with

Altan Altan may refer to: * Altan (name) * Altan (company), a software company. * Altan (band), a folk music group from Donegal * ''Altan'' (album), a 1987 album by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy * Altan Jalab, a village in Afghanistan * A ...

and Liz Carroll's work with John Doyle. Thus, only almost seven years after their début concert, the group commenced a Norwegian tour, recording their début album and DVD simply entitled ''Live''. In 2009, String Sisters were working on a new album, yet to be released. The band toured throughout 2009 and in 2010. String Sisters performed on 25 August 2016 at the

Tønder Festival Tønder Festival is an annual folk music festival in Tønder, Denmark. It is held on the last weekend of August. It was founded in 1974. The first festival took place in 1975. The festival is one of the most prominent festivals for traditional an ...

Tønder Tønder (; ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,477 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might have been in th ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, their first show as a band since 2010. In 2018 was released ''Between Wind and Water'', the band's second album and debut studio album.

Band members

"''Sisters''"

— Irish fiddle, vocals (Ireland) *

— Hardanger Fiddle (Norway) * Liz Knowles — fiddle (USA) *

— fiddle (Shetland, Scotland) *

— fiddle (USA) *

— Fiddle, vocals (Sweden)

"''Misters''"

* David Milligan — piano (Scotland) * Tore Bruvoll — guitar (Norway) * Conrad Molleson — bass (Scotland) *

James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...

— drums (Scotland)

Discography

Albums

*2007 — ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'' *2018 — ''Between Wind and Water'' (debut studio album)

DVDs

*2007 — ''

References

External links

Official Facebook pageOfficial websiteOfficial website
(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:String Sisters Folk music supergroups