The blue electric fiddle she tucks under her chin is the first thing you notice about Eileen Ivers. Then she begins to play and you know why she is such a revered performer. Ivers is the daughter of Irish immigrants and grew up in the Bronx, NY, one of New York City’s most culturally diverse boroughs. Surrounded by traditional Irish music, she became a nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion and won her tenth All-Ireland championship for tenor banjo.

After graduating magna cum laude in Mathematics from Iona College, Ivers began to explore the various musical sounds she heard growing up in multicultural New York, finding connections between different traditional music styles. In 1999, she began a touring production, which eventually became Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul. Ivers also created the multimedia show Beyond the Bog Road, which uses music, story, dance and film to tell the story of the Irish immigrant in America. She has also shared the stage with classical violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and jazz phenomenon Regina Carter in the show Fiddlers Three.

In addition to her recordings and live performances, Ivers has branched out into films, arranging and performing “Lament for Staker Wallace” for The Gangs of New York. Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul is currently touring throughout the United States.