Chrissy Crowley

Chrissy Crowley is the latest young celtic musician to emerge from Cape Breton, Canada and she is captivating audiences with a talent that belies her youth. Chrissy is a traditional fiddler and recording artist who in 2007 released her debut album. She lives in the beautiful Margaree area of Nova Scotia, Canada, a place known for it's cherished musical culture. The music of the ceilidh resonates in the majestic mountains and peaceful valleys incorporating not only the tunes of the Scottish Gaels but also those of the area's Irish and French-Acadians. Chrissy has been inspired by the traditions of artists who have gone before. She has embraced the music of her celtic roots and made it her own.

Chrissy's passion for the music of her Gaelic ancestors is borne of destiny. She is the granddaughter of fiddlers Bill Crowley and Archie Neil Chisholm and her large extended family has always greatly valued the traditions of their Scottish forebears and their Newfoundland/Irish ancestors. It was Chrissy who asked her mother to take her grandfather Bill's violin out of storage. She had decided, with a resolve uncommon for one so young, to become a fiddler and listened intently to her family's home recordings of the vibrant sessions in which legendary musicians participated, including her great uncle Angus Chisholm and cousins Cameron Chisholm and Margaret (Chisholm) MacDonald. She remains a largely self-taught artist, absorbing the rich musical culture of the Margaree in which she lives by listening to the local players and learning by observation. Chrissy has on occasion been in a classroom environment, enrolling in courses at the Celtic College in Goderich, Cape Breton's Ceilidh Trail School of Music and the Gaelic College of Arts and Crafts. These fine institutions extended the gifted player scholarship opportunities and she took advanced fiddle instruction from master artists of Cape Breton, Ireland, Scotland and North America.

Chrissy's determination and natural ability have allowed her to become an exceptional fiddler in an astonishingly short period of time and she remains in demand at the various traditional music venues throughout Nova Scotia. She has also been on stage at festivals coast-to-coast across North America from Vancouver's Celtic Festival in the west to festivals throughout the eastern seaboard. She played a command performance in Scotland for the Chisholm Clan Chief at the Clan's 2006 Gathering and for the Crowley Clan Taoiseach at the Crowley Clan's 2007 Gathering in Ireland. She performed in Sosua, Dominican Republic for the "Shane MacDougall Caribbean Ceilidh" celebrating Tartan Day 2007. Her music has been heard recorded and live on regional radio and she has perfomed live on CBC and Ireland broadcast radio. Chrissy has been featured on television on the CBC special "A Day In the Life of Canada" and the program "Festival Bound" on the Equator HD channel. In 2007 she was given the East Coast Music Association's nod of approval when she was selected as a Roots Room Showcase performer and won a Sonicbids Artist Spotlight coinciding with the showcase. The Association invited her back to showcase as an ECMA "Rising Star" at the 2008 conference and Chrissy got national industry recognition at the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards with a nomination in the "Young Performer of the Year" category. That year she also was nominated in the "Best out-of-province" category at the Ontario Independent Music Awards.

Paralleling the efforts of her late grandfather Archie Neil, a writer and broadcaster revered throughout the island as a life long proponent of the Cape Breton musical culture, Chrissy too has involved herself with the promotion of the area's traditions as a member of the Cape Breton Highlands Celtic Club. She was selected to attend the Encounters with Canada Journalism and Communications program in Ottawa and has written articles about her celtic heritage and musical roots. Her work has been published in Celtic Heritage Magazine and Fiddler Magazine. Chrissy's ongoing endeavors celebrating the music and culture of Cape Breton was acknowledged by the organization "Youth in Motion" in 2008 who presented Chrissy with a Canadian "Top 20 under 20" award. Youth in Motion created the Top 20 Under 20(tm) to celebrate and honour Canadians who have demonstrated a significant level innovation, leadership and achievement but have not yet reached the age of 20.

Chrissy Crowley est une nouvelle musicienne sur la scène celtique du Cap Breton, Canada qui impressionne tout avec son talent incroyable. Elle joue le violon celtique traditionel et a récemment enregistré son premier album. Chrissy, née en 1990, habite à Margaree, Nouvelle Écosse, Canada. La musique celtique joue un rôle essentiel dans la culture de cette région. La musique celtique sortant des ceilidhs est une combinaison unique de sons écossais, irelandais et acadiens. Christine Crowley représente une nouvelle génération de violonistes celtiques, influencée par les traditions des joueurs des générations précédentes