Sephira
Encyclopedia
Sephira is an Irish
band comprising sisters Joyce and Ruth O'Leary, who both play the violin and provide vocals. They released their debut album Believe in 2006. The combination of the sisters' vocals and violins is the essence of the Sephira sound, which is largely classical/crossover with traditional Irish influences.
, County Monaghan
, Ireland
. Both learned music from an early age: Joyce was two and a half and Ruth was six when they first started learning violin. Joyce performed in the National Concert Hall, Dublin aged just three, playing a Bach
minuet
, and was named Ireland’s Most Promising Violinist when she was nine.
Ruth studied music performance at London's Guildhall School of Music to study for a BA in Music Performance. She continued her studies in Dublin, where she received her first class honours B.A. with a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at the National Concert Hall,Dublin. During her years of study Ruth performed with world-class acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriela
and featured on their 'Live in Manchester and Dublin' album.
) and appeared as special guests for artists at a number of Ireland’s major concert venues, including the Olympia Theatre
in Dublin, the INEC in Killarney, the Cork Opera House
and the Millennium Forum
in Derry.
In January 2007 they supported Clannad at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall
as part of the Celtic Connections
festival televised by the BBC
. In March 2007 they performed on Lithuanian TV as part of the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations in Vilnius
, and in April they appeared on (RTE2 with Brian McFadden
. In December of that year they joined Kanye West
for concerts in Dublin's Phoenix Park
and The Odyssey in Belfast, and then flew to Nigeria to perform with West at two large-scale stadium concerts.
In March of this year Sephira appeared as special guests for Clannad on their extensive UK Revival Tour performing in prestigious venues throughout the UK including The Sage in Gateshead, The London Palladium
and The Brighton Dome
. In May '08 Sephira performed at a private function for Larry Hagman, the actor better known as J.R Ewing from the hit TV series Dallas. Later that year, the girls flew to LA to perform at the Hagman's Hollywood home. Other celebrities with whom they have appeared on TV are Michael Bublé
, Westlife
, Kanye West
, Alison Moyet
, Tom Baxter
, Katherine Jenkins
, Brian Kennedy
, Gilbert O'Sullivan
, Andrea Corr
and Paul Harrington.
Since fall 2008, the O'Leary sisters have been touring USA and Canada with the show Celtic Thunder
. 2010 has brought Sephira to New York City where they now reside. They have been working with producer Dave Williams - Deviations Project
throughout the past few years working on and recording new material. A new album is in the works and scheduled for release in 2011.
' by David Gates
. The album was recorded in The Cauldron Studios, Dublin, and was produced by producer and instrumentalist Bill Shanley. Other musicians featured on the album include Ruby Ashley, William Butt, Noel Eccles, Karen Hamill and former band member Colm Henry.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
band comprising sisters Joyce and Ruth O'Leary, who both play the violin and provide vocals. They released their debut album Believe in 2006. The combination of the sisters' vocals and violins is the essence of the Sephira sound, which is largely classical/crossover with traditional Irish influences.
Background
The O'Leary sisters are from CarrickmacrossCarrickmacross
Carrickmacross or Carrickmacros is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town and environs had a population of 4,387 according to the 2006 census, making it the second largest town in the county. The town won the prestigious European Entente Florale Silver Medal Award. It is a market town which...
, County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Both learned music from an early age: Joyce was two and a half and Ruth was six when they first started learning violin. Joyce performed in the National Concert Hall, Dublin aged just three, playing a Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
, and was named Ireland’s Most Promising Violinist when she was nine.
Ruth studied music performance at London's Guildhall School of Music to study for a BA in Music Performance. She continued her studies in Dublin, where she received her first class honours B.A. with a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at the National Concert Hall,Dublin. During her years of study Ruth performed with world-class acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela , also known as "El Rodri y La Gabi", are a Mexican musical duo who specialize in playing fast, rhythmic acoustic guitars...
and featured on their 'Live in Manchester and Dublin' album.
2006-2009
The band's first album Believe was released in 2006. Since then Sephira have completed two successful Irish tours, performed live on the Irish television station (TG4TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
) and appeared as special guests for artists at a number of Ireland’s major concert venues, including the Olympia Theatre
Olympia Theatre, Dublin
The Olympia Theatre is a concert hall/theatre venue in Dublin, Ireland, located in Dame Street.-History:Built in 1879, it was originally called the "Star of Erin Music Hall". Two years later in 1881, it was renamed "Dan Lowrey's Music Hall" and was renamed again in 1889 to "Dan Lowrey's Palace of...
in Dublin, the INEC in Killarney, the Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. It was originally built in 1855, although its existence has not been continuous; having survived the burning of much of Cork by British forces in reprisal for an ambush of a military convoy in 1920 by Irish rebels,...
and the Millennium Forum
Millennium Forum
The Millennium Forum is a theatre and conference centre in Newmarket Street, Derry, Northern Ireland.It was the first purpose built theatre in Derry and opened in 2001. It has a seating capacity of 1000 and the largest theatre stage in Ireland. It hosts entertainment of all kinds and can also be...
in Derry.
In January 2007 they supported Clannad at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is an arts venue, in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow’s City Halls and Old Fruitmarket venue...
as part of the Celtic Connections
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 traditional Scottish music and also features international...
festival televised by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. In March 2007 they performed on Lithuanian TV as part of the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, and in April they appeared on (RTE2 with Brian McFadden
Brian McFadden
Brian Nicholas McFadden , is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of the Irish boyband Westlife...
. In December of that year they joined Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
for concerts in Dublin's Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
and The Odyssey in Belfast, and then flew to Nigeria to perform with West at two large-scale stadium concerts.
In March of this year Sephira appeared as special guests for Clannad on their extensive UK Revival Tour performing in prestigious venues throughout the UK including The Sage in Gateshead, The London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
and The Brighton Dome
Brighton Dome
The Brighton Dome is an arts venue in Brighton, England that contains the Concert Hall, Corn Exchange and the Pavilion Theatre. All three venues are linked to the rest of the Royal Pavilion Estate by an underground tunnel to the Royal Pavilion in Pavilion Gardens and through shared corridors to...
. In May '08 Sephira performed at a private function for Larry Hagman, the actor better known as J.R Ewing from the hit TV series Dallas. Later that year, the girls flew to LA to perform at the Hagman's Hollywood home. Other celebrities with whom they have appeared on TV are Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Alison Moyet
Alison Moyet
Alison Moyet , is an English singer, songwriter and performer noted for her bluesy voice.Her UK album sales have reached a certified 2.3 million, with 800,000 singles sold, all in the UK, where all seven of her studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the Top 40 UK Album Chart,...
, Tom Baxter
Tom Baxter
Tom Baxter is an English singer-songwriter based in London. He was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, and grew up in Cornwall with his sister Vashti Anna, two brothers, Jo Spencer and Charlie Winston, and parents Jeff and Julie Gleave...
, Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins is a Welsh mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.-Early life and education:...
, Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
, Gilbert O'Sullivan
Gilbert O'Sullivan
Gilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish-English singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again ", "Clair" and "Get Down". The music magazine, Record Mirror, voted him the No...
, Andrea Corr
Andrea Corr
Andrea Jane Corr is an Irish musician, songwriter and actress. Corr debuted in 1990 as the lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs along with her three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon, and Jim...
and Paul Harrington.
Since fall 2008, the O'Leary sisters have been touring USA and Canada with the show Celtic Thunder
Celtic Thunder
Celtic Thunder is a singing group composed of male soloists who perform both solo and ensemble numbers. Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland...
. 2010 has brought Sephira to New York City where they now reside. They have been working with producer Dave Williams - Deviations Project
Deviations Project
Deviations Project is a British electronic music group composed of producer Dave Williams and international violin virtuoso Oliver Lewis. The group blends elements of classical music with electronica; pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake", Bizet's "Carmen" and Bach's "Sonata in Gm" are...
throughout the past few years working on and recording new material. A new album is in the works and scheduled for release in 2011.
Discography
Believe (2006) was the band's debut album. It features eleven original compositions and a version of 'IfIf (Bread song)
"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, the song charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971. The song also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart...
' by David Gates
David Gates
David Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
. The album was recorded in The Cauldron Studios, Dublin, and was produced by producer and instrumentalist Bill Shanley. Other musicians featured on the album include Ruby Ashley, William Butt, Noel Eccles, Karen Hamill and former band member Colm Henry.