Ex - Riverdance fiddler Elleen Ivers playing with CSO for Pops concert at the Tivoli.

Ex-Riverdance fiddler playing with CSO

Internationally known Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers will join the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera for a rollicking pops concert Saturday night, April 1, at the Tivoli Theatre.

Ivers has established herself as the pre- eminent exponent of the Irish fiddle in the world today, according to a CSO news release. She is a Grammy Award winner, a past Emmy Award nominee, has guest- starred with the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops and over 40 other orchestras.

She joined Riverdance Irish dance troupe in 1995 and toured with them. She is a nine-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, has performed for presidents and royalty worldwide and is a founding member of Cherish the Ladies, the Irish-American all-female band known for its Celtic music.

The daughter of Irish immigrants, Ivers grew up in t he c ul t ural l y diverse New York neighborhood of the Bronx. Being Irish-American, the intrigue of learning more about the multicultural sounds of her childhood took hold. After graduating magna cum laude in mathematics from Iona College and continuing postgraduate work, Ivers immersed herself in different genres of music, which she experienced growing up in New York.

She’s been called a “sensation” by Billboard magazine, and “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” by The New York Times.

Ivers’ recording credits include more than 80 contemporary and traditional albums, and she can be heard on numerous movie scores, including the soundtrack of “Gangs of New York.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Irish fiddler Eileen Ivers