Mary Bergin is an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 folk musician who is widely acknowledged as one of the great masters of the tin whistle

Tin whistle

The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...

. She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 styles.

Biography

Born in Shankill

Shankill

Shankill can mean:* Belfast Shankill * Belfast Shankill , the 1918–1922 UK Parliament constituency* Shankill, County Antrim, a parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland...

, County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

, to parents Joe and Máire (melodean and fiddle players, respectively), Mary started learning to play the tin whistle at the age of nine. She won the All Ireland tin whistle championship in 1968. Her two virtuosic recordings of solo tin whistle, Feadóga Stáin (1979) and Feadóga Stáin 2 (1993), have been critically cited as "outstanding and unequalled.".

Bergin moved to Spiddal

Spiddal

Spiddal is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway in Ireland. It is west of Galway city on the R336 road. Spiddal is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht near Connemara, and is a tourist centre with a scenic beach, harbour, and shore fishing.-The village:The Mac...

, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 in the early 1970s and played with many of the up and coming stars of the Irish music

Music of Ireland

Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...

 scene, notably De Danann

De Dannan

De Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...

 and Ceoltóri Laighin. She is currently a member of the group Dordán, who perform Irish traditional music and Baroque music

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

.

In addition to releasing two solo albums, which aided the popularisation of modern traditional Irish tin whistle playing, and three albums with Dordán, she has taught hundreds of students, in 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...

, across Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, to play the whistle.

Playing Style

Bergin was exposed to the music of many renowned musicians from an early age, but her style is particularly influenced by flute player Packie Duignan

Packie Duignan

Patrick "Packie" Duignan was an Irish flute player, very well known by music lovers in his time. He was born at Collier Road, Arigna, in the Iron Mountains of County Roscommon, Ireland, and worked as a miner all his life....

 and the whistle playing of Willie Clancy

Willie Clancy

Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper.Clancy was born into a musical family at Islandbawn near Miltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute...

. She plays the whistle "left-handed", with the right hand covering the upper tone holes, unlike most whistle players who play with the left hand on top.
Bergin's playing is characterized by great feeling, technical virtuosity, and a respect for the music. Music scholar Fintan Vallely has described her playing as "brightly ornamented but uncluttered", with "crisp articulation." Writer and flute player Grey Larsen uses similar terms, describing her playing as "precise", "elegant", and "streamlined."

Dordán

• Irish Traditional and Baroque Music (July 1, 1991)
• Jigs to the Moon (October 18, 1994)
• The Night Before...A Celtic Christmas (August 25, 1998)
• Celtic Aire (July 13, 1999)

External links

• http://www.rogermillington.com/tunetoc/overthebridge.html Mary Bergin's performance of Over the Bridge with comments and score
• http://maryberginwhistle.com/ Official site