An email I recently received out of the blue (seems genuine, and not an African Diplomat wanting to give you a share in his millions):
Hello from Tipperary,
I have it decided to write to you and tell you about what I am doing here in Co.Tipperary, Ireland. I love hearing about places to go and what things to do in various places throughout the country/world and hopefully you will think my Fiddlers Retreat in something fiddlers in your area would be interested in hearing about. Perhaps you could include details in your next newsletter, mailing list, or establish a web link? I am running a small affair and trying to get let a diverse audience know about what I am doing. Any assistance you could offer me would be greatly appreciated.So ..........
My name is Theresa Bourke and I have travelled to 40 countries as a professional violinist. I have performed for royalty, prime ministers and dignitaries, in venues from the Kremlin Palace, the Great Wall of China and renowned arenas throughout the world filled with thousands of people and as you can imagine I have seen amazing sights, socialized in the hot spots wherever we landed and have many treasured memories. So who was I performing with, I hear you ask yourself, over the years I was touring with Irish Dance shows, Bru Boru, Spirit of Ireland and Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance.
Before I decided to become a professional musician I gained many qualifications from 3 Irish universities, National University of Ireland, Maynooth with a B.A. ( Music), Trinity College Dublin with a Higher Diploma in Education and the University of Limerick with a M.A. in Irish Music Performance. My experiences as a teacher, performer and a traveller have led me to establish my Fiddlers Retreat, I have now returned to my home and created a unique place where violinists can enjoy a real experience of Ireland's Music, Culture, Cuisine and Hospitality. I am now the tour guide not the tourist.
I run week long courses with daily tuition on Irish music, participants will be escorted on tours to the many famous historic and scenic sights that are within easy reach of the accomodation in my home (or a local hotel should they prefer, an extra cost). Some places within easy reach are The Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny city, the river Shannon, Lough Derg & the pretty villages of Ballina/Killaloe, the surrounding Silvermines mountains and its many nature walks, health and holistic centreas to name but a few places of interest. Delicious home cooked is prepared using the finest local produce and by night students will be taked to an Irish music session where they can play along if they wish. The school is open throughout the year, is set in the picturesque village of Loughmore, on the banks of the river Suir, near the ruins of Loughmore Castle and rolling green pastures. It is an ideal place to relax, unwind and experience country life at its best.
This is a real, personalized Irish holiday experience. I'm afraid there wont be any leprechauns to be found! I hope I have stirred up your interest in what I am doing and I hope Fiddlers Retreat stands out. I am running a small, personalized Irish music holiday for fiddlers from home and abroad.
Web details: www.fiddlersretreat.com
info@fiddlersretreat.com
I saw this on the Irtrad list and I must say I am a little suspicious of a "Professional Violinist" teaching TIM. Maybe this is a case of semantics or some-antics.
I started a thread about this a few days ago; http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/6803 and Andee said she had a friend who knows this gal. I have a friend who plays fiddle with LOTD, who's from Offaly, and she's a great trad fiddler, and has a terrific personality. I imagine her experience in the show of meeting people from all around the world could lead to a similar thing if she chose to do it. If you could establish a flow of fiddlers from all around interested in coming to your place and studying with you, and you had a nice piece of real estate in Ireland -- it could be a cozy gig.
Noel Hill is much better known, of course, but he’s created his own cottage industry traveling around and holding schools in various places. He also leads tours to Ireland for his student body. I’ll bet he might be entertaining the idea of running something similar if it meant he could stay home with his family.
I met Theresa Bourne this weekend. She flew to Bristol to give a workshop at the Hibernia Centre - and it was superb. In the evening Theresa and a number of us met up in a pub for a session and also so that she could meet up with old friends from LOTD which is currently running in Bristol. This was the occasion when I got to play for some of those LOTD dancers when they were persuaded to leave the bar and take to the floor for a few minutes. Methinks I must amend my CV ...
Notes about Theresa Bourne's visit to the Hibernia Centre in Bristol.
Theresa really did enjoy her weekend here in Bristol and recognizes that we have a really wonderful Irish music scene that is supportive and flourishing. She felt sufficiently inspired to want to go home and talk to other musicians about starting something similar for adult learners in her home town in Tipperary. This will enable people who don't consider themselves good enough or brave enough to play in the established pub scene, to get together and play tunes in a learning environment much like we do in the Bristol Hibernia Centre.
In her stimulating and inspirational workshop with us, Theresa didn't just focus on the fiddle. She recognised that other instrumentalists were present and they had chosen to want to listen to her. A good many of the things which Theresa talked about, in terms of developing individual musical style and bringing out the fire and passion in one's playing for example, apply to any instrument.
We're extremely grateful to Jon Bailey, who invited Theresa across from Tipperary in the first instance and has provided the above notes.
Hey everyone,
I'm Canadian and new to the forum. I went to Theresa Bourke's Fiddlers Retreat and it was a Fabulous holiday! GREAT food, wonderful fiddle instruction and a personal chauffeur who took me touring, to sessions in the evening and generally spoiled me rotten.
If you're looking for a great holiday, and are a fiddler, you just can't beat what Theresa is runninig! She is a wonderful hostess, a fabulous cook and a phenomenal fiddler / personality. four thumbs up!
I was saving €900 just so I could attend her course which I planned to take early this year, before I knew it, her tuition fee increased to €1,050.00. I'm pretty sure it will cost more next year. I sincerely hope not because attending her course is still one of my goals next year. I'd probably sell my old violin collections so I can afford the tuition fee. anyone interested?
ha! ha!
Theresa has done all she claims and more.
Not only do her guests get first rate tuition, but gourmet meals, their own chauffeur and Tour Guide, and the best hospitality.
She teaches because that's what she loves to do.
She is just terrific.....and by the way her last name is Bourke, not Bourne.
I also want to put in my two cents to say that I participated in her fiddlers' Retreat last summer (2008) and it was awesome! I'm a professional violinist from Canada with an interest in Irish music, fiddling in particular.
I learned so much from her, and the experiences I had there with her (local sessions in pubs and private homes, a Bru Boru concert, etc) made the learning process so much more meaningful and interesting!!!
As far as her being a "professional violinist", I wouldn't 'hold this against' her!!! =) She was a fiddler first who later learned classical techniques which improved her tone and ability, but it did anything but cause her to lose her traditional Irish fiddle roots.
Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
An email I recently received out of the blue (seems genuine, and not an African Diplomat wanting to give you a share in his millions):
Hello from Tipperary,
I have it decided to write to you and tell you about what I am doing here in Co.Tipperary, Ireland. I love hearing about places to go and what things to do in various places throughout the country/world and hopefully you will think my Fiddlers Retreat in something fiddlers in your area would be interested in hearing about. Perhaps you could include details in your next newsletter, mailing list, or establish a web link? I am running a small affair and trying to get let a diverse audience know about what I am doing. Any assistance you could offer me would be greatly appreciated.So ..........
My name is Theresa Bourke and I have travelled to 40 countries as a professional violinist. I have performed for royalty, prime ministers and dignitaries, in venues from the Kremlin Palace, the Great Wall of China and renowned arenas throughout the world filled with thousands of people and as you can imagine I have seen amazing sights, socialized in the hot spots wherever we landed and have many treasured memories. So who was I performing with, I hear you ask yourself, over the years I was touring with Irish Dance shows, Bru Boru, Spirit of Ireland and Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance.
Before I decided to become a professional musician I gained many qualifications from 3 Irish universities, National University of Ireland, Maynooth with a B.A. ( Music), Trinity College Dublin with a Higher Diploma in Education and the University of Limerick with a M.A. in Irish Music Performance. My experiences as a teacher, performer and a traveller have led me to establish my Fiddlers Retreat, I have now returned to my home and created a unique place where violinists can enjoy a real experience of Ireland's Music, Culture, Cuisine and Hospitality. I am now the tour guide not the tourist.
I run week long courses with daily tuition on Irish music, participants will be escorted on tours to the many famous historic and scenic sights that are within easy reach of the accomodation in my home (or a local hotel should they prefer, an extra cost). Some places within easy reach are The Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny city, the river Shannon, Lough Derg & the pretty villages of Ballina/Killaloe, the surrounding Silvermines mountains and its many nature walks, health and holistic centreas to name but a few places of interest. Delicious home cooked is prepared using the finest local produce and by night students will be taked to an Irish music session where they can play along if they wish. The school is open throughout the year, is set in the picturesque village of Loughmore, on the banks of the river Suir, near the ruins of Loughmore Castle and rolling green pastures. It is an ideal place to relax, unwind and experience country life at its best.
This is a real, personalized Irish holiday experience. I'm afraid there wont be any leprechauns to be found! I hope I have stirred up your interest in what I am doing and I hope Fiddlers Retreat stands out. I am running a small, personalized Irish music holiday for fiddlers from home and abroad.
Web details: www.fiddlersretreat.com
info@fiddlersretreat.com
Thank you for your precious time and help.
Sincerely Yours,
Theresa Bourke.
# Posted on June 14th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
I saw this on the Irtrad list and I must say I am a little suspicious of a "Professional Violinist" teaching TIM. Maybe this is a case of semantics or some-antics.
# Posted on June 14th 2005 by Donough
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Who's TIM?
:~}
Sorry. Yeah I thought it might be dodgy but the website IS for real:
http://www.fiddlersretreat.com/
# Posted on June 14th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
I started a thread about this a few days ago; http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/6803 and Andee said she had a friend who knows this gal. I have a friend who plays fiddle with LOTD, who's from Offaly, and she's a great trad fiddler, and has a terrific personality. I imagine her experience in the show of meeting people from all around the world could lead to a similar thing if she chose to do it. If you could establish a flow of fiddlers from all around interested in coming to your place and studying with you, and you had a nice piece of real estate in Ireland -- it could be a cozy gig.
Noel Hill is much better known, of course, but he’s created his own cottage industry traveling around and holding schools in various places. He also leads tours to Ireland for his student body. I’ll bet he might be entertaining the idea of running something similar if it meant he could stay home with his family.
# Posted on June 14th 2005 by Phantom Button
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
It looks like fun - I wonder what the food's like.
# Posted on June 14th 2005 by Cath
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
I met Theresa Bourne this weekend. She flew to Bristol to give a workshop at the Hibernia Centre - and it was superb. In the evening Theresa and a number of us met up in a pub for a session and also so that she could meet up with old friends from LOTD which is currently running in Bristol. This was the occasion when I got to play for some of those LOTD dancers when they were persuaded to leave the bar and take to the floor for a few minutes. Methinks I must amend my CV ...
# Posted on October 16th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Notes about Theresa Bourne's visit to the Hibernia Centre in Bristol.
Theresa really did enjoy her weekend here in Bristol and recognizes that we have a really wonderful Irish music scene that is supportive and flourishing. She felt sufficiently inspired to want to go home and talk to other musicians about starting something similar for adult learners in her home town in Tipperary. This will enable people who don't consider themselves good enough or brave enough to play in the established pub scene, to get together and play tunes in a learning environment much like we do in the Bristol Hibernia Centre.
In her stimulating and inspirational workshop with us, Theresa didn't just focus on the fiddle. She recognised that other instrumentalists were present and they had chosen to want to listen to her. A good many of the things which Theresa talked about, in terms of developing individual musical style and bringing out the fire and passion in one's playing for example, apply to any instrument.
We're extremely grateful to Jon Bailey, who invited Theresa across from Tipperary in the first instance and has provided the above notes.
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Who's Theresa Bourne?
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Bannerman
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
The information is on her website http://www.fiddlersretreat.com/
# Posted on October 20th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Hey everyone,
I'm Canadian and new to the forum. I went to Theresa Bourke's Fiddlers Retreat and it was a Fabulous holiday! GREAT food, wonderful fiddle instruction and a personal chauffeur who took me touring, to sessions in the evening and generally spoiled me rotten.
If you're looking for a great holiday, and are a fiddler, you just can't beat what Theresa is runninig! She is a wonderful hostess, a fabulous cook and a phenomenal fiddler / personality. four thumbs up!
# Posted on November 1st 2006 by michi
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
€900 seems like lot to pay for 6 days, but I guess if you got enough for your money it is well worth while.
# Posted on November 1st 2006 by Donough
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
I was saving €900 just so I could attend her course which I planned to take early this year, before I knew it, her tuition fee increased to €1,050.00. I'm pretty sure it will cost more next year. I sincerely hope not because attending her course is still one of my goals next year. I'd probably sell my old violin collections so I can afford the tuition fee. anyone interested?
ha! ha!
# Posted on September 30th 2007 by Perla
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
Theresa has done all she claims and more.
Not only do her guests get first rate tuition, but gourmet meals, their own chauffeur and Tour Guide, and the best hospitality.
She teaches because that's what she loves to do.
She is just terrific.....and by the way her last name is Bourke, not Bourne.
Maggie Ryan
Orlando FL
# Posted on June 10th 2008 by maireadniriain
Re: Fiddlers retreat Tipperary
I also want to put in my two cents to say that I participated in her fiddlers' Retreat last summer (2008) and it was awesome! I'm a professional violinist from Canada with an interest in Irish music, fiddling in particular.
I learned so much from her, and the experiences I had there with her (local sessions in pubs and private homes, a Bru Boru concert, etc) made the learning process so much more meaningful and interesting!!!
As far as her being a "professional violinist", I wouldn't 'hold this against' her!!! =) She was a fiddler first who later learned classical techniques which improved her tone and ability, but it did anything but cause her to lose her traditional Irish fiddle roots.
I loved it, and HIGHLY recommend her course!!!
Carolyn
Regina, Sask
# Posted on November 19th 2009 by CarolynT