Derek Hickey: box (Irish accordion)
Michel Balatti: Irish flute
Luca Rapazzini: fiddle
Fabio Rinaudo: uilleann pipes, whistles
Tom Stearn: vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandola, banjo
Laura Torterolo: vocals, guitar
The Birkin Tree unveiled their latest album "4.0" at the 2022 edition of the Ennis Trad Festival, a prestigious event that routinely features dozens of world-renowned musicians from the Emerald Isle. Just a few weeks later, they presented it to an enthusiastic FolkClub audience. 4.0 celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the most important Irish folk band in Italy and at the same time marked a milestone in the artistic trajectory of Birkin Tree, a group that has shown an impressive ability to renew and evolve, now firmly projected toward the future. The “historical memory” of Birkin Tree (Fabio Rinaudo and Michel Balatti) has found in the younger members, Laura Torterolo and Luca Rapazzini, extraordinary and accomplished musical partners. In 2022 they were joined permanently by Scottish musician Tom Stearn, who replaced the legendary guitarist Claudio De Angeli in the summer of that year. Our Ligurian friends return to FolkClub stage for the fifteenth time in their history, for our traditional February appointment with Irish folk at the highest level. For the occasion, they are joined by a true master of the Irish accordion (“box”), for a concert full of energy and atmosphere, evoking all the colors and moods of Ireland. The program is a carefully crafted musical journey across the Celtic lands, alternating ancient and moving ballads with the wild, exhilarating reels typical of the great instrumental tradition of the Emerald Isle. Many pieces will be drawn from the vast Birkin Tree songbook, inspired by the ancient Celtic repertoire associated with the accordion, fiddle, uilleann pipes, and transverse flute. Guitar and bouzouki add powerful rhythmic drive to the captivating melodic-rhythmic fabric woven by the solo instruments.
For the first time on our stage, the legendary Derek Hickey is the very special guest of the evening. Originally from Adare in County Limerick, both his grandfathers played fiddle, and his musical career began at the age of ten, when his uncle left an accordion at the family home: within weeks, Derek was already able to play dance tunes with ease. He began taking lessons with Dónal de Barra at age 12. His professional career started three years later, when he joined the Shannonside Céilí Band, formed by the Liddy family and especially popular in the north of the country. He also toured extensively in England and performed regularly across Europe. In 1991 the great Frankie Gavin invited Derek to play with him at his weekly sessions in Kinvara, County Galway. One year later, at just eighteen, Derek joined Arcady, Johnny “Ringo” McDonagh’s band. Members at the time included Frances Black, Brendan Larrisey, Patsy Broderick, and many others—among them Sharon Shannon, Cathal Hayden, and Gerry O’Connor. At 21, in 1995, Derek became a full member of the legendary De Dannan. The hallmark of De Dannan’s sound has always been the interplay between Gavin’s virtuoso fiddle and the Irish accordion. Derek inherited the role from the great box players who preceded him: Jackie Daly, Mairtín O’Connor, and Aidan Coffey. His duo partnership with Gavin is considered one of the finest fiddle/box combinations of all time. Derek toured with De Dannan until their breakup in 2003. Today he teaches at the World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. In 2024 he received the highest honor in Irish traditional music: the Gradam Ceoil – Musician of the Year, awarded by the Irish-language national broadcaster TG4. He has toured extensively in Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan, and has shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the world, including Stéphane Grappelli and the Rolling Stones.
Birkin Tree are unquestionably the leading Italian ensemble in the field of Irish folk music, with thousands of concerts performed in Italy, Ireland, and across Europe; hundreds of radio broadcasts worldwide; numerous collaborations with top Irish musicians; six acclaimed albums; and an immense passion for Irish music. They have played more than 2,000 concerts and are the only Italian band—and one of the very few worldwide—to perform regularly in Ireland, where they have appeared at major festivals such as Feakle, Ennis Trad, Glencolumbkille, and O’Carolan. They have performed on radio and TV for RAI1, RAI3, RAI Radio 1–2–3 (including their acclaimed concert for I Concerti del Quirinale broadcast live on RAI Radio 3 in 2021), TELE+3, TMC Telemontecarlo, Swiss RTS, Radio Capodistria, Radio Popolare, and in Ireland for RTÉ, Radio Kerry, and Clare FM. In April 2010 they appeared live on RAI Radio 3’s La stanza della Musica with a one-hour performance. Their music has been broadcast in Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, the UK, Australia, the USA, Russia, and Switzerland. They have shared the stage with many of the most important Irish musicians, including Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, pipers Liam O’Flynn and Mick O’Brien, singer Niamh Parsons, harpists Gráinne Hambly and Seana Davey, singer Cyril O’Donoghue, concertina players Tony O’Connell and Caitlín Nic Gabhann, accordionists Murty Ryan and Derek Hickey, and fiddlers Aoife O’Brien, Tola Custy, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, Michael Queally, Michelle O’Brien, Kira Ní Bhriain, and Ciara Ní Mhaonaigh. Fabio Rinaudo, one of the founders, joined the Chieftains’ Italian tour in 2008. In 2011 the band was invited to the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry, County Cork, earning great acclaim; the concert was broadcast nationally by RTÉ Lyric FM. The group has also performed in France (Pot’Arts Illfurth Festival) and toured Germany. In 2015, at the MITO Festival organized by FolkClub, Michel Balatti and Fabio Rinaudo joined the legendary Martin Hayes for a hugely successful evening. In March 2016 the band played in Milan for Enterprise Ireland in the presence of Ireland’s Tánaiste, Joan Burton. In June 2016 they took part in an important Ravenna Festival production, performing with Lúnasa and soloists Caitlín Nic Gabhann, Mick O’Brien, and Kira Ní Bhroin. They returned to Ravenna Festival in 2022 with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes. On 22 June 2024 they performed with Derek Hickey at the prestigious Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci in Germany. In June 2025 they performed at the Ravenna Festival, one of Italy’s most important music festivals, and will tour several major German festivals.
In addition to appearing on numerous compilations, Birkin Tree have released six acclaimed albums: "Continental Reel" (1996), "A Cheap Present" (1999), "3" (Three) (2003), "Virginia" (2010), "Five Seasons" (2019), and the latest "4.0" (2022).
https://www.corellimusica.it/birkintree
