Winter Sky by Stonecircle

in Accounting and a Masters in Business Administration

from the University of Utah. Krista has had several wonderful performance opportunities to play violin with Ballet West, Promised Valley Playhouse Orchestra, City Rep Orchestra, and string quartet performances throughout the

western United States.

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Nina Cooley (flute, whistle, percussion)

Nina Cooley was born in Ft. Worth, Texas and is the fourth of six children. She describes herself as a military brat who has lived in several states and abroad. Nina attended Southwest Texas State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and graduated from The Evergreen State College, where she received her degree in Music and minored in Music Theater. She currently teaches Kindergarten and private piano, flute, and voice lessons. Nina speaks fluent Greek, Spanish, and Japanese. Nina has been involved in several musical performances including Hello Dolly, Barnum, The Devil and Daniel Webster, My Turn on Earth, and West Side Story. In addition to her musical talent, Nina is an experienced choreographer in ballet, tap, and jazz.

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Mary Johnston-Coursey (vocals, whistle,percussion)

Mary has been singing since she could speak. As a child, she studied piano and voice. In the early 1980s, she began collecting Irish music; she traveled to Ireland and performed there as part of the local folk circuit. While she never stopped acquiring Celtic songs and singing partners, she went on to become a professional dancer and choreographer. Her performing experience has continued to broaden over the years; in addition to working with musicians and dancers, she has collaborated with poets,

storytellers, visual artists, and performance artists. She enjoys bringing her music and dance background to other art forms. She currently sings through the Heart and Soul organization, works and performs with children, and continues to create dance and multi-media works for the

theatre. She especially enjoys singing with Stonecircle, as it returns her full circle to Celtic music, her earliest passion.

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Brian Dobson (Irish whistle, low whistle, Uilleann pipes, bodhrán, duck calls)

Brian's roots lie in New England where he was born, though he has spent most of his life in Utah and California. He began his interest in music watching watching his mother play violin with several symphony orchestras, including the Utah Symphony. At the age of 8, he began clarinet and

played for several years. In late 1999, several years after he had last picked up a musical instrument Brian heard an Irish whistle recording and decided to learn the instrument. Without a single formal lesson, he soon advanced and also took up low whistles, keyless (Irish) flute, bodhrán and in March of 2002 one of the most difficult of Irish traditional instruments, the uilleann pipes. Since that time he has been playing Irish music, Brian has appeared as a guest artist with many of the intermountain west's performing artists as well as playing with international recording artists such as Gaelic Storm, The Young Dubliners, and Grammy award winning artists The Chieftains.

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George Schoemaker (guitars, harmonicas, vocals)

George was born in Montreal, Quebec, into a very musical family. He comes from Irish, Scottish, and British heritage. George began teaching himself guitar when he was six. He has played the guitar off and on from that time, punctuated by lessons in classical and jazz guitar during his teenage years. While in high school, George co-directed and played guitar for Sing Out Band City, a choral group that toured throughout the province of Saskatchewan giving performances. He has also played in numerous bands throughout his life. George speaks fluent French, and has lived in France on a couple of different occasions. It was while living in France that he became interested in the folk music and dance of Brittany. George holds a Doctorate in folklore from Indiana University. George formed Stonecircle in 1993 and has been the driving force behind the band's longevity and success.

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SPECIAL GUEST:

Irminsul (harp, keyboards)

Irminsul is a native Utahn, trained on piano from age 6. From a very young age he accompanied choirs, string quartets and wind ensembles; culminating in High School with a first place win in the Oakton Composition and Performance Competition in Vienna, VA. Careening through a speckled musical career encompassing genres from Heavy Metal to Neo-Minimalism, he took up the Celtic Harp in 1994 and began writing, recording and performing with that instrument by the next year. In 1996 he toured extensively around Europe, Eastern Europe and the British Isles with his harp. He has recorded numerous CDs with the Celtic Traditional band Idlewild (among them "The Wild Geese" and "Tavern On The Moor") and has also appeared, with harp in tow, in the popular TV series "Promised Land".

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