Aoife Ní Bhríain: violin
Luca Rapazzini: violin
Tom Stearn: voice, guitar, bouzouki, mandola, banjo
Michel Balatti: Irish transverse flute
Fabio Rinaudo: uilleann pipes, whistles
Laura Torterolo: voce e chitarra
The Birkin Tree unveiled their latest album, "4.0", at the 2022 edition of the Ennis Trad Festival, a prestigious event that regularly features dozens of renowned musicians from the Emerald Isle. A few weeks later, they presented it to an enthusiastic audience at the FolkClub."4.0" celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Italy's most important Irish folk band and marked a milestone in the artistic journey of the Birkin Tree, a band that has consistently renewed and evolved over the years and is now firmly oriented toward the future. The band’s “historical memory” (Fabio Rinaudo and Michel Balatti) has found in younger members Laura Torterolo and Luca Rapazzini fantastic and skilled companions, and since 2022 they have been joined by Scottish musician Tom Stearn, who replaced the illustrious guitarist Claudio De Angeli in the summer of 2022.
The Ligurian friends return to the FolkClub stage for the thirteenth time for our traditional February event featuring Irish folk music at its finest. On this occasion, they will be joined by a world-class Irish fiddler for a concert full of energy and emotion, evoking all the colors and atmospheres of Ireland. The carefully curated program features musical stories from Celtic lands, weaving a captivating journey of ancient and haunting ballads alongside frenzied and exhilarating reels, iconic of the instrumental tradition of the Emerald Isle. Many pieces from the vast repertoire of the Birkin Tree will be performed, inspired by Ireland’s rich and ancient musical heritage, showcasing instruments like the accordion, fiddle, uilleann pipes, and transverse flute. Guitar and bouzouki provide dynamic rhythmic energy, enriching the ensemble's fascinating rhythmic and melodic fabric.
Returning to the FolkClub stage after a triumphant concert in February 2019, the extraordinary fiddler Aoife Ní Bhriain joins the band again after six years. Born into a family of musicians in Dublin (her father is the uilleann pipes master Mick O'Brien), Aoife has established herself as one of the most versatile musicians of her generation. She is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most prominent traditional fiddle players and an internationally acclaimed classical violinist who excels in both the classical and Irish traditional music worlds. Aoife has collaborated and performed with notable artists such as pianist Eliso Virsaladze, fiddler Martin Hayes, Welsh harpist Catrin Finch (with whom she recorded the duo album "Double You", released in 2023, which topped the iTunes Classical Charts and the World Music Charts Europe, reached #2 on the Transglobal World Music Charts, and earned a nomination for Best Album at the 6th RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards), jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel, and Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins. She is a member of the avant-garde string quintet Wooden Elephant and the Goodman Trio, with whom she has explored manuscripts of music collected in Ireland in the 1800s by Canon James Goodman. Winner of the Bonn Óir Seán Uí Riada in 2010, Aoife has claimed seven "All Ireland" titles and won prizes in international violin and chamber music competitions. More recently, she reached the semifinals of the International Bach Competition 2022 in Leipzig. Aoife has a special interest in solo violin works and has curated performances of J.S. Bach's solo violin pieces alongside improvisations by acclaimed Dublin fiddler Tommie Potts. She graduated with highest honors from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig in 2018 and plays a J.B. Vuillaume violin, generously loaned to her, as well as a Jurgen Manthey violin purchased through the Music Network Music Capital Scheme. With the Birkin Tree, she recorded the album Five Seasons in 2019.
The Birkin Tree unquestionably represents Italy's most significant contribution to Irish folk music. With thousands of concerts across Italy, Ireland, and Europe, hundreds of radio broadcasts worldwide, numerous collaborations with Ireland’s most distinguished musicians, six acclaimed albums, and an immense passion for Irish music, they stand as a pillar in the genre. The Birkin Tree has performed over 2,000 concerts and is the only Italian ensemble—and one of the very few globally—to perform regularly in Ireland, playing at prestigious festivals such as Feakle, Ennis Trad, Glencolumbkille, and O’Carolan. They have appeared on TV and radio broadcasts, including RAI1, RAI3, RAI Radio1-2-3, TELE+3, TMC Telemontecarlo, RTS Switzerland, Radio Capodistria, Radio Popolare, and Ireland’s RTE, Radio Kerry, and Clare FM. In April 2010, the Birkin Tree performed live on RADIORAI3’s "La Stanza della Musica". Their music has been broadcast on radio stations across Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, England, Australia, the United States, Russia, and Switzerland. They have shared the stage with renowned Irish musicians such as Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill, pipers Liam O'Flynn and Mick O'Brien, singer Niamh Parsons, harpists Grainne Hambly and Seana Davey, vocalist Cyril O'Donoghue, concertina players Tony O'Connell and Caitlin Nic Gabhann, accordionists Murty Ryan and Derek Hickey, and fiddlers Aoife O'Brien, Tola Custy, Queavinn O’Raghallaigh, Michael Queally, Michelle O’Brien, Kira Ní Bhriain, and Cíara O’Maonaigh. Fabio Rinaudo, one of the Birkin Tree’s founders, joined the Chieftains' Italian tour in July 2008. In 2011, the group performed at the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland, to great acclaim, with the concert broadcast on RTE Lyric FM. They have also performed in France and toured Germany extensively. In 2015, Michel Balatti and Fabio Rinaudo joined Martin Hayes for a highly successful and emotionally impactful concert at FolkClub for MITO. In 2016, the band played for Enterprise Ireland in Milan in the presence of Irish Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton. The highly successful concert held in the prestigious "I Concerti del Quirinale" has been in 2021, broadcast live by RADIORAI3. In 2022, the Birkin Tree performed alongside Martin Hayes at the Ravenna Festival. On June 22, 2024, they performed with accordionist Derek Hickey at the prestigious Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci in Germany. In June 2025, they are scheduled to appear at the Ravenna Festival and other major festivals in Germany. In addition to being featured on numerous compilations, the band has six acclaimed albums: "Continental Reel" (1996), "A Cheap Present" (1999), "3 (three)" (2003), "Virginia" (2010), "Five Seasons" (2019), and their latest, "4.0" (2022).
