Lasairfhiona Ni Chonaola (pronounced Lah-sah-reena Nee Hun-kneel-ah) is from Inishere, the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland. A graduate in Celtic Studies from Trinity College Dublin, she has become one of Ireland?s top singers. Although her style is deeply rooted in the sean-nos singing tradition of her home on Inishere, a broad range of contemporary music has influenced her.

Her solo album An Raicin Alainn (The Beautiful Comb) (pronounced An Rackeen Ah-lyn) continues to receive great reviews, The Irish Echo, New York chose it as one of the top traditional albums of 2003.

Lasairfhiona beautifully delivers different styles of singing on this album: some passed on to her from her family, traditional melodies that have not been recorded before, her new compositions, and her arrangements of lyrics by the Aran writer Dara O Conaola. The CD is produced by Maire Breatnach, who also provides some beautiful musical accompa niment along with Mary Bergin, Johnny McDonagh, her brother, MacDara (singer), and others.

Lasairfhiona has performed at prestigious venues in Ireland, at Gl?r in Ennis, Co Clare, The Town Hall, Galway, and The National Concert Hall, Dublin. She has taken part in many radio and television programs in Ireland and abroad and sang on Sinead O'Connor's DVD, Goodnight, Thank You, You've Been A Lovely Audience.

Lasairfhiona was the subject of a special documentary about her life and singing on L?argas, RT?. She performed at international festivals, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland & The Interceltic Festival in Lorient, Brittany. fRoots music magazine described her album as ?one of the most sumptuous albums of traditional singing to have emerged for some time.?

Discography:

Lights In The Dark (1998)

An Raicín Álainn [The Beautiful Comb] (2002)

Official Web Site: www.aransinger.com