Zoë Conway

Zoë Conway effortlessly combines a background steeped in Ireland’s rich aural music tradition with a strong founding in classical music. She has toured worldwide and has appeared in many prestigious concert halls including Carnegie Hall, New York, The Kremlin Palace, Moscow and The National Concert Hall, Dublin. Her versatility as an instrumentalist has allowed her to perform across a broad range of genres, from guest soloist with world renowned orchestras, to touring with Riverdance and working with mainstream international acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriella, Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan, Nick Cave and Lou Reed among others. She has released two solo albums, Zoë Conway, produced by Bill Whelan, and The Horse’s Tail, both critically acclaimed, and has also released a live DVD, Zoë Conway Live.

Zoë tours regularly with her husband, John McIntyre on guitar, and the duo have been described as “simply one of the best folk duos on the planet”. (BBC) They have released two recordings to date – the newest release is a superb collection of live European performances, Live in Concert, released in spring 2017. Their debut duo album, entitled Go Mairir I Bhfad (Long Life To You), received a glorious 5 stars from the Irish Times. For this album, they commissioned twelve leading Irish composers to each compose a piece for fiddle and guitar with the aim of collectively presenting a snapshot of traditional Irish music alive today. The renowned composers who took part in the project were Liz Carroll, Steve Cooney, Frankie Gavin, Andy Irvine, Charlie Lennon, Donal Lunny, Máirtín O’Connor, Peadar Ó Riada, Mícheál Ó Súilleabhán, Tommy Peoples, Niall Vallely and Bill Whelan. Irish Times

Their latest release, From A Forest To A Fiddle, features a unique orchestral soundtrack created for the film of the same name.

From a Forest to a Fiddle has gotten huge exposure in Ireland with a sold out first performance of orchestra and film in the National Concert Hall with Zoë, John and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. This art-film is a celebration of Irish heritage and captures master craftsman Jim McKillop making a fiddle in his rural workshop in Ireland. Film maker Patrick Conway masterfully documented each stage and made an artistic, meditative timelapse which Zoë created the filmic score around.

The release of these albums has brought international attention to the duo, and so they are increasingly in demand in Ireland and abroad for performances, talks and workshops.

Updated September 2025