Sephira

Sephira
Origin	Carrickmacross/Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Classical crossover/soundtrack
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Cicero
Website	sephira.ie
Members	Joyce O'Leary Ruth O'Leary

Sephira is an Irish band comprising sisters Joyce and Ruth O'Leary, who both play the violin and provide vocals. They released their debut album Believe in 2006. Its style is classical crossover with traditional Irish influences.

The O'Leary sisters are from Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland. They started studying violin early: Joyce at two and a half and Ruth at six. Joyce performed in the National Concert Hall, Dublin aged just three, playing a Bach minuet, and was named Ireland's Most Promising Violinist when she was nine.

Ruth studied music performance at London's Guildhall School of Music to study for a BA in Music Performance. She continued her studies in Dublin, where she received her first class honours B.A. with a performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at the National Concert Hall, Dublin. During her years of study Ruth performed with acts such as Rodrigo y Gabriela and featured on their Live in Manchester and Dublin album.

The band's first album, Believe, was released in 2006. Since then, Sephira have completed two Irish tours, performed live on the Irish television station (TG4), and appeared as special guests for artists at a number of Ireland's major concert venues, including the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, the INEC in Killarney, the Cork Opera House and the Millennium Forum in Derry.

In January 2007, they supported Clannad at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall as part of the Celtic Connections festival televised by the BBC. In March 2007, they performed on Lithuanian TV as part of the Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in Vilnius, and in April they appeared on RTÉ Two with Brian McFadden. In December of that year, they joined Kanye West for concerts in Dublin's Phoenix Park and The Odyssey in Belfast, and then flew to Nigeria to perform with West at two large-scale stadium concerts.

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