Winifred Horan

Winifred Horan
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Celtic, Irish folk
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Fiddle
Labels	Compass, Shanachie
Associated acts	Cherish the Ladies Solas

Winifred Horan is an American fiddler of Irish descent. After classical training, she played with the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies before becoming an original member of the Irish traditional music group Solas.

Horan was born in New York City, New York to Irish parents and studied piano (taught by her father, a carpenter and musician) and Irish fiddle playing at a young age. She attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied classical violin, and the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado. She played with multiple orchestras, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, and string quartets, before joining the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies in 1990. She co-foundedSolas in 1994, and is on fiddle and backing vocals. On her participation in Solas and, in particular, touring with the group, Horan expressed in a 2008 interview: "Traveling the world with Solas has been one of the best things about being in the band."

Outside of her work with Solas, Horan was a member of and toured with The Sharon Shannon Band, and also performed with Irish singer-songwriter Pierce Turner. She was "featured fiddler" on When Juniper Sleeps, a 1996 solo album by Séamus Egan, and co-writer of certain tracks for the 1995 film The Brothers McMullen. She is, as of 2004^[update], a nine-time champion Irish stepdancer and an All-Ireland fiddle champion, having won an All-Ireland Junior Championship at age eleven. In a December 2001 interview, Horan identified Liz Carroll, Egan, and Sharon Shannon as her top musical influences.

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