October 17, 2007

Hello friends,

On Thursday October 4 we boarded flight AA93 from Dublin and headed once again to the US to begin our Autumn tour. Well rested and with batteries fully recharged ,California was our first port of call where we had the great honour of performing at The American Airlines Golf Classic Fundraiser for The Susan Koman Foundation.

American Airlines have been our wonderful sponsors from the early stages of Celtic Woman and once again they went out of their way to make us feel welcome and at home during our all too brief stay in San Diego. It was a wonderful way to start the tour and I thank American Airlines and The Susan Koman Foundation for their outstanding hospitality and warm welcome. I wish The Susan Koman Foundation continued success with all their great work in finding a cure for Breast Cancer ,a disease that has touched most of our lives in one way or another.

We flew to Fort Myers on Sunday 7 October and it was great to catch up with all the crew and cast. It's strange that it really felt like we'd never been away once we started into rehearsals.

We now have three shows under our belts and once again,the audiences have been fantastic. I genuinely feel that our show only truly comes alive when we get out there in front of a crowd. It just never feels the same in rehearsals. We were all delighted to welcome Lynne Hillary into the group. She has fitted right in and is a joy to work with.

I have another lovely new harp from my wonderful sponsors, Salvi, I was very excited when it arrived. It looks and sounds amazing and I'm having a great time working on it after sound-check at the different venues every day. To the people at Salvi I say a very warm thank-you !! You all of you ,I send my heartfelt thanks once again for all your birthday wishes. It's so lovely that you think of me and I especially want to thank George and Marie-France for going to such trouble and giving me the gift of a lifetime. I also want to thank Jenny Fedei for putting together an amazing media presentation. I was totally blown away by it and it is something my family and I will treasure forever.

It's great to be back in the US again and I'm really excited about seeing you all at one of our shows.

Lots of love,

Orla xxx

June 1, 2007

As I write I can scarcely believe that we are beginning the fifth month of our Spring/Summer tour.

We have certainly covered a lot of miles over the past few months. Our travels  have not only brought us from the four corners of the US but we have also witnessed the changing seasons from  a New York covered in a blanket of snow in March, to the blossoms and vibrance of Spring to now basking in glorious sunshine here in Memphis in the heart of the deep south.

We have been thrilled by the wonderful attendances at all our shows and every night,each audience brought us their own bit of magic to each of us as performers.

There have been many highlights for me over the past few months and just some of them  that stand out are :Celtic Woman,A New Journey entering the Billboard top 200 at   number 4.
Celtic Woman being invited to play at  The White House for their St Patrick's Day Celebrations.

playing two sold out nights in Radio City in March and opening the St Patrick's Day Parade in New york.

Yes ,it's been  a busy few months and our feet have scarcely touched the ground.To all of you who have come to the shows over the past few months,I extend my heartfelt thanks and I look forward to seeing more of you in this final leg of the tour.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Danielle Mariatz for her wonderful work in setting up this site. Danielle has now moved on to do other things and I wish her and her husband Josh every happiness in their married life together.

I also want to thank George and Marie-France for creating a wonderful fan site for me.

I look forward to keeping you all posted on the happenings over the next few weeks.

Bye for now and lots of love,

-Orla xxx

February 18, 2007

Greetings to you all from Florida! We kicked off the tour to an amazing audience in Tampa on Valentine's night.

It feels like a long time since we left home on February 4 as we have been so busy. We have been to Toronto, Boston and New York where we did some promotional work for the new album, "A New Journey". We then arrived in Florida on February 10 where we had a few days of rehearsals before opening night on February 14.

I must say, it is wonderful to experience the warmth of a live audience once again. I feel that you can rehearse a show from dusk 'till dawn but the music only ever comes alive when you play to an audience. The theatre and music takes on a whole new colour and dimension from the moment that crowd enters the venue. As a performer, it is wonderful to feel the support and energy of the crowd.

Thank-you all for your words of encouragement and good wishes in the run up to the tour. I look forward to seeing you all over the coming months.
-Orla xxx

January 22, 2007

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to my new website.

As I think back on the past year in Celtic Woman, I realize what a whirlwind it has been. We embarked on many exciting adventures in 2006 with visits to Japan, South Africa, Germany and many visits to what has become our second home, America. There have been many highlights for me from playing at our own Point Theatre in Dublin, to playing Radio City in New York, the glorious Red Rocks in Colorado and I was totally blown away by the wonderful reaction we received from audiences in Japan on our tour there in October.

As we begin this new year I am very excited about the prospect of what lies ahead. We are embarking on a new adventure with the launch of our new album and CD, "A New Journey", which is due for release in the US on January 31. This show was filmed at the historic Slane Castle in County Meath back in August. Who knows where this new journey will take us but I am very much looking forward to traveling it with the other girls, the band and indeed the whole crew that make up what has become the Celtic Woman family.

To you ,the fans ,I extend my heartfelt thanks because without you, there is no show. I thank you for all your support and friendship and I look forward to creating many many more happy memories in 2007. I also want to thank Danielle Maziarz for her hard work and dedication in creating this new site for me.

I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. I will end with a quote from one of my favorite poems, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"

Thank you for traveling on this road with us and I welcome any new friends and travelers we meet up along the way.
-Orla xx