Claudia Schwab
MUSICIAN | COMPOSER
WORLD | FOLK | FUSION
"SHE MAKES YODELMUSIC MODERN AND HAPPENING"
(Eelco Schilder, folkworld)
"PRETTY MUCH UNFORGETTABLE"
(David Kidman, FATEA magazine)
Born in the green heart of Austria – Styria, Claudia Schwab is an award-winning fiddle player, singer, yodeller and composer based on the West Coast of Ireland.
Described as 'one of the most creative artists on the Irish music scene today' (Dr. Mel Mercier- Irish World Academy Limerick), Claudia amalgamates different traditions and styles, such as traditional Austrian, Irish, Classical Indian and Eastern European folk music, in her own, very unique way.
Her debut solo album Amber Sands was released in 2014. A regular feature on Irish national radio it received a variety of reviews by magazines such as FATEA, Songlines and Roots.
'Amber Sands is like taking a year off, and making your way around the world'
Dan Hegarty: The Alternative, RTÉ 2 FM
In 2016 she released the single One Day and Attic Mornings EP in a special vinyl edition, followed by her second full album Attic Mornings in 2017.
Claudia writes and tours her own works regulary (Claudia Schwab Quartet, Solo) whilst also featuring on numerous recordings and collaborations with a range of cross-genre artists including Seamie O'Dowd, Cathy Jordan and Brian McDonagh (Dervish), Seanan Brennan and Dee Armstrong (Kíla), Austrian string-trio Netnakisum, Matija Solce (Ethno in Transit), Nick Roth (Yurodny), Duke Special, Pt. Sukhdev Prasad Mishra, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Colin Dunne, Padraig Meehan, Nina Hynes, Niwel Tsumbu, Matthias Schriefl, Hannah James, Kate Young and many more.
MUSIC
PROJECTS
Alongside her own solo project (Solo & Quartet), Claudia works with a range of internationally renowned artists. Current projects include collaborations with Cathy Jordan & Irene Buckely (Plúirín na mBan), Matija Solce & Aleš Zorec (Los Hostes), Johannes Bär & Vinzenz Härtel (Trio Hupsala), the Irish Gamelan Orchestra, german jazz trumpeter Matthias Schriefl and Sligo – based band, The Craic Addicts.
ABOUT CLAUDIA
A rich and diverse background which started with classical violin training in Austria, followed by many years immersed in Ireland’s traditional scene, combined with inspiring trips to India and her studies at University College Cork, have lead Claudia to find her very own musical language. Incorporating a fondness for yodelling, Irish traditional, Indian classical and Eastern European music, Claudia makes musical advances around the world; mesmerising audiences with her authenticity, versatility and vitality. The yodelling voice acts as a common thread running through the colourful palette of musical styles, genres and cultures, which interweave through Claudia's music into a new entity.
ON THE ROAD
Following her passion for music, faraway countries, different cultures, tastes, landscapes, train rides and life on the road, Claudia's musical journeys have brought her all over Europe, over to India, Indonesia, Egypt and the US, as part of orchestras and bands as well as touring her own solo project (Quartet, Solo).
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
have included appearances at
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the Cairo Jazz Festival (EGY)
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Electric Picnic Festival (IRE)
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the International Gamelan Festival Solo (IDN)
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Cacéres Irish Fleadh (ESP)
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Cairde Sligo Arts Festival (IRE)
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Fleadh TV (IRE)
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Body & Soul Festival (IRE)
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folkArt Festival (AT)
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the Button Factory (IRE)
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Vicar Street (IRE)
COMMISSIONS AND AWARDS
In 2019 she was commissioned to write for the NCH- Sounding the Feminists Commissioning Scheme and was awarded a Next Generation Bursary Award from the Irish Arts Council, the Neuer Deutscher Jazzpreis 2019 with the Band “Shreefpunk + Strings”, followed by the Hubert Von Goisern Förderpreis in 2020.
Claudia loves to learn about people and their music, to try and adapt different styles and traditions of playing, to work with artists from all kinds of genres, countries and cultures. When all these different ways of making music are allowed to co-exist at the same time however, that's when she feels most at home.
Since parting from her home country and with her vagabond life-style, Claudia has come to call many places home. A curious living situation that brings about both invaluably enriching connections and also a certain feeling of inbetweenness or brokenness.
This geographical dilemma is mirrowed in Claudia's music: the creation of a sound world in wh