Bio

Violinist, Fiddler, and Composer, Sheila Falls has been performing since the age of 9. Sheila holds a B.M. degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. She is a three-time North American Irish Fiddle Champion and won the All-Ireland Fiddle Championship at the age of 15.

As a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, she worked under Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Seiji Ozawa to name a few. She joined the New World Symphony in Miami under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and toured as Concertmaster. Sheila has performed for Prince Albert of Monaco, Irish President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Jack Lynch. She has performed with The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, National Lyric Opera, and Cape Cod Symphony. She has recorded and performed with the Boston Symphony–based group “Classical Tangent.” Sheila toured for ten years with the Boston fiddle supergroup Childsplay, with whom she has recorded multiple albums featuring a number of her compositions. She released a solo album and has recordings in the Smithsonian Folk Life Collection and the Library of Congress. Sheila has recorded for numerous films including PBS, “The Mine Wars” on American Experience and “Tommy Makem’s Ireland.” Sheila regularly tours the U.S. with Irish folksinger, Karan Casey.

Sheila is Associate Professor of Music at Wheaton College, Norton, MA and director of the World Music Ensemble. She has taught at fiddle camps across the country. Sheila directs the Gaelic Roots Series in Irish Studies at Boston College, where she is also on the music faculty.