Sephira?
Three-piece suite: Their name may sound like a make of car, but Sephira are actually a string-driven classical music trio from Kildare and Wicklow who are revving up for the release of their debut album on March 31st. Sephira's music is a blend of classical and contemporary, with just a slight pinch of Celtic mist. Their album, Believe, features the trio's own compositions along with a cover of David Gates's If. When Sephira made their live debut at Dublin's Helix theatre they were so worried that no one would come that they rallied friends and family to their show. In the event, the concert sold out; it may not be rock'n'roll, but the punters plainly like it.
Buttons and bows: Sephira are violin- playing sisters Joyce and Ruth O'Leary from Celbridge and piano-playing Colm Henry from Blessington. All three are in their early 20s, but they've been playing music since they were chisellers. Three- year-old Joyce, envious that Ruth was getting all the attention for her violin playing, secretly learned a Beethoven minuet and performed it before astonished onlookers at the local community hall. Both sisters studied at the Celbridge School of Music, and won so many trophies in competition that the family had to consider getting a bigger mantlepiece. They went on to study at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and Ruth attended London's Guildhall School of Music, but she insists that they're not classical "geeks". "That stereotypical image of the austere classical student is as far removed from our lives as you can get," she says.
Goldfingers: With his grandad leading a brass band, his mum singing and his dad playing guitar, Colm Henry was born into a Blessington musical dynasty. As a kid, his piano-playing talent was matched only by his shark-like entrepreneurial skills. He would stage concerts in the garage of the family home, charging friends and neighbours for the admission fee and handwritten programmes. Colm was appointed musical director of the Blessington Musical Society at the tender age of 12. By his teens, Colm was playing in jazz ensembles, swing bands and productions of Godspell and The Wizard of Oz. In college, while most of his fellow students were struggling with the chords to Wonderwall, Colm was playing in the Dublin Symphony Orchestra.
They believe: Ruth and Joyce began working together on original compositions, but needed an extra ingredient to make the music flow. Enter Colm, who had met Ruth when they played in the National Youth Orchestra. The trio were introduced to producer/ arranger Bill Shanley, who in turn introduced them to Clannad's manager Shane McDonnell. He signed them to a management and recording deal, and the trio recorded their album last autumn with Shanley at the controls.
