"Andrew Finn Magill is a leading fiddler in a new generation of musicians."

BBC Folk Musician of the Year Martin Hayes

"He has learned from and now plays with the best in the genre. On "Branches" you can hear a new musical voice emerging. I’m gonna keep listening for Finn Magill." 

Grammy-winner Tim O’Brien

“Its nice to see fresh, young musicians carrying on the traditions of Brazilian music. Finn Magill displays a love and authenticity for Chorinho that can fool you into thinking he is from Brazil. His style is playful and light, yet soulful and passionate. Congratulations!”

Grammy-winner Airto Moreira (Weather Report, Miles Davis, Chick Corea)

"Sweet swinging fiddle playing with a deep understanding of the roots of this music, a very creative imagination and beautiful violin technique"

Mandolin virtuoso Mike Marshall

“Andrew Finn Magill is an extraordinary violin virtuoso who has taken a super deep dive into Brazilian music and culture. Check out his “muito calor” original tunes —they have all the energy and groove of Rio, with a healthy helping of American spin and improvisation! Meu Deus!!!!!"

Matt Glaser, Artistic Director, American Roots Music Program, Berklee College of Music

"Andrew Finn Magill encounters the tradition in a manner reminiscent of Keith Jarrett on The Melody at Night With You." 

Siobhan Long, The Irish Times

"A great depth and understanding of traditional Irish music." 

TG4 Traditional Musician of the Year Mairéad Ní Mhoanaigh (Altan)

“He is very talented and hard working. He’s just an absolute natural.”

All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Brian Conway 

"Magill’s fresh, clear tones calls to mind Stéphane Grappelli...” 

Songlines Magazine

My NEW ALBUM of Irish traditional music with guitar and bouzouki-player Alan Murray, "Murray & Magill."

Now available exclusively on Bandcamp HERE.

Check out the "Fan Package" HERE.

Music Education

My Patreon

Please consider supporting my Patreon page HERE.

I have taught bluegrass and/or oldtime at the Kaufman Kamp, Montana Fiddle Camp, and Feis Rois among others. For these camps I have created many American fiddle educational materials which were the inspiration for this Patreon.

My Patreon is devoted to American fiddle styles (oldtime, bluegrass, and swing). There are many tiers with benefits ranging from transcriptions (bowing for bowing) of famous players, lead sheets, practice mp3s, lessons, fiddle biographies, and even private monthly lessons over Zoom.

My Patreon Page

My Online Fiddle Course

I am pleased to unveil an online course years in the making: How to Back Up Singers on the Fiddle. I first taught a version of this course at The Swannanoa Gathering's Fiddle Week in 2017 and have been building on it ever since. It is focused specifically on accompanying songs in the American folk traditions such as country, bluegrass, and country blues.

This is the inaugural course in Finn's School of Fiddle on thinkific.com where I will be adding more courses over the years. Course suggestions are welcome! (managementafmagill@gmail.com)

My Online Course

Lecture: The Evolution of Irish & Scottish Fiddle in American Fiddle Music

For more than two years I have been giving this interactive lecture/performance to universities and museums.

The lecture has as it’s objective to create a dialogue about the intersections of musical tradition, identity, and history. We explore these intersections by specifically looking at how the traditional dance music of Ireland and Scotland influenced American oldtime & dance music musically, culturally, and historically. I believe that by exploring the interdisciplinary connections between these musical cousins, we in the U.S. can find greater meaning in our shared musical heritage. 

Want to learn more? Please email managementafmagill@gmail.com

Fall 2020 Workshop: Irish Ornamentation & Variation

Due to demand, I am making my Fall 2020 Workshop series on Irish ornamentation & variation available for purchase at a discounted rate of $80 (was $120). This includes Zoom recordings of each 75-minute workshop as well as 12 transcriptions of musical performances (all bowings included in the case of fiddlers) and more. To learn more click here.

Learn More / Purchase

Private Lessons

I have taught both private and group lessons for 15 years. I have an active roster of online students (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, whichever you prefer) and can teach a range of subjects. In 2020, I have taught traditional Irish fiddle, bluegrass, harmonic improvisation, Irish low whistle, Irish-style Drop-D guitar accompaniment and Brazilian choro. I also feel comfortable teaching chord theory, swing and oldtime. To see a sample of my teaching style, click HERE. For lessons, please contact me at managementafmagill@gmail.com

The Transcription Project

I have transcribed literally hundreds of jazz, swing, bluegrass, and Brazilian solos by hand and am currently copying these hand-transcriptions into music notation software.

Over the coming years I will be releasing batches of transcriptions from my archive in volumes organized by genre. If you'd be interested in getting access to some of these volumes, please sign up for my newsletter in the form above!

“Andrew Finn Magill’s course, How to Back Up Singers on Fiddle, is outstanding in every way.”

Student

On How to Back Up Singers on the Fiddle: "How about a superb, well-organized series of demonstrations and lessons - one where you feel you’re sitting knee-to-knee with your teacher”

Student

“Finn's course is a must if you want to improve your fiddle accompaniment game!”

Student

"Andrew is an amazing fountain of information about Celtic music – what a memory! – he could be teaching at a doctoral level. It was, obviously, important to him that we all took some knowledge and skill away with us this week."

Student

"Finn was just the instructor I needed to help me feel comfortable playing in front of others, missed notes and all. I feel that now I have a real foundation to embellish my music with slurs, etc. And he made class fun."

Student

"Finn presented for our March Schiele After Hours event at the Schiele Museum. He interlaced musical pieces with information on the history of Celtic music in the south, his personal journey and connection to the music, and humor. He was professional and engaging, perfect for an informal adult learning social!"

Stephenie Berggrun, CIT NC Certified Environmental Educator Schiele Museum of Natural History

"Andrew Finn Magill is a special musician, what sets him apart from other virtuoso violinists and fiddlers is his incredible range of musical interests and his eloquence as a teacher. On the drop of a hat, Magill takes listeners along a journey of musical evolution from the rolling hills of Ireland to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Not only is he able to traverse styles with ease, he is able to explain to the audience what they are hearing and how to identify the different cultural influences."

-Willard Watson Program & Outreach Director, Blowing Rock Art & History Museum

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Bio

For twenty years fiddler and composer Andrew Finn Magill (Finn) has been pursuing parallel careers in traditional Irish music, Brazilian choro, jazz and American fiddle, the result of many years living abroad and a childhood growing up at The Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina where he studied every summer with dozens of Irish, old-time, bluegrass and swing fiddle masters. His nine albums constitute thousands of hours dedicated to each genre and form the basis of Finn’s original music for which he received a 2019 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship in jazz composition. Over the last ten years he has performed with John Doyle, Rising Appalachia, Charm City Junction, Open the Door for Three, Greg Ruby, The Paul McKenna Band, and Malawian singer Peter Mawanga. He has performed in venues that include Milwaukee Irish Fest, Celtic Connections, Olympia Hall in Paris, France, DisneyWorld, and Malawi’s Lake of Stars Festival. 

In 2005 he debuted with Drive & Lift, an Irish fiddle album that has been featured on NPR and multiple official Spotify playlists. In 2009 Finn was awarded a Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship to spend a year in Malawi co-writing and co-producing a concept album about HIV/AIDS with Malawi pop icon Peter Mawanga. The result, Stories of AIDS: Mau a Malawi, is a soundscape of traditional Irish and Malawian sounds reimagined as Afro-pop with a riveting message of social justice. It was the inspiration for a multimedia show of the same name Finn wrote and co-directed with Jon Haas and Joseph Megel and debuted at the University of North Carolina’s Memorial Hall in October 2011.

In 2016, Finn released the two-part concept album Roots and and Branches which documents a journey from traditional Irish music to new acoustic jazz. Roots debuted at #46 on the Folk DJ charts and writes Grammy-winning Americana artist Tim O’Brien:

“He has learned from and now plays with the best in the genre. On Branches you can hear a new musical voice emerging. I’m gonna keep listening for Finn Magill.”

In 2014 Finn moved to Rio de Janeiro to study Brazilian choro music. He has been an ambassador of Brazilian violin ever since and has founded many Brazilian music groups including O Finno, Violino no Choro, Brazilian Strings Trio (with fellow American violinist Ted Falcon and Brazilian guitarist Nando Duarte) and Canta, Violino! the album of which was released on Ropeadope Records in 2018. Says Brazilian percussion legend Airto Moreira of Chick Corea and Miles Davis:

“Its nice to see fresh, young musicians carrying on the traditions of Brazilian music. Finn Magill displays a love and authenticity that can fool you into thinking he is from Brazil. His style is playful and light, yet soulful and passionate. Congratulations!” 

Fascinated by the connections between the fiddling traditions of Ireland and Scotland and their musical cousins of oldtime and bluegrass, in 2018 Finn created the lecture series “The Evolution of Irish & Scottish Fiddle in our Appalachian Mountains” which is a musical presentation for adults that explores the connections between these styles through their fiddle tunes. This lecture series is part of a larger commitment to music education and Finn has taught traditional Irish music, bluegrass, choro, and old-time at over a dozen fiddle camps across the U.S, Scotland, Brazil, and France.

Finn currently tours with Dave Curley (of Slide and One for the Foxes), Alan Murray (The Colin Farrell Band), Seán Gray (formerly of The Paul McKenna Band), Brazilian group Canta, Violino!, as a solo artist and as a periodic sidemen with dozens of other artists in various genres.

Press

Meet the North Carolina Arts Council’s Fellowship Recipients - Press release for 2019 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship

N.C. native Andrew Finn Magill finds common ground with Ireland native Dave Curley - Eddie Huffman, Greensboro News & Record for 2018 performance

Andrew Finn Magill celebrates Brazilian music with two Asheville shows - Bill Kopp, Moutain Xpress. Article for 2018 launch of Canta, Violino!

Forget his name and his musical heritage: Andrew Finn Magill wants to bring you to Brazil - Matt Peiken, Blue Ridge Public Radio. Press for 2018 launch of Canta, Violino!

Brazil: Travel and Music with Fiddler Andrew Finn Magill - Kerry Dexter, Perceptive Travel. Press for 2018 Canta, Violino!

Review of 2016 Branches in Liverpool Sound Vision

Review of 2016 Roots in The Irish Times

Review of 2016 Roots in The Living Tradition

Review of 2016 Roots in New York Irish Arts

The Asheville native brings it back home - Jason Gilmer, the828.com. Article for 2016 album release show for Roots

Mau a Malawi: Stories of AIDS: The Story Behind the Music - University of North Carolina Curriculum in Global Studies

Photo Credit: Anna Colliton Visuals