Our Guest Tutors for 2025

With his powerful and precise flute playing, Benno Stephenson has long been at the forefront of Australian Irish music. 

One of the driving forces behind the acclaimed Aus-Irish band Trouble In The Kitchen, Benno has had a lifelong passion for Irish flute playing in all it’s nuance, beauty and variety. 

An incredibly versatile musician, Benno has become an internationally renowned player and backer and has gigged and toured with trad legends such as Paddy Keenan, Manus McGuire and John Carty. 

In 2016 he (together with partner in flute-crime Dougal Adams and fiddler Ado Barker) had the great honour of being invited to take part in Féile Strokestown,  a celebration of flute music held in the heart of Co. Roscommon, playing with such flute legends as Patsy Hanly & Brian Duke.

His playing has been featured on numerous film and television projects, including as a featured soloist on the soundtrack for the major motion picture Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (and an ARIA-award winning ad for Singaporean baby formula that he doesn’t really talk about). 

His workshops and classes are always highly sought after and renowned for their strong focus on technique, style, and finding your own musical voice.

Bláithín is a multi-instrumentalist from North Tipperary. Bláithín has won many national accolades on the fiddle, whistle, mandolin, and piano. She was a member of the last Comhaltas tour of Ireland and has performed all over Ireland and the UK. Bláithín has also performed abroad at many festivals, including Italy and the USA.

Ado came to Irish traditional music as a young player captured by the thriving Irish music scenes of Canberra and Melbourne in the heady 1990s. From the early days, as the pull of the session drew him ever deeper into the tunes, Ado’s style was shaped by local players and hand-me-down recordings, and later it was in Ennis, Co Clare that he found full immersion in the music.  As a performer, Ado is best known as a member of seminal Aus-Irish trad band Trouble in the Kitchen and more recently trad trio The Freewheeler. As a teacher, he’s been sought-after for workshops at festivals and camps far and wide, including the National Folk Festival’s Easter School, the Boxwood weekend and Stringmania. Connection with other players has always been at the heart of Ado’s music, and that ethos of exchange similarly underlies his approach to teaching and sharing the tunes.

Tadgh is a concertina player from Millstreet in North Cork. He is a member of the All Ireland-winning Shandrum Ceili Band and has appeared on the band’s two albums. He has taught across Ireland at many workshops and for various Comhaltas Branches.

Connor comes from a musical family, and has been playing Irish music since a young age. Growing up as a competitive step dancer, Connor has toured professionally across the world extensively as both a musician and dancer. Connor has won multiple awards for excellence in traditional music in whistle, flute and uilleann pipes; and is looking forward to tutoring for the first time at Ceol Aneas

Liam has been playing Banjo and Mandolin for over 40 years. He started lessons at the Clontarf branch of Comhaltas in Dublin when he was 8 years of age. Liam’s family come from the villages of Doolin and Liscannor in North Co. Clare and the area and its musicians have had a huge influence on his music. Liam and his family moved to Australia in the mid 80’s and he continued on with the music. He has played at festivals and sessions all over the country. Liam returns to Ireland regularly and can be seen playing in Doolin, Kilfenora and Ennis. He has a distinctive rhythmic style and the spirit of the tradition is very much at its core. Liam has tutored at various festivals/music schools and online.

Rennie has been playing guitar for most of his life, originally learning from his dad and later finding inspiration in NZ guitar legend Gerry Paul. Upon seeing Gerry perform with his band Gráda, he was captivated:

“I remember the driving rhythm and chordal fluency that Gerry displayed while performing. I just had to learn to play like that.”

Rennie specializes in accompanying tunes and songs in DADGAD tuning. His expertise lies in teaching guitarists how to build a well-stocked tool belt of techniques—from driving right-hand rhythms and delicate picking to subtle chord choices and expressive left-hand runs.

He has taught and performed on guitar all over the world, including in Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Along the way, he has accompanied many great players of traditional music, such as John Carty, Chris Norman,  Catherine McEvoy, James Kelly, Rob Zielinski, and Alasdair Fraser

Primarily a melody player, with the flute as his main instrument, Rennie has a deep understanding and respect for the music, and his guitar style reflects this.

Rennie Pearson Music

Traditional Music from Ireland, Scotland and the Maritimes of Canada

Ceara McAuliffe Bickerton is a whistle and flute player from Nelson, New Zealand, who grew up immersed in Irish traditional music. Coming from a musical family, she picked up the tin whistle at a young age before later adding the flute to her repertoire. She has performed with bands such as Bana Nua, Criu, and Triske, appearing at festivals including Wellington Folk Festival, Canterbury Folk Festival, and Cuba Dupa.

Ceara’s playing is deeply rooted in the Irish tradition, and influenced by the Kerry style of playing with a rhythmic and expressive manner that reflects her lifelong connection to the music.

A passionate teacher, Ceara enjoys sharing her knowledge of technique, ornamentation, and phrasing, helping students develop their own musical voice within the tradition.

Aoife Dermody is a traditional singer and fiddle player from Dublin, based in Melbourne. Aoife has been a featured performer at many of Ireland’s most established singing festivals and singers circles, and a performer and tutor at Australian folk festivals and music schools. Aoife is a founding member of the Naarm Traditional Singers Circle, Folk Artists for Palestine Naarm, and teaches traditional singing at Melbourne Comhaltas. Aoife is also a lead traditional musician in sessions in some of Dublin and Melbourne’s most iconic traditional music pubs. Aoife is recognised as a tradition-bearer, gifted in Irish traditional singing technique with a deep reverence for the repertoire in both English and Irish languages. As a performer and teacher they bring intensity, emotional depth and meaning to each song. Listeners and students alike are encouraged to understand and appreciate the richness and intricacies of Irish traditional songs, singing technique, language, and the history and meaning of each song and its relevance in time and place.

Now living in Hawkes Bay, Helen has been teaching Irish dancing for 30 years, running classes in the UK before moving to New Zealand. Ceol Aneas students have enjoyed having her so much that she has been invited back for her third consecutive year. Helen and company gave a set dancing performance at Ceol Aneas 2021 – here’s the first figure of the Sliabh Luachra set.

The set dancing workshop will be held as at The Trafalger St Hall on Saturday and Old St Johns Hall on Sunday.  Sign up for this special workshop here.