Mary Bergin (born September 13, 1949), Irish musician

Mary Bergin

September 13, 1949

Shankill, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland

She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque styles. Mary started learning to play the tin whistle at the age of nine. Her two virtuosic recordings of the solo tin whistle, and, have been critically cited as "outstanding and unequalled". Bergin moved to Spiddal, County Galway, in the early 1970s and played with many of the up-and-coming stars of the Irish music scene, notably De Danann and Ceoltóri Laighin. In addition to releasing two solo albums, which aided the popularisation of modern traditional Irish tin whistle playing, and three albums with, Bergin has taught hundreds of students, in Ireland, across Europe, and in the United States, to play the whistle. Bergin was exposed to the music of many renowned musicians from an early age, but her style is particularly influenced by flute player Packie Duignan and the whistle playing of Willie Clancy. She plays the whistle "left-handed", with the right hand covering the upper tone holes, unlike most whistle players who play with the left hand on top. Bergin"s playing is characterized by great feeling, technical virtuosity, and a respect for the music Music scholar Fintan Vallely has described her playing as "brightly ornamented but uncluttered", with "crisp articulation". Writer and flute player Grey Larsen uses similar terms, describing her playing as "precise", "elegant", and "streamlined".