Orla has won the International Feis Ceoil and International Pan Celtic competitions twice and has toured extensively in Europe and the USA as a soloist performing her renditions of haunting Irish airs along with her own original compositions.
Orla credits her family, her grandmother in particular, for her love of music. She was passionate about Irish music, songs, dancing and stories. The whole Celtic Woman project realizes her dream for me because traditional music was all we ever talked about. When I used to sing classical things she didn't want to bother with them at all. "When I got older and started to feel more about the traditional music and the songs, I knew where she was coming from. There is something very plaintive and haunting about the Irish melodies. I've always said that Irish music is like soul music. It's just about touching people."
Aside from music, Orla's great
passion was, and continues to be, horses. Her parents sent her to a
boarding school in Dublin where, for the first three years, she was
able to indulge both hobbies. At that point, her music teacher
suggested that she purchase her own harp in order to be able to
practice on weekends and vacations. Forced to make a choice, Orla sold
her pony to buy the harp. Luck wasn't with her though and the money was
stolen. To her relief, the sacrifice convinced her father that she was
serious about her musical study and he purchased the harp for her.
Music has opened so many doors for me. It is a great adventure."
In that adventure has, so far, seen Orla performing for the Pope in the Vatican, the President of Ireland and in the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, DC.
Most notably, Orla was chosen as one of the soloists in Celtic Woman, a project she refers to as “the opportunity of a lifetime." Orla was invited to join by producer Sharon Browne and musical director David Downes who praised her haunting voice and it was an opportunity she jumped at. Good thing too as the 'Celtic Woman' CD reached number one on the Billboard World Music charts in America.. Orla then performed with the group on the NBC Today Show live from Rockefeller Center in 2005 and at the St Patrick's Day Governor's Breakfast at The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City that same year.
This information is from www.celticwoman.com
Lisa Kelly might best be known to audiences as one of the soloists in 'Celtic Woman', but her background is purely steeped in the world of musical theatre. Her parents are both heavily involved in Ireland's amateur theatre community and Lisa fit right in, staring in the musical "Bugsy Malone" at the age of 7. A talented actress as well as a singer, Lisa continued her studies in drama and was classically trained in both singing and piano. Her heart always belonged to the theatre though, where she has had principal roles as "Velma Kelly" in Chicago and other big things. "Florence" in Chess.
By day, Lisa was working in the computer industry when she decided to take a break to perform in the Christmas Pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. That decision led to her being cast in 2000 as the lead female vocalist in 'Riverdance, The Show'. "I feel so blessed," she says. "It really was a case of being in the right place at the right time." Initially, Lisa wasn't sure if she was right for 'Riverdance'. "I went into the show thinking I'd only last a couple of months. Even though 'Riverdance' is a huge show, it isn't really a musical and it's very much based on Irish music which was very different for me. Being there for so long opened my horizons for touring and heightened my appreciation for Irish music which is obviously really important for me now."
Lisa toured the United States with the show for five years and met her husband whom she describes as "an Australian Irish dancer"in the cast. In 2002, Lisa was approached by Celtic Collections and asked to record a solo album with Music Director David Downes.
When Lisa took a break from touring for the birth of her second child, Downes approached her again. This time he said asked Lisa to become part of 'Celtic Woman' which was originally conceived to be a one-night show in Dublin's Helix Theatre. "I wasn't doing anything that day," Lisa laughs. "I thought it was only going to be one night but that's how wrong you can be. I didn't know any of the girls at the time but the show is blessed with the girls they've picked."
Lisa has nothing but praise for the show's creators, Celtic Collections founder Sharon Browne and Downes. "David and Sharon were very insistent that all the girls remained individual in 'Celtic Woman'. It's quite rare to be in a show that didn't ask us to change who we were as singers and performers. So, as much as it's a group, each individual performance actually is that; individual. The songs that were picked for me are very much contemporary Irish songs and I'm always given the pop or the musical-themed songs."
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