Biography

The 21st Century has become the most prolific recording century of Liz Carroll's career. That little joke helps to celebrate the 2002 release of Liz's latest, "Lake Effect." After the success of 2000's "lost in the loop," which came 12 years after her first solo album, getting another recording from Liz is, in fact, a cause for celebration.

Since she was 18, when she astounded the Celtic music world by winning the Senior All-Ireland Championship, Liz and her fiddle have been amazing audiences around the globe. Her recordings and appearances on concert stages, television and radio, have established Liz as one of traditional music's most sought after performers. "lost in the loop," released in 2000, won Liz new fans around the world, as it garnered an Indie Award and Liz being named Traditional Performer of the Year for 2000.

Not that that's the first time a solo record by Liz has been praised. Liz's first solo, in 1988, "Liz Carroll," was chosen as a select record of American folk music by the Library of Congress, no less. That same recording was called "a milestone achievement in the career of a fiddler reaching beyond herself," by noted critic and radio host Earl Hitchner.

It should be noted that Liz's recordings are in the majority her own compositions, and they have given her a stature equal to that of her playing. When you listen to a Liz CD, you're hearing the tunes of a composer celebrated for invigorating the traditional styles of Irish music. Her compositions have entered into the repertoire of Irish and Celtic performers throughout the world. If you walk into an Irish pub and a group of Irish musicians are in the corner, buy them a pint and ask for a set of Liz tunes. They'll probably buy you a pint in thanks!

But it is Liz in concert that has entranced audiences throughout the States, and also in tours of Ireland, Europe, and Africa. Neil Tesser of Chicago's Reader marvels that "her quicksilver lines can captivate violin admirers way beyond the bounds of Hibernia." P.J. Curtis of the Irish American says that Liz "conjures up a dizzying mixture of the sweetest tones, the fastest runs, and the most dazzling display of musicianship imaginable." One of Liz's proudest concert moments was at the 1st American Congress of the Violin, hosted by Yehudi Menuhin.

In 1994, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Liz a National Heritage Fellowship for her great influence on Irish music in America, as a performer and a composer. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the award which bestows national recognition on artists of international stature.

 

Honors

Liz is named Irish Traditional Musician of the Year 2000 by Earle Hitchner of the Irish Echo.

"lost in the loop" wins an AFIM Indie Award in ceremonies May 5th, 2001 at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The Association for Independent Music named Liz's recording best in the Celtic/British Isles Category.

Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago proclaims Liz Carroll Day in Chicago on September 18, 1999.

Irish-American Magazine names Liz one of the Top 100 Irish Americans of 1995.

Liz is presented a National Heritage Award Fellowship in 1994 by Hillary Clinton. The award identifies Liz as a "Master Traditional Artist who has contributed to the shaping of our artistic traditions and to preserving the cultural diversity of the United States."

"Liz Carroll" album named a select record of American folk music by the Library of Congress in 1988.

All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Champion in 1975.

All-Ireland Senior Duet Champion, with Jimmy Keane, in 1975.

All-Ireland Junior Fiddle Champion in 1974.