Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School Instructors
Note: All times are listed in CENTRAL TIME ZONE. Thank you!
Joanie Madden
Instructor Website: http://www.cherishtheladies.com/bios/joanie.htm
Teaching Online Tin Whistle Class (M-T-W)
Joanie Madden is the award winning whistle and flute player who has been the leader of Cherish the Ladies since its inception. Born in New York of Irish parents, she is the second oldest of seven children raised in a musical household; her mother Helen, a dancer of traditional sets hails from Miltown Malbay, County Clare and her father Joe, an All-Ireland Champion on the accordion, comes from Portumna in East Galway.
Joanie received her musical training early in life listening to her father and his friends play music at family gatherings and social events. She began taking lessons from Jack Coen, and within a few short years she had won both the world Championship on the concert flute and whistle. During that time, Joanie also became the first American to win the coveted Senior All-Ireland Championship on the whistle.
She has amassed a plethora of awards and citations to her credit including; the youngest member inducted into both the Irish-American Musicians Hall of Fame and the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Hall of Fame, recipient of the Wild Geese Award, voted twice as one of the Top 100 Irish-Americans in the United States and named Traditional Musician of the Year, all for her contributions to promoting and preserving Irish culture in America. In 2010, Joanie was forever immortalized on the streets of her native Bronx when she had a street named after her on the Grand Concourse; "Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies" and in 2011, she was bestowed one of the nations highest awards as she was chosen for the Ellis Island Medal of Honor where she joins an illustrious list of distinguished American citizens including six United State Presidents, Ambassadors, Senators, Congressman and Supreme Court judges all singled out for their exemplary service to the United States.