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Kaitlin Hahn has been playing fiddle since the tender age of six. She began her musical journey as a classically trained violinist in the Suzuki program at her grade school. She started taking classical piano lessons when she was ten. Ready for a new challenge, she began studying Celtic fiddle with Ed Paloucek at the age of eighteen. At that time, she also started playing in sessions, where she quickly developed a large repertoire of tunes.
To expand her knowledge of the Celtic style, Kaitlin attended the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp in Tennessee and she took classes at the Gaelic College of Arts and Crafts in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where she studied fiddle and piano accompaniment. She has studied with Liz Carroll, Stan Chapman, Glenn Graham, Buddy MacMaster, and several other stellar instructors.
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Because of the variety of instruction she has had, she has developed a unique style. “When I play at sessions here [in Wisconsin], I’m told that I have a Cape Breton sound,” says Kaitlin, “but when I go and play in Cape Breton, they tell me that my style sounds very Irish. All I can say is that it’s Celtic.”
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In a few short years, she has gone far with her style. Kaitlin was a member of a Milwaukee-based band called “Bantry Bay.” She is a founding member of a new band from southeastern Wisconsin, called “Atlantic Wave,” who she plays with, today.
Kaitlin has maintained a busy teaching and performing schedule throughout southeastern Wisconsin and surrounding states for the last few years. She has been a faculty member at the Irish Fest School of Music since its inception in 2002.
In 2004, Kaitlin released her debut solo album, "Nice to Meet You." That same year, she was chosen to tour and perform in Chiba, Japan, as part of a cultural delegation for Wisconsin's governor, Jim Doyle. She has won several awards for her accomplishments as a musician, including the National School Orchestra Award, and most recently, the Edward J. Ward scholarship from Milwaukee Irish Fest. On top of all of this, she recently graduated with honors from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in instrumental music education.
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