Ben Gunnery

Celtic Fiddle

Ben started musical education at the age of 6 on a tin whistle. He was born in Dublin and bought up in London of Irish and French parents. He moved on to piano and violin and over the period of a couple of years fell in love for the first time with the violin, under the careful guidance of his ‘violin mummy’, Sarah Drury. Hearing Yehudi Menuhin playing the Brahms violin concerto … changed his life.

He graduated at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music London with Gillian Findlay, Hugh Bean – in violin performance postgraduate.

As a multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre artist, Ben toured extensively from the age of 15 till now. He toured with the internationally renowned show Barrage, then on to a number of other renowned shows: Riverdance, Gael force, Irish Celtic, Celtic legends, Dance Masters, Celtic nights…to name a few.

Also as a freelance musician Ben has performed in the West End and Broadway New York with various shows and has been approached often to work as music director for new show concepts. Ben has also played on many films and TV shows and adverts, namely Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Wolfblood and Harry Potter.

He also played in many bands namely the classical Ensemble ‘The Michael Nyman band’, Shane MacGowen and the Popes, Steph Geremia band…the Craicheads, The Bible code SUNDAYS. Ben has also been a part of Many festivals such as Celtic connections.

He won competitions such as the under 16 All Ireland fiddle competition, the Bach unaccompanied violin competitions across conservatoires in London. Recently, Ben has worked in Florida, Disney, with Raglan Road as guest artistic director and performer early 2019.

Ben is currently enjoying performing with the international touring show Seven Drunken Nights.

Greatest Musical Inspiration

Bach and his Unaccompanied Bach Sonatas and Partitas

Best Musical Advice

No matter how well you progress, always put the music first. Never let self indulgence and ego take front seat!