SESSION ETIQUETTE PRESS ROOM

Media resources, background information, interview opportunities, and downloadable assets related to Irish traditional music session culture.

Session Etiquette is an educational platform exploring the unspoken behaviours, social dynamics, and cultural knowledge that shape Irish traditional music sessions.

Founded by Donegal fiddle player Tara Connaghan, Session Etiquette helps musicians, educators, travellers, and cultural enthusiasts better understand how Irish music sessions actually work, and why understanding the culture matters as much as understanding the music.

Media Inquiries: 

Katie Papadopoulos
SiPP Communications
katie@letssipp.com

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WHAT IS SESSION ETIQUETTE?

Irish traditional music sessions are often described as informal, welcoming gatherings of musicians.

But sessions are also shaped by subtle expectations around listening, timing, leadership, restraint, confidence, humility, and group awareness.

Much of this knowledge is rarely taught directly.

Session Etiquette was created to interpret these often-unspoken aspects of participation and to help make visible the cultural knowledge that allows sessions to function.

Through podcast conversations, educational resources, and cultural experiences in Ireland, Session Etiquette examines and interprets how people enter, participate in, and contribute to a living musical tradition.


MEET TARA CONNAGHAN

Musician, Educator, Cultural Advocate, and Founder of Session Etiquette

Tara Connaghan is a traditional fiddle player from Glenties, County Donegal, Ireland, with more than three decades of professional experience as a performer, tutor, curator, and arts practitioner.

Her career has included work as a musician, teacher, arts consultant, festival director, television presenter, and cultural leader. She is a founding member of SíFiddlers, a current board member of Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, and a former board member of the Irish Traditional Music Archive.

Through Session Etiquette, Tara explores a simple but often overlooked question:

What does it take to enter a living tradition without damaging the thing you love and how do we interpret and navigate unspoken cues?

Available For


IN TUNE WITH TRADITION PODCAST

Perspectives on Session Etiquette in Irish Traditional Music

The award-winning In Tune with Tradition podcast explores etiquette, belonging, cultural transmission, and participation in Irish traditional music.

Through conversations with musicians, teachers, educators, writers, broadcasters, cultural leaders, and learners, the podcast examines how sessions function in practice and why cultural understanding matters.

Podcast Fast Facts

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