The Forge is Maeve Gilchrist, Anna Collition, Cara Frankowicz, and Nicole Rabata: North America's most powerful new traditional Irish music group. The Forge breathe fresh life into Ireland's traditional music - and deliver it with a punch. Hailing from both sides of the Atlantic, the women of The Forge perform a stunning fusion of tradition and today." Maeve Gilchrist, on Harp and vocals, was born to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. Immersed in the traditional music scene from a young age, at 17 Maeve was awarded a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston where she started to put down roots in the American roots music scene. Some of Maeve's performance highlights include the ICONS festival and the World Harp Festival. Fiddler Cara Frankowicz is a nationally renowned fiddle player who is currently based in Boston. In her early twenties Cara moved to Ireland, cutting her teeth on the cream of the Galway music scene. Cara has performed all over the world at events including the Philadelphia Irish Music Festival and has performed with artists such as the Chieftains and the Three Irish Tenors. Irish flutist Nicole Rabata has toured America and Europe including appearances at International Flute Festivals in Stockholm and Lund (Sweden), Temple Bar Trad Fest in Dublin, the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Scotland, WOMAD Festival in the UK among many others. Anna Colliton is one of America's leading exponents of the bodhrán, the traditional Irish frame drum. From Chicago, a city of Irish musical excellence, Anna plays a highly intricate style of drumming with masterful tonal and rhythmic variation. She has taught and performed at festivals across the country, including Milwaukee Irish Fest, and the New York Irish Dance Festival.