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The Silverwood Quartet comes full circle in their exploration of Celtic music with the release of A Celtic Mosaic. When the group first formed over a decade ago, flutist/Celtic harpist Andra Bohnet brought in some arrangements for the group to play of music by Turloch O'Carolan, the famed blind harper (1670-1738), whose lilting Irish melodies have survived and are beloved to this day. It was the first time anyone in the quartet had heard of O'Carolan or paid much attention to Irish music in general, but it planted a seed of interest that took root and continues to grow.

The intense interest of Andra and Silverwood violinist Tom Morley in all things Irish and Celtic lead them to form a spin-off group, Mithril, which has become firmly established in the genre. And over the years, Silverwood has continued to find, commission, and create its own arrangements, developing a rich repertoire of Irish and Celtic-flavored music. We're pleased to present chamber music versions of these lovely tunes - we feel certain that many of these selections have never before been played in a quartet setting. We hope you enjoy these musical bits and pieces that comprise our Celtic mosaic.

This new CD features 76 minutes of music, eighteen selections in all. Several Irish composers are represented - Neil Martin, Seamus McGuire, Carl Hession, Shaun Davey and Seán Ó Riada as well as some new settings of traditional tunes. Mithril band mate, David Hughes, has composed a new work, Green Fields, for this project. Andra Bohnet contributed several new arrangements for the CD including the Lord of the Rings Suite, which features several selections from The Fellowship of the Ring including Enya's "May it Be." There is also trilogy of tunes in tribute to Celtic/New Age superstar Loreena McKennitt. David Hughes and Mithril guitarist Ben Harper join Silverwood for McKennitt's Santiago.