Máiréad Nesbitt

Máiréad Nesbitt is an Irish musician specializing in Celtic and classical violin who appeared on Broadway in 2018 in Rocktopia. Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, to John and Kathleen Nesbitt, both music teachers, she grew up alongside a sister, Frances, and four brothers — Seán, Michael, Noel, and Karl — all of whom are musicians. Nesbitt began playing piano at age four and took up the violin at age six.

Her formal education started at The Ursuline Convent in Thurles, County Tipperary, and continued at the Waterford Institute of Technology and the Cork School of Music, during which time she was a participant in the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. She subsequently completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College of Music in London, studying under Emanuel Hurwitz. Among the influences she has cited are violinist Itzhak Perlman, traditional Irish musician Michael Coleman, bluegrass artist Alison Krauss, and rock musicians David Bowie and Sting.

Nesbitt was one of two original fiddlers in Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance in the mid to late 1990s, contributing to the recording released in March 1997 and the filmed version released in November 1999. She also performed on the extended production Feet of Flames, whose recording appeared in February 1999. She later became a member of Celtic Woman, serving as the group's fiddler across numerous studio and live recordings spanning from the ensemble's self-titled debut in March 2005 through The Best of Christmas in November 2017. Her filmed performances with Celtic Woman span a similarly extensive catalog, from the group's 2005 debut release through Celtic Woman: Destiny in October 2015.

As a solo artist, Nesbitt has released three albums: Raining Up, issued in the UK in 2001 and in the US in 2006; Hibernia in December 2016; and Celtic Spells in February 2023. She has also contributed to recordings by The Dhol Foundation, appearing on Drum-Believable in 2005, and provided music for the Tinker Bell soundtrack in October 2008 and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure in September 2009, as well as the Harmonious soundtrack in October 2021 and the collaborative album Devil's Bit Sessions in June 2017.

In 2018, Nesbitt brought her performance career to Broadway with Rocktopia. She has been married to Jim Mustapha Jr., who served as Celtic Woman's lighting director, since 2011.