Teresa Shine: Piano, Fiddle
Teresa Shine was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, into a neighborhood rich in Irish music. She began studying classical piano at 11 and at 13 began learning the Irish fiddle from Phil Durkin, a native of county Sligo and true aficionado of Irish traditional music. Phil took Teresa and her siblings under his wing and began teaching them tunes and stories from the south Sligo of his youth. For many years the Shine kids spent Thursday evenings at Phil's house, listening to and playing with the many musicians that gathered there for music and fellowship. These musicians, a veritable who's who of Southside Chicago Irish musicians, included flute players, Kevin Henry, Tommy Masterson and Albert Neary; box players Martin Byrne and Jimmy Coyle, fiddle players, Anne Scully and Frank Burke and many more! At 16 Teresa joined the Irish Musicians Association of Chicago and was soon playing at their weekly Tuesday Ceilis held at Gaelic Park.
Teresa currently hosts two weekly traditional Irish sessions: Thursday evenings at Molly Malone's in Forest Park and Friday evenings at Murphy's Pub in Palos Park.
Teresa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music (piano) from Saint Xavier University in Chicago and is currently working towards a graduate degree in Elementary Education at Dominican University in River Forest, IL.