Fiona Monbet / O'Ceol

"At just 23, Fiona Monbet's career is already impressive. At the age of 10, she discovered jazz at a music summer programme organized by the celebrated violinist Didier Lockwood. Throughout her formative years, striving always for improvement, she was able to learn at first hand from many great jazz musicians. She has been invited to participate in many festivals, sharing the stage with renowned jazzmen such as Martin Taylor, André Ceccarelli, Biréli Lagrène, Marcel Azzola, Christian Escoudé, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Philip Catherine. In 2010, she also began touring with the stage show ""Django Drom"" (directed by film maker Tony Gatlif) playing alongside a cast of great jazz musicians headed by Didier Lockwood, Bireli Lagrène and Stochelo Rosenberg. Tour venues included Paris, Lyon, Perpignan, London and the Marciac Jazz Festival. She also took part in Tony Gatlif's feature film and follow-up documentary based on Stéphane Hessel's work Indignez-vous ! (Time for Outrage). For the past two years she has been supported by the French private copying rights Arts funding association, the Fonds d'action SACEM. Her SACEM grant has allowed her to make her first recordings leading to the release of her first album. This CD, O'Ceòl, contains nearly all of her own compositions. This debut album marks the emancipation of the young violinist starting out on a brilliant career, set to take the forefront."