For over sixteen years, Silver Arm has never failed to impress audiences with their energetic instrumentals and haunting ballads. They have worked with such luminaries as Ged Foley, Kevin Crehan, L.E. McCullough, Todd Denman, Liz Knowles and Kieran O'Hare and are featured on a compilation disk in Ireland "Trees Are Life" which is being sold to support reforestation efforts. Their CDs, "The Beech Tree" and "Never Despair" feature lively Irish dance music, beautiful ballads and Swedish, French and Romanian selections along with Irish music. They have appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony, Pops and Ballet Tech and are featured on a new animation DVD by Jen Delyth "Beyond the Ninth Wave" as well as on the Cincinnati Pops recording "Celtic Spectacular."

Band members include:

• Cindy Matyi: flute and concertina, founder of the Cincinnati Celtic World Festival and an internationally known Celtic painter whose work toured with the "American Celtic" exhibit.

• Stephen Matyi: bouzouki, guitar and banjo, also well known for his photography of musicians.

• Justin Bridges: fiddle; has studied fiddle with Kevin Crehan, Peter Horan and Joe Ryan and competed many times at fleadhs in Ireland and the US.

• John Sherman: finger style guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, a performer of traditional and Celtic music for over two decades, who has several solo and ensemble recordings to his credit and often accompanies folk singer Tom Paxton on tour. John has just released his third album "Far Green Country."