Joey Abarta and Jackie O'Riley are also teaching at the Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School! Joey Abarta has spent more than half his life traveling, teaching, and performing music on the uilleann pipes. Originally from California, he first received instruction on the pipes from Dubliner Pat D’Arcy, a founding member of the Southern California Uilleann Pipers Club. In August of 2009, Joey’s accomplished playing won him a second place title worldwide at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. In the fall of 2014 Joey won first prize at the An tOireachtas, becoming the the first American uilleann piper to do so since 1969. In 2015 Joey was honored to be a recipient of a traditional arts apprenticeship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council meaning he was awarded a grant to teach his art to the next generation. This year Joey was awarded an Artist Fellowship in the Traditional Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council meaning he was recognized as a bearer and conduit of a cultural tradition by his peers and the state of Massachusetts. Jackie O'Riley spent her formative dance years in the Irish set dancing community in Boston, MA. Over the past 20 years, she has ardently sought out old-style or traditional step dancing, sean-nós dance, and set dancing and is now a respected performer and teacher, with a unique repertoire that includes older steps she’s collected from masters and field footage, and original material she’s composed. Jackie performs and teaches in the US, Canada, and Ireland, was an original member of the touring sean-nós dance show Atlantic Steps, and in 2018 performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as part of Na Píobairí Uilleann's production, The Sound of Ireland. She founded, directs, and teaches O’Riley Irish Dance, a unique, non-competitive dance program for kids and teens now in its 14th year, is the co-recipient of a 2017 and 2022 grant for choreographers through the Boston Foundation, and a co-recipient of a Mass Cultural Council Fellowship in Choreography in 2021.