Jo Cresswell plays from her heart across her instruments: concertina, piano and improvisational step dance. Traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, France & Scandinavia is the music she loves the best.
She has performed as a member of various dance and concert bands including The Hudson Bay Company (USA) and The Perfect Cure and Halliracket in Australia. Her concert repertoire has come to the fore in duos with guitarist Dave O’Neill ; Cellist Rita Woolhouse, US flautist Kris Willits; instrumentalist Ben Stephenson & fiddler Sarah Davies.
Jo is co-founder and Director of the Charlotte Pass Celtic Music Camp. She’s committed to creating musical projects that are human scale, sustainable and encourage education and connection.
As an arts administrator she has managed numerous festivals, events, conferences, workshops and residential retreats. Jo was central to establishing the National Folk Festival in Canberra, as Assistant Director and an early Artistic Director. Jo and her partner Dave O’Neill returned to the National Folk Festival as co-Artistic Directors in 2023 to deliver an artistic program widely regarded as having the festival ‘reclaim its soul’.
Jo currently directs the Celtic Arts Agency, a primary school music program in Canberra; leads walking/music/singing trips in France; directs the Charlotte Pass Celtic Music Camp with Dave O’Neill and hosts residential singing events with Australia’s leading choir directors such as Rachel Hore, OAM, Moya Simpson, OAM and Nicole Murray.
Jo performs regularly and teaches Celtic music, step dance, piano, concertina and musicianship. Her business, the Celtic Arts Agency, fosters these and other activities.
