About Steve Horst

Steve Horst (author of this text), a professor at Wesleyan University, was originally trained as a classical cellist, and was a winner in the Baltimore Symphony's Young Artist Concerto Competition while in high school in Baltimore. I began playing Irish music on cello in the late 1980's while a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame with Midwest-based singer John Kennedy and other musicians who became the Notre-Dame based group Seamaisin. In 1990, I left Notre Dame to teach philosophy at Wesleyan University in CT.

I guess I would have to say I am somewhat of a pioneer in the use of the cello in Irish music. Having no models to work from, I have developed my own style of play, often borrowing from people working on other instruments, such as fiddle, guitar and pipes.

I have appeared on two studio albums with Seamaisin (one still in production), and on John Kennedy's solo album, I'll Learn to Fly. With Seamaisin's John Kennedy and Tim Fischer, I also provided sountrack music for Dennis Courtney's film of Joyce's "Araby" in winter of 1997. I am presently working on a Celtic Cello album at John Kennedy's I'll Learn To Fly Productions.

For more information about me and my day job, go to my homepage.