VARO

“Varo is the name of a river that, centuries ago, used to represent the border between France and Italy, then went from being more French to more Italian, basically through time, it couldn't really choose a nationality... as the two of us, coming from two different countries and finding ourselves falling in love with the Irish music and its culture” - Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (Varo)

VARO are Dublin-based singers and fiddle players Lucie Azconaga (from France) and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (from Italy) who perform Irish traditional songs and tunes with arrangement influences from the Folk, Baroque and Classical traditions, weaving around the melodies with harmonies, drones and countermelody. The duo met in 2015 having moved to Dublin to pursue their love for Irish traditional music, and immediately started a fruitful collaboration. They travelled to Ireland along different musical paths, Lucie from jazz, classical music, and French folk, Consuelo from Irish trad, folk, and world music.

Over the years they have had the pleasure of working in various projects such as Landless, Lisa O' Neill's Band, Ye Vagabonds, Alasourse and The Nomadic Piano Project. Varo released their debut self-titled album in January 2020. Since then they have performed at numerous venues and festivals around the country and abroad, including Quiet Lights Festival, St.Patrick’s Festival, Tradition Now at the NCH, Dún Laoghaire Folk Festival, Trad Fest, Tonn Nua (Berlin), Fête de la Musique (CCI, Paris), and for productions such as the Late Late Show on RTE, and TG4’s ‘Samhlú ’ hosted by Tommy Tiernan.

Their forthcoming album The World That I Knew is a collaborative, time-travelling exploration of shared human experience, weaving ancient songs with present-day resonance. This album features 11 of Ireland’s most exciting and exceptionally talented traditional and folk musicians on the scene: Ian Lynch (Lankum), Junior Brother, Slow Moving Clouds, Niamh Bury, Inni-K, John Francis Flynn, Ruth Clinton & Cormac Mac Diarmada, Anna Mieke, Lemoncello, Alannah Thornburgh and Branwen.

“It is an exciting time for Irish folk music, and Varo’s accomplished debut should position them at the forefront of the scene.” -Folk Radio UK

“The delicious austerity of the baroque intertwined with the current Dublin traditional music scene. Varo have mastered the art of subtle layering of tunes...” -The Irish Times

⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A collective triumph” – MOJO

“Outstanding... a new-school all-star af air” – Will Hermes (Rolling Stone, NYT, Pitchfork)

“VARO do magic things to traditional tunes”– Hot Press