Born in NYC and raised in San Francisco, Athena Tergis showed a love and talent for the fiddle at an early age. She began with the Suzuki method of violin at age four, yet she yearned for more creativity and fun in her music. She found it at Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School where she attended for ten years with such greats as Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Alasdair Fraser and Buddy MacMaster and won the Junior National Scottish Fiddling Championship three years in a row.
At 16 years old, Athena released Journey Begun on Culburnie Records, an album of original music with fellow fiddler Laura Risk. Just after high school, she moved to Ireland where she immersed herself in Irish traditional music for nearly four years. Her playing attracted the attention of renowned box accordion player Sharon Shannon, inviting Athena to join her band for their ‘97 European festival tour. Her work in the Sharon Shannon Band includes the recording of the Gail Force TV series. After living in Galway, Belfast and London, Athena opened the production of Lord of the Dance in Las Vegas, and not long after was invited to become the principal fiddler for the Broadway production of Riverdance.
After completing the year and a half run of Riverdance on Broadway, Athena built Sonic Arts Studios, a professional recording studio and record label in Brooklyn NY. She continued to perform regularly, also toured worldwide for over a year with sax player Clarence Clemmons of The E street Band. It was during this time that Athena met Mick Moloney while attending Irish sessions in NYC. The pair had a rare musical spark and it wasn’t long before they were playing regularly together in The Green Fields of America.
In 2007, Athena released her solo album A Letter Home on Compass Records. Produced by John Doyle, it includes an A list roster of supporting musicians and represents her deep love and appreciation for Irish traditional music. Her album with The Green Fields of America; also on Compass Records, represents the melding and cross pollenization of Irish and American music which is still going on today. It includes contributions from many special guests who have been part of the group over the years as well as the current core member: Mick Moloney, Billy Mc Commiskey, John Doyle, Robbie O’Connel and Athena Tergis.
Now living in the village of Montalcino, Italy; Athena and husband Mario Bollag have built a state of the art recording studio called Terra Linda Studios in the hills of Tuscany www.terralinda.cd . While touring regularly on her own and with The Green Fields of America, Athena is also very involved in running their winery, Terralsole. www.terralsole.com
To find out more, please visit her website: www.athena.cd
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