"Hauntingly beautiful singing." (Swiss - Irish Newsletter, Bern, Jan. 2003)

White Raven is a vocal trio formed by Kathleen Dineen in 2001.

Kathleen, originally from Macroom Co. Cork, wanted to bring traditional Irish song into the realm of three-part harmony without the songs losing any of their original quality and simplicity.

With the American tenor, Robert Getchell and the Latvian baritone, Raitis Grigalis, WhiteRaven has a stunning blend of three beautiful voices and a clarity and directness that has thrilled audiences across Europe.

Their programme includes songs in the sean-nos style, traditional Irish and Scottish ballads, songs of Thomas Moore, O'Casey and Kavanagh and also medieval songs from England and Spain.

Kathleen Dineen

Kathleen grew up near Macroom, Co. Cork. As a child she had a great love of Irish traditional singing and was influenced by the music of Sean O Riada and the rich singing traditions of nearby Coolea and Ballingeary.

She studied music at UCC where she became deeply interested in medieval and renaissance music.While still living in Ireland she performed with harpsichordists Malcolm Proud and Christopher Stembridge and was soloist in a number of works by the composer, Gerald Barry.

Kathleen studied singing with Maeve Coughlan and Margaret Dillon and was a longstanding member of Madrigal 75.

She sang with the Clerkes of Oxenford, London and toured many of the major Early Music festivals in Europe. In 1987 she was awarded the Arts Council of Ireland Bursary prize to enable her to study singing at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Switzerland, where she studied with Richard Levitt and Dominique Vellard. Kathleen now teaches voice and medieval music performance at the SCB and is also guest teacher at CEMPR at the University of Birmingham.

She is lead soprano with the Ferrara Ensemble, director Crawford Young and features on their many recordings ( Arcana, WDR ). White Raven is the culmination of her expertise as a singer of Irish traditional and medieval song.

Robert M. Getchell

Robert Getchell began singing at the University of Massachusetts where he studied French and Spanish literature. In France he studied French baroque music at the 'Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles' and continued his studies with Margreet Honig at the Amsterdam Conservatory, specializing in early music interpretation with Howard Crook.

In Europe, Robert Getchell is frequently engaged as a soloist, performing with many ensembles such as Les Talens Lyriques, Concerto Köln, Les Folies Françoises, La Stagione Frankfurt, The Nederlandse Bachvereniging, l'Ensemble Pierre Robert, Al Ayre Español, and The Nedtherlands Chamber Choir and is also soloist in the Theatre and Opera of Rouen.

On the operatic stage Getchell has performed in various baroque operas such as Lully's Persée and Purcell's The Fairy Queen with Christophe Rousset and Lully's Roland withRene Jacobs. In America ,he regularly sings with L´Opéra Lafayette con. Ryan Brown performing in operas such as Rameau´s Hyppolyte et Aricie and Sacchini´s Oedipe a Colone. He will perform the lead role in Le Claire´s Scylla et Glaucus with Christophe Rousset in autumn 2005.

Robert Getchell has been invited to sing in various festivals in Europe such as the festivals of Versailles, Ambronay, Fribourg, Beaune and Utrecht, and he has recorded numberous CD's with works from composers from Charpentier and Mozart to Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Poulenc. Robert has had a great interest in folk music and spent many summers in Nova scotia as a child. He joined White raven in September 2004 realising a longstanding desire to sing irish traditional songs.

Raitis Grigalis

Raitis is originally from Riga, Latvia and grew up immersed in its rich musical culture and choral traditions. He studied at the Music Academy of Riga, graduating in 1997 with a degree in arts and music and specialising in choral conducting and composition.

He was a member of some of the finest Latvian vocal groups including the Chamber Choir " Ave Sol" with which he toured worldwide.In 1999 he was chosen to sing in a performance of "Requiem" by the German composer G. Zimmerman which took place in Carnegie Hall, New York.