Katya Roberts Receives Annual James M. Curley Memorial Scholarship

High school senior Katya Roberts, a CIM student since kindergarten—tin whistle, Irish flute, uilleann pipes—said she is honored to receive the annual James M. Curley Memorial Scholarship that funds one full year of weekly music lessons for one student on one instrument.

The generous scholarship is funded by the Curley Family, in honor of their beloved brother and Uncle Jim, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Irish and Gaelic and spent his Sundays listening to traditional and modern Irish music.

Katya’s heart beats for trad music. Her dad is a musician, her mom is a fan, and Katya’s music memories go back to early childhood. She said, “My first experience playing Irish music and trying the tin whistle was at a CIM summer camp I attended when I was a kindergartner. We learned to play Irish Stew and Adrienne O’Shea was the teaching assistant!” She also recalls a first gig at the Underground Music Café with other CIM students, including Sophia and Henry Krekleberg. “I listened to Victoria Pierce performing before us and thought she was so talented,” Katya said. 

At age 7, Katya said her parents let her stay up past bedtime on a school night to see a Cherish the Ladies concert at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. “I was inspired when I met Joanie Madden after she performed,” Katya said. “She called me ‘Whistle Girl’ and said to keep practicing, but warned me not to get better than her!”

And practice Katya does. Every day, for a total of two or more hours, on all three instruments—whistle, flute, pipes. “I don’t watch the clock,” she said. “Practicing for me is more about what I accomplish than about putting in the time. I run through tunes I already know and practice learning new ones by listening and playing along. I refine sections of tunes that are challenging, and I might do exercises and scales.”

Another facet of practice for Katya is listening to great musicians. She said, “I have an old-fashioned trad CD collection, and I listen to Spotify all the time … when I’m walking, driving, sleeping … anything!” Katya enjoys a mix of true traditional and more modern styles with a traditional base. She also has been listening to Irish-music podcasts of musicians as she learns more about the academic side of the tradition.

Listening and learning inspired Katya to more recently take up the pipes. She heard Ivan Goff in 2022 at the CIM Minnesota Irish Music Weekend Master Artist Concert on the Celtic Junction Arts Center outdoor stage, and there was no going back. “He performed an unforgettable uilleann pipes slow air,” Katya said. “I recorded it on my phone, listened to it about a thousand times and knew that I had to learn to play the pipes.”

In student-mode, Katya soon discovered Calum Stewart. She loved his tunes, style and energy. And in 2024, she saw Kathleen Dugan Cavanagh perform at the Willie Clancy Summer School Piping Recital in Ireland. “I was thrilled to meet her in person a few months later in the Catskills at The Northeast Tionól,” Katya said. Excited that female pipers are becoming more common, Katya also counts Sheila Friel, Louise Mulcahy and Colleen Shanks among her role models.