Celtic Colleen Chloe

Chloe Agnew has the perfect name. Chloe means ‘a young green shoot, fresh blooming’, just like Chloe Agnew herself,youthful and yet already performing professionally for a decade. With both parents involved in entertainment it was ordained she would enter the industry, there was really, as Chloe says, no time to think of anything else.Chloe is eternally grateful for the supportive base her parents gave her.

Chloe is surprised by my Irish greeting when we chat on the phone. Not that it would baffle this young woman who with her international musical career is required to sing in English, German, Irish, Italian and Latin.

The ability to speak Irish is a useful skill for Chloe and the other girls which make up Celtic Woman, giving them a secret language they can converse in while on tour.

I tell Chloe I am talking to her from Tasmania and ask what she knows about our island state and am now surprised myself as she says “not enough!” and goes on to tell me she did some reading about Tasmania in a Lonely Planet Guide when last on tour in Australia.

Chloe is ironically, both the youngest and the veteran, being one of the original members of the internationally known Irish music group Celtic Woman. Surprising, though it may be, its Chloe ‘s tenth year of performing with Celtic Woman having started in the group when she was 14!, with all this experience behind her Chloe still feels at 24, she is only at the beginning of her career rather than a ten year veteran, and yes, now based in the US she is in the enviable position of having runs on the board that will serve her well in continued success both with the girls of Celtic Woman and in branching out with her solo career including acting.

As well as being a natural entertainer Chloe has always been a girl who cares about others and when she was just an 11 year old schoolgirl she and her friend were feeling distraught over children struggling in Afghanistan and the U.S.A. and wanted to help in some way. They saw other youngsters setting up lemonade stands and knowing their talent was singing Chloe asked director David Downes if she might be able to record a song to help the children, this song was ‘Angel of mercy’ which is on the album ‘This Holy Christmas Night’ . Chloe subsequently raised over 20,000 pounds for charity.

A believer in what you send out comes back to you, for her thoughtfulness and good works David Downes later supported Chloe in recording her debut album..

Through it all this accomplished young lady remains modest, saying that if she writes her life story it will be called ‘from Carnegie Hall to Lunch Duty’ a fact she experienced after returning from the highs of a tour with Celtic Woman to returning to school and being rostered on lunch duty!

Chloe is also looking forward to visiting Australia again in September. As Chloe says its like being home, especially with the many Irish making short or long term stays here, in fact Chloe tells me a lovely story that made her feel very much at home when she was in Sydney last time. After leaving her hotel for a walk in her new surroundings the first accent she hears at the traffic lights is that of a young Irish girl speaking into her phone.

True to her nature of wide eyed interest and a passion for travel Chloe enjoyed Australia on her last visit and took a little extra time after the tour to visit Mackay, Townsville and Cairns and do some tree swinging, something she had never tried before. Chloe hopes to stop in Uluru when she is in Australia in September.

Like their brother band, Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman work with a variety of genres and expertise that aims for wide appeal. The girls have a resident fiddle player and 3 vocalists all specialists ranging from the contemporary to the classical, musical theatre to traditional Irish music. The other thing about Celtic Woman is that it is a show all the family can feel comfortable seeing and hearing.

You can catch Chloe and the other Colleens of Celtic Woman at the following dates and venues:

THU 12 SEP 2013 Brisbane Brisbane Convention Centre
SUN 15 SEP 2013 Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
TUE 17 SEP 2013 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre
THU 19 SEP 2013 Wollongong WIN Entertainment Centre
FRI 20 SEP 2013 Newcastle Newcastle Entertainment Centre
SAT 21 SEP 2013 Sydney Sydney Entertainment Centre
SUN 22 SEP 2013 Canberra The Royal Theatre
FRI 27 SEP 2013 Perth Perth Arena
Paula Xiberras