My Bio
Linda Hickman is an original member of the Washington, DC-based band Celtic Thunder and can be heard on all of their recordings. She learned to play Irish traditional flute from the late Jack Coen in the Bronx and later, from Mike Rafferty and Monsignor Charlie Coen. With Celtic Thunder, she has performed three times at the White House during the Clinton administration and for the Smithsonian's Inaugural Celebration for President Obama. In addition, she has performed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Folk Life Festival and at a concert featuring Irish music from New York, in Paris at Maison de la Musique. For the past 25 years, she has performed in concert with the original Celtic Thunder Band, for the Howard County Literary Society. She is an internationally recognized Irish traditional flute and tin whistle instructor and performer who has taught throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Europe. She is a member Ceol na gCroi Ceili Band and they play regularly for Irish Set Dancing throughout the New York/Tri State Area.
Linda’s original composition "Lament for Ron" from her first CD The Windy Day was the title track on the 2003 NATO documentary film Children Soldier’s of the Sierra Leone. Narrated by Michael Douglas, this film helped to raise awareness of the devastating effects of child abduction in Sierra Leone and the United Nations attempts to locate and reunite abducted children with their families. She is the 2012 inductee for The People's Hall of Fame Award for NYC sponsored by CityLore in conjunction with Staten Island Arts and, in October 2015, she was honored by the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural Center, East Durham, New York for teaching and playing Irish traditional music. In 2016, she was inducted into
the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann - Mid Atlantic Region Hall of Fame for her contribution to
Irish music in New York. She is the recipient of a 2016 Original Works grant from Staten
Island Arts, with public funding from the New York State Council for the Arts for her CD, The Forest Path.
Since 1990, in conjunction with teaching and performing, she has presented relaxation music programs for the elderly and disabled, and concerts for bed-ridden residents in hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout the New York area. In 2012, after receiving a grant from the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation, she taught "Whistle OutLoud"; a program where people with Multiple Sclerosis could learn to play music on the tin whistle. She currently run an Adult Day Program on Staten Island, NY for people with MS for the NYC Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; as well as visualization/meditation programs to promote self-esteem for people suffering with MS.
Linda’s original composition "Lament for Ron" from her first CD The Windy Day was the title track on the 2003 NATO documentary film Children Soldier’s of the Sierra Leone. Narrated by Michael Douglas, this film helped to raise awareness of the devastating effects of child abduction in Sierra Leone and the United Nations attempts to locate and reunite abducted children with their families. She is the 2012 inductee for The People's Hall of Fame Award for NYC sponsored by CityLore in conjunction with Staten Island Arts and, in October 2015, she was honored by the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural Center, East Durham, New York for teaching and playing Irish traditional music. In 2016, she was inducted into
the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann - Mid Atlantic Region Hall of Fame for her contribution to
Irish music in New York. She is the recipient of a 2016 Original Works grant from Staten
Island Arts, with public funding from the New York State Council for the Arts for her CD, The Forest Path.
Since 1990, in conjunction with teaching and performing, she has presented relaxation music programs for the elderly and disabled, and concerts for bed-ridden residents in hospitals and long-term care facilities throughout the New York area. In 2012, after receiving a grant from the Dana and Christopher Reeve Foundation, she taught "Whistle OutLoud"; a program where people with Multiple Sclerosis could learn to play music on the tin whistle. She currently run an Adult Day Program on Staten Island, NY for people with MS for the NYC Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; as well as visualization/meditation programs to promote self-esteem for people suffering with MS.
Original Celtic Thunder Band