Katie Grennan

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Katie has been playing music and dancing as long as she can remember. At the young age of 12, she reached the highest level of Irish dancing by qualifying for and competing in the World Championships held annually in Ireland. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, she relocated to Chicago and has since become immersed in the local performing arts scene as both a performing artist and instructor. She has also toured many cities across the United States, Europe, and Asia and is the current fiddle player with the popular Celtic band "Gaelic Storm" (featured in the movie "The Titanic"), which tours over 100 days a year and headlines major festivals. Other career highlights include performing with The Trinity Irish Dance Company, Hammerstep of America's Got Talent, and Irish tenor Michael Londra and has made guest appearances with popular groups such as the Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, Ronan Tynan, and the Pittsburgh Symphony. In 2017, she was featured on "A Prairie Home Companion" during the live Chicago taping and also released her second solo fiddle and dance album "The Second Story", which features everything from ancient Irish melodies to original compositions. 

Katie believes in passing along the tradition of music and dance to the next generation, and has taught hundreds of children through individual classes and workshops at educational establishments such as Carnegie Mellon University, the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, the Burke-Conroy School of Irish Dance, and public school districts in both Chicago and Pittsburgh. Her areas of focus include helping classical violinists transition over to fiddling, and training fiddle players on how to play for Irish dancers in performance or competition.