Maz O'Connor

Maz O'Connor is a gifted singer of traditional and self-penned songs. In 2013 she was nominated for the BBC Folk Awards Horizon Award and selected for a creative fellowship with the English Folk Dance and Song Society at London's Cecil Sharp House, funded by the BBC Performing Arts Fund. She sings both traditional folk songs and her own compositions, and accompanies her uniquely pure voice with guitar, shruti box (an idea she "nicked" off fellow folk artist Karine Polwart), piano and harmonium.

Maz has been singing on the UK folk scene since she was 13 years old. Her first festival appearance was as an entrant in a young performers' competition, previously won by Kate Rusby. Persuaded to enter by her brother, his band were runners-up while she scooped first prize: She's been gigging ever since.