Dave O’Neill is an internationally recognized multi-instrumentalist and has been a professional musician and teacher for over 35 years.  Based in Canberra, he plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, ukulele, banjo and sings. Dave has played with a number of Australian artists such as Eric Bogle and the Bushwhackers, and has toured and recorded overseas with a number of internationally acclaimed artists in America and Europe. He is well known in the Australian folk scene, both as a musician and as a former Artistic Director of the National Folk Festival.

Dave’s passion is for helping adults and children connect or reconnect with music as something they can do to enrich their lives, find community, and have loads of fun. If you are in to Irish music, bluegrass, country, old time and other forms of folk music – then Dave is uniquely experienced in all these forms of music.

“I have studied guitar for three years with Dave as part of my Bachelor of Music Degree at the Australian National University. Dave is a wonderful teacher and has a genuine passion for all kinds of music with a vast range of knowledge across many genres and instruments. It would be a struggle to find a more experienced teacher than Dave, throughout my degree we have covered so much, including; advanced jazz harmony and improvisation techniques, American and Celtic folk traditions, fingerpicking and alternating bass styles, playing by ear, composition, arranging, and even some instruments I never thought I’d get a chance to try like Banjo and Mandolin! A perfect balance between supportive and guiding, lessons with Dave have been by far the highlight of my degree. ”  

Harriet Blaazer-Grossi,  January 2016 (currently in New York continuing her music studies).