Midnight Court Trio

Aaron Shirlow (Belfast) vocals, guitar and songwriter, Noel Minogue (Tipperary) button accordion, vocals and Bernd Lüdtke (Berlin) fiddle, bouzouki, bodhrán and vocals.

In the year 1995 the musicians Aaron Shirlow and Bernd Lüdtke, who had been playing together for quite some time, met Noel Minogue after he arrived at a session in the lively Berlin Irish Folk scene. After many a musical meeting together, they decided to take their sound further a field and formed the band “Midnight Court” taking their name from the famous poem by Brian Merriman “Cuirt An Mhean Oiche”. Each one of them has brought to the band their distinctive,characteristic musical experience, which is the origins of Midnight Court's individual,unique concept of sound. Their first big triumph was the musical cooperation with Marguerite Donlon's Ballet “Celtic Touch” with which they had enormous success in the Deutsche Oper, Berlin and in Longford Theater, Ireland.

In 1997 they produced themselves their first CD “Half Moon” with which the renowned agency Magnetic Music became immediately aware of and subsequently took them under contract. They effectively increased their popularity during the participation of the “St. Patrick's Day Celebration Festival” in the years 1997-99. Their second CD "Ear to the ground" followed and continued rapidly to find international acknowledgment / recognition. After a successful guest-tour of the U.S.A interest in Midnight Court was building with invitations to appear at the Pittsburgh Folk Festival and West Palm Beach Festival the next year.

In 2001 their third CD "Ring the bell… run like hell" and highly reviewed in the international press laudatory. Momentary climax in Midnight Court's career is the participation in Ben van Cauwenbergh's modern Ballet “Irish Soul” for which Midnight Court in cooperation with Brian O'Connor wrote the soundtrack. They have performed over 50 shows "live" in the State-Theater of Wiesbaden since the show first premiered in 2001 and because of the enormous success, an end is not yet to be foreseen. Midnight Court gives great pleasure with their live appearances, instrumental proficiency, harmonious song and a relaxed magnificent show.