Kate Ellis is a cellist and Artistic Director of Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s leading new music group. She also performs with Martin Hayes’ Common Ground Ensemble and toured internationally with Bono on his Stories of Surrender show in 2022-20223.
Kate Ellis first worked with Gavin Friday with the Crash Ensemble, performing with Gavin Bryars at the O’Reilly theatre in Dublin in 2005. Since then she has worked with him on the Tomorrow Belongs To Me show, the recording of the 2011 album ‘catholic’ and subsequent tours including the Irish dates on the 2025 Ecce Homo tour.
Her recent work includes the release of a major new solo cello piece by Ed Bennett on the Ergodos label, a duo collaboration with Martin Hayes, and the curation of Europe: Here and Now, a contemporary music series at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. She has held residencies at festivals such as Sounds from a Safe Harbour and collaborated on new music projects with The Vernon Spring, Multi-Traction Orchestra, and international artists through Brawl Records’ Echolocation project.
Kate has premiered, commissioned, and recorded works by leading Irish and international composers including Steve Reich, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Nico Muhly, and Donnacha Dennehy. Her musical collaborations span genres and artists such as Bono and The Edge, Bobby McFerrin, Rhiannon Giddens, Martin Hayes, Ye Vagabonds, Laura Cannell, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Gavin Friday, Lisa O’Neill, Glen Hansard, and Karan Casey.
She has toured extensively across Australia, the USA, Europe, and China, performing at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Barbican Centre, the Kennedy Center, and Shanghai EXPO. Her recordings appear on labels such as Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Rough Trade, Brawl Records, Bada Bing, Crash Records, Claddagh Records, and Vertical Records. Kate Ellis is published by Mute Song.