By Barry Lewis
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 05/13/11

Eileen Ivers was at life's proverbial fork in the road.

She was six credits shy of a master's degree in mathematics when she felt the hard tug of her Irish ancestors to keep hold of her fiddle and entertain the world with her own interpretation of Celtic music.

The daughter of Irish immigrants, Ivers grew up in the Bronx with a dream to work at NASA. Instead she had to settle for the mundane life of a Grammy Award-winning musician and nine-time All-Ireland fiddle champion who spent three years performing at Radio City Music Hall in the original production of "Riverdance" and has starred with more than 40 symphony orchestras, Sting, the Chieftains and Patti Smith, to name just a few.

Ivers returns on Saturday to the intimate setting of the Events Gallery at Bethel Woods with her group, Immigrant Soul, to again entertain with her unique fusion of traditional Celtic instrumentation, with a bit of American soul and funk.

Q. Does training as a mathematician help when fiddling?

A. My college professor at Iona said you can go anywhere with a math background. Best advice. There is a wonderful discipline, a rhythm, in higher math. It may sound strange, but to me writing music is an expression of the elegance of math, especially in the originality.

Q. I assume "Riverdance" offered a different kind of training?

A. First, as a native New Yorker, to perform at Radio City Music Hall was a treat. "Riverdance" allowed me to be creative on the improvisation, performing art. Moving around becomes second nature; it's an extension of your personality and the passion you feel for the music at that moment just carries you. And the audience eggs you on. No two gigs are ever the same.

Q. How hard was it to quit school six credits shy?

A. It took me a long time to get over what I did. I was in a great deal of denial. I was excelling academically, going for my master's, and I thought about my parents, who didn't have the opportunity to go to college, who left Ireland at an early age. It took a while before I realized I had a unique gift to share with audiences, to play Irish tunes and share with them the passion I have for my heritage.

Q. The New York Times called you "the Jimi Hendrix of the violin," and you're playing at the site of Woodstock.

A. No pressure, right? I was here a few years ago, and that first moment of playing "at Woodstock" wasn't lost on me. This place humbles you. You feel the spirit. It becomes a part of you. It gives you such energy.

Q. Are you going to be like Hendrix and burn your instrument?

A. I love my fiddle too much to go that far. But I will feel the passion.

blewis@th-record.com