VARO are Dublin-based singers and fiddle players Lucie Azconaga (from France) and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (from Italy) who perform Irish traditional songs and tunes with arrangement influences from the Folk, Baroque and Classical traditions, weaving around the melodies with harmonies, drones and countermelody.

The duo met in 2015 having moved to Dublin to pursue their love for Irish traditional music, and immediately started a fruitful collaboration. They travelled to Ireland along different musical paths, Lucie from jazz, classical music, and French folk, Consuelo from Irish trad, folk, and world music.  

Over the years they have had the pleasure of working in various projects such as Landless, Lisa O' Neill's Band, Ye Vagabonds, AlaSourCe and The Nomadic Piano Project.

Their eponymous debut album was released in January 2020 to great critical acclaim. 

Since then, they have performed at numerous venues and festivals around Ireland and abroad, including Tradition Now at the NCH, Quiet Lights Festival, St.Patrick’s Festival, Dún Laoghaire Folk Festival, TradFest, Tonn Nua (Berlin), Fête de la Musique (CCI, Paris), and for productions such as the Late Late Show on RTE, or TG4’s ‘Samhlú’ hosted by Tommy Tiernan.

VARO spent the last few years working on a new album based on collaborations. 

This project, conceived during the lockdown, is an ambitious project featuring the duo and eleven of Ireland’s most exciting and exceptionally talented traditional and folk acts on the scene: Ian Lynch (Lankum), John Francis Flynn, Anna Mieke, Alannah Thornburgh, Junior Brother, Slow Moving Clouds, Niamh Bury, Inni-K, Ruth Clinton and Cormac MacDiarmada (Poor Creature), Lemoncello, Branwen. 

OUR NAME
“VARO is the name of a river that, centuries ago, used to represent the border between France and Italy, then went from being more French to more Italian, floating through nationalities... like the two of us, coming from two different countries and finding ourselves falling in love with the Irish music and its culture”

 - Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi (VARO)

Hot Press Magazine

ALBUM REVIEW : “Varo do magic things to traditional tunes [...] is it too soon to talk about albums of the year?” JACKIE HAYDEN ********

REVIEW SINGLE ‘SOVAY’ : “Their unique blend of influences from the baroque and classical traditions and incorporation of drones and countermelody take the songs to transcendent heights [...] 'Sovay,' a haunting number complete with icy drones and entrancing harmonies.” JOEY MOLLOY, HOTPRESS

The Irish Times

ALBUM REVIEW : “The delicious austerity of the baroque intertwined with the current Dublin traditional music scene. Varo have mastered the art of subtle layering of tunes until they find their own peak.” SIOBHAN LONG ****

Folk Radio UK

ALBUM REVIEW : “It is an exciting time for Irish folk music, and Varo’s accomplished debut should position them at the forefront of the scene.” THOMAS BLAKE

REVIEW SINGLE ‘SOVAY’ : “Sovay is incredibly atmospheric, relying on a modernistic approach full of drone and darkness. It is a song that has been recorded hundreds of times, but it can rarely have been this moving. “ FRUK STAFF