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b'Joanie was exposed to the finest Irish traditional music early in her life, listening to her father and his friends play music at family gatherings and social events. She began taking lessons from legendary flutist Jack Coen, and within a few short years she won the All-Ireland Championship on both the concert flute and tin whistle. In 1984, Joanie became the first American to win the coveted Senior All-Ireland Championship on the whistle. Throughout her musical career, she has amassed a plethora of awards and citations. Her merits include being the youngest member inducted into both the Irish-American Musicians Hall of Fame and the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Hall of Fame, she was chosen for the Wild Geese award, where she joined an impressive list of previous honorees including Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, Tony award winning playwrights and Nobel prize laureates. Irish America Magazine selected her twice as one of the Top 100 Irish-Americans in the United States and Earle Hitchner of the Irish Voice newspaper also named her Traditional Musician of the Year, all for her contributions to promoting and preserving Irish culture in the United States. In 2010, Joanie was forever immortalized on the streets of her native Bronx when a street was named after her on the Grand Concourse: \\u201cJoanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies\\u201d. In 2011, she was bestowed one of the nation\\u2019s highest awards as she was chosen for the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, joining an illustrious list of distinguished American citizens including six United States Presidents all singled out for their exemplary service to the United States. In 2012, Joanie was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Music Awards and also named a recipient of the esteemed USA Artist Fellowship Grant, including her as one of the most innovative and influential artists in America. In 2013, she was named Grand Marshal of the Yonkers St. Patrick\\u2019s Day Parade and in 2015 Joanie was named County Clare Person of the year. Her impact on Irish music has been revered around the globe and for that reason, the Irish Voice Newspaper named Joanie Madden one of the top 25 Irish American\\u2019s for the past quarter century. In 2016, Irish America Magazine named Joanie Madden, one of the Top 50 Most Influential Irish-American Women in the World. Madden is a successful recording artist in Irish traditional music having sold over 500,000 solo albums. She is in constant demand as a studio musician and has performed on over 180 albums with such luminary artists as Pete Seeger, Sinead O\\u2019Connor and the Boston Pops. She also performed and or helped arrange three Grammy award-winning albums; \\u201cPete,\\u201d with folk legend Pete Seeger; \\u201cCeltic Solstice\\u201d with Paul Winter and Friends as well as the soundtrack to the PBS documentary, \\u201cThe Long Journey Home \\u2013 The Irish in America.\\u201d She was the featured soloist on HBO\\u2019s Emmy nominated documentary, Barbaro The Nations\\u2019s Horse, the Emmy nominated BBC America\\u2019s television series, Copper and was presented with a Peabody Award for the ESPN documentary entitled, \\u201cThe Complete Angler\\u201d. She produced a PBS / American Public Television special, \\u201cCherish the Ladies, An Irish Homecoming\\u201d that won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy. Additionally she has worked and has been a featured soloist in Ric and Ken Burns\\u2019 critically acclaimed PBS documentaries \\u201cNew York\\u201d and \\u201cThe Way West.\\u201d Her involvement on the \\u201cCeltic Twilight\\u201d series of CD\\u2019s led to two platinum albums with over 1,000,000 in sales. She has toured with the Eagles\\u2019 Don Henley and was a featured soloist on the final Lord of the Rings soundtrack.'