THE living tradition keeps fermenting and discovering new ways to ensure that the music that has existed for centuries still finds favor with the younger generation.

One of the most fertile areas these days is the university environment which molds young minds and talents to think about the traditional music and dance forms that nurtured them in their formative years and find new viable ways to express them, particularly if it is a career they seek.

The most ambitious of these schools is the University of Limerick Irish World Music Center, and one of its more intriguing graduates in recent years is the all female performing troupe, Liadan.

Together now three years as Liadan, the six young ladies in their twenties studied around the same time at UL, all obtaining masters in traditional music performance though their paths had intersected over the years at various fleadhannas and festivals in Ireland.

Three hail from Galway, two from Limerick and one from Dublin, but all were steeped in the music and drew deeply from the well, and bring a common understanding and simpatico to the music they play.

Last September they released their first self-titled CD which has gotten rave reviews. In an early November performance in the Great Hall in Ennis as part of the Ennis Trad Festival, they held their audience in awe for well over an hour’s performance, including one of their big fans, accordion maestro Paul Brock, who also just finished a masters in Traditional Music Performance at UL.

Displaying a great a great stage presence and command of their material, it was an impressive debut for this seasoned observer.

First of all they are exceptional musicians and singers, but their arrangements also prove that they are attentive and daring artists who can offer a very different take on the familiar and make it their own which is its own compliment.

The CD features six songs like “P Stands for Paddy,” “Broom of the Cowdenknowes,” “Galway Bay” (the old version by Frank Fahey) with a different and more plaintive air, “An Spailpin Fanach,” “Donal Og” and “Amhran Mhuinse” (led by Gaelgoier Sile Denvir) that are refreshing and masterful in the inner harmony by the girls.

They show a similar thoughtful attack to the tunes as the instrumental parts are well layered and dramatic with a clear understanding of where their tunes came from, and their own roots.

Liadan comprises Valerie Casey from Carherline, who plays the fiddle, and Deirdre Chawke from Banogue, who plays piano accordion as the Limerick contingent.

From East Galway are Elaine Cormican on the tin whistle and Claire Dolan playing the fiddle, while Connemara native Sile Denvir plays the harp. (Sile is continuing for a PhD in Irish and Scottish traditional song.) Lastly is Sarah-Jane Woods from Dublin, who learned the flute from Michael Tubridy, one of the founding members of the Chieftains.

All can take the lead on a song or enter the gorgeous harmonies that are so carefully constructed. Almost as polished as their performance is their website (www.liadan.ie) because it is impressive packaging that enhances their presentation in both Irish and English and gives further evidence that they learned their lessons well.

They are currently touring the U.S. with the Chieftains and I don’t know if that would qualify them for more post-graduate credits but it will certainly heighten their exposure in the U.S. It should do the same for Culture Ireland, the Irish government support program for Irish artists aboard, and Foras Na Gaeilge, which sponsored their CD printed in Irish and English as well as the website who found them worthy recipients to show off the youth of Ireland today.

The Chieftains have invested scholarships in UL in memory of their late colleague Derek Bell, so dipping into that talent pool was a natural one for them when looking to augment their 2007 tour.

For Liadan, it is a door-opening opportunity, though they already had caught the eye of talent bookers at the Milwaukee Irish Fest and the Kansas City Irish Fest later this summer.

Given their accomplishments thus far on their own, and their ability to seek out funding opportunities to aid their career, we could be seeing a lot more of Liadan in the future, and that is something to look forward to.

This week you can see them perform with the Chieftains along with their regular contingent of harpist Triona Marshall and dancers Cara Butler, Jon and Nathan Pilatzke at the State Theater in New Brunswick on Thursday, March 15 at 8 p.m. (www.statetheaternj.org); New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Friday, March 16 at 8 p.m. (www.njpac.org) and Carnegie Hall on Friday, March 17 at 8 p.m. (www.carnegiehall.com) .