Every year, hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate Irish culture at the international Fleadh Cheoil or Feast of Music. The weeklong event is the largest of its kind and attracts thousands of musicians from all over the world who compete in traditional Irish music, storytelling and dance. Last year, that included Los Angeles native Rio Navarro, whose interest in Irish dancing led him to a love of traditional Irish accordion.

Navarro's Irish dance teacher, Margaret Cleary, explained on "LA Times Today" that a student does not need to have any connection to Ireland to excel in their style of dance and performance. 

"Rio's the classic example with a mother from Taiwan and a father from Mexico. No Irish connections whatsoever, but passionate about everything Irish," said Cleary.

Navarro began taking Irish step lessons at 6 years old. He said he was "shy and a little stubborn" at first, but then fell in love with the art form and worked hard to improve. He soon took an interest in the live music that accompanies dancers at competitions. 

"Whenever I dance Irish dancing competitions, there are always live music, and a lot of the time there's accordion, and I found that very interesting. So on my 10th birthday, I asked my mom if I can take an accordion lesson and she was like, 'oh yeah, sure.' And from there, I just completely fell in love with it. My classical teacher for accordion is Mr. Dave Caballero. He basically changed my life. Mr. Caballero opened a whole new world to me," Navarro said.

Navarro took virtual accordion lessons via Zoom during the pandemic, training to attend the Fleadh Cheoil in Ireland.

"After the first All Ireland I went to, I was a little bit disappointed in my result because I didn't get top three. It made me want to go back and show that you don't have to be Irish in order to compete, and that you have a fair amount of chance, even if you are not Irish. I basically took that failure and made it into a stepping stone and learned from my mistakes I previously had. I tripled my practice time basically, and that definitely paid off because I got second in next year. Obviously, second is very, very good. We still have that first place. So then I quadrupled my practice time basically, and practiced basically almost every single day for at least an hour. On the weekends would be like four hours. And it paid off. And then I won my first All Ireland," Navarro said. 

Winning that championship was an incredible feat, Navarro's accordion instructor, Annmarie Acosta Williams, said. 

"What happens is all of the best musicians all throughout Ireland and Britain and the United States and Canada have already been eliminated by the time you get to Ireland. So once you're at that stage at the final round, those are your only competitors. So to bring that to California and the United States, after learning virtually during a pandemic, is just beyond what any of us could have hoped and dreamed for," she said.

Navarro's parents spoke about their son's drive and talent. 

"We have nothing to do with initiating this interest is discipline, his focus, it's all driven by his enthusiasm and challenges that he puts on himself," Navarro's father, Alexis said. 

"He is really is a true hero for me, like he doesn't quit. He's that kind of kids that, especially with something he sets his mind to, he usually doesn't quit. It's intense," said Navarro's mother, Wanching. 

Navarro hopes to one day compete in the world’s most prestigious competition for accordionists, the Coupe Mondiale.

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