RENOWNED harpists from all over the world have been lined up to appear at this year’s Edinburgh International Harp Festival.
Concerts, courses and workshops will take place from March 31 until April 5 as the festival celebrates its 36th year.
Highlights include Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, former royal harpist to HRH Prince of Wales, performing with Edinburgh’s Mr McFalls Chamber, Scotland’s Corrina Hewat Quartet, Laoise Kelly and the Albeiz Trio from Ireland, Tristan le Govic from Brittany and Scotland’s Rachel Hair Trio.
“We look forward to springtime in Scotland when we will once again welcome performers from around the world with a huge diversity of styles and skills to share in concerts, workshops and classes,” said Isobel Mieras, EIHF joint artistic advisor and president of the Clarsach Society. “Some of the harping world’s greatest and most innovative players will be joining us to stimulate and inspire a new generation of players and this year, for the first time at EIHF, we are proud to have an entire concert presented by young Scottish players – hopefully the stars of future festivals.”
This year’s festival marks the 10th anniversary of the death of one of the most accomplished Celtic harp players, Kristen Noguès. The EIHF will celebrate her music, an influence on generations of harpists.
In addition, Scotland meets Appalachia when Isle of Skye clarsach player Màiri Campbell teams up with fellow Berklee College of Music graduate and fiddle player Jenna Moynihan to breathe new life into some traditional tunes, influenced by their time spent studying in the thriving Boston music scene.
“After 36 harp festivals and many more years of playing, I’m delighted that we continue to see innovations in playing style and repertoire yet still welcome back the more established players,” said Patsy Seddon, joint artistic advisor of the EIHF.
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