Harpland – FitkinWall – Gloucester Guildhall

Over the last year we’ve been exploring the theme of Migration in its many forms. Graham has composed new works based on old Gaelic songs and tunes from bagpipe and fiddle books for my three harps – the beautiful medieval Gaelic wire harp (clàrsach), the buzzing Renaissance bray harp and the Scottish lever harp. This is an early opportunity to hear us perform some of the new works from our forthcoming album, as ancient music is re-imagined in looping, evolving patterns.

My background growing up in Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands  has driven the new album and the music you will hear tonight.  The enforced eviction and subsequent migration of crofters from the highlands, as part of ‘the clearances’ which benefited landlords and wealthy Southern sheep farmers, provides a central focus.