What a treat for me to travel to beautiful Wales to teach an Irish Harp Workshop as part of the very first Cambrian Harp Festival, in association with the wonderful Derwent Harp School. Participants of all ages and abilities leaned to play Planxty Irwin, by 17th century composer and harper, Turlough O’Carolan, followed by a beautiful slip jig by contemporary musician and composer, Liz Carroll.
The fabulous Welsh harpist, Harriett Earis, also taught a workshop on Welsh tunes and I was absolutely delighted to take part and learn two beautiful Welsh tunes: Dwr Glan and Ar Ben Waun Tredegar.
The festival culminated in a concert in which we had the pleasure of performing our new tunes (amongst much more) for a live audience in Aberystwyth. The highlight for me was listening to the immensely talented Harriet Earis perform a solo set of her original compositions.
Another highlight of the weekend was the wonderful Welsh storyteller who entertained us by the fire in the evening!
It’s wonderful to be part of a revival of traditional arts and culture. I love how people of all ages can get together like this, learning and playing music together, sharing songs, tunes and stories. Traditional music has such a special place today in connecting people with their land, history, culture and with each other. I have made some great friends this weekend and we are already looking forward to a harp weekend with me next year in Ireland!
You can watch some of the videos and hear some of the tunes from the weekend on Facebook: Irish Tunes; Welsh song
Causeway Harp School 