C04 - JAMES RUFF / MARIA MONK

James Ruff explores the rich Highland repertoire for voice and harp from the 16th to 18th centuries, composed or collected by women, who, though excluded from official positions, proved important bearers of tradition in Scotland as musicians, singers, song collectors and poets. Come and experience their songs in Gaelic and Scots – laments for husbands, brothers and kinsmen, noble celebrations of clan chiefs and beautiful farewells to home and to the music of the clarsach. All these are woven together with haunting examples of the enigmatic

Port – said to be old harp music preserved in early Scottish lute manuscripts – rarely heard repertoire that is sure to enchant you.

MARIA MONK

For Royal National Mòd Prizewinner Maria Monk, currently a student at Glasgow Gaelic School, Gaelic culture has always been a part of her life. A fluent Gaelic speaker with roots in the Western Isles, she loves singing, dancing and music and will share some of her favourite pieces with us today.

SUPPORTED BY: The Wire Branch of The Clarsach Society and An Comunn Gàidhealach / The Royal National Mòd