This year’s festival will be hybrid with separate in-person and online zoom courses, in-person/filmed workshops and in-person/filmed concerts.

 We’ll be updating this post daily from Monday the 31st January with who you can expect to see performing and tutoring at the festival!

KEY DATES:

• Monday 31st Jan: We begin our daily announcements letting you know the fantastic artists and tutors who will be appearing at this years festival – check back here to see who the latest is!
• Thursday 10th February: Our box office will open for all in-person and on demand EIHF ’22 events.
• Friday 8th- 11th April: The 41st Edinburgh International Harp Festival.Iin-person at George Watson’s College, Edinburgh and online to the world. 

OUR LIST SO FAR….

SAVOURNA STEVENSON & STEVE KETTLEY (Scotland) – Performing as a duo on harp and sax.

TRISTAN LE GOVIC (Brittany) – Breton harp

CORRINA HEWAT’S “THE SONG of the OAK and the IVY” – another chance to hear the EIHF (2010) 80th/30th Festival commission), composed by Corrina Hewat and performed live by Corrina, Bill Taylor, Heather Downie, Tristan le Govic, Mary Macmaster and Wendy Stewart.

WENDY STEWART (Scotland) – Solo harp/voice

CALUM & MÀIRI MACLEOD (Scotland) – Brother & sister duo

MAEVE GILCHRIST (Scotland/USA) – with a *NEW* commission celebrating the 40/90 joint anniversary of The Clarsach Society and the EIHF

GABRIELLA DALL’OLIO (Italy/England) – Pedal harp

FRAYA THOMSEN (Scotland) – Winner of the 2021 Princess Margaret of the Isles Prize for Senior Clarsach

TRANSATLANTIC HOT CLUB (Wales/US) – Jazz trio with Ben Creighton Griffiths on Harp, Adrien Chevalier on Violin and Ashley John Long on Bass.

A NEW GENERATION: ROMY WYMER (Netherlands), PHOENIX ZHANG (Scotland), STEPHANIE HUMPHREYS (Scotland)

CORMAC DE BARRA (Ireland) – Irish Harp

SIOBHÀN ARMSTRONG (Ireland) with the Donegal singer DOIMNIC MAC GIOLLA BRÍDE

Our EIHF 2022 tutors are:

• Adrien Chevallier
• Ben Creighton Griffiths
• Bill Taylor
• Cheyenne Brown
• Cormac de Barra
• Corrina Hewat
• Doimnic Mac Giolla Bride
• Elinor Evans
• Fraya Thomsen
• Gabriella Dall’Olio
• Gillian Fleetwood
• Heather Downie
• Heather Yule
• Isobel Mieras
• Neil Wood
• Rachel Hair
• Savourna Stevenson
• Siobhan Armstrong
• Tristan Le Govic
• Wendy Stewart

We are proud to present to you a gorgeous new collection of 22 tunes, to mark the 40th Edinburgh International Harp Festival and the 90th anniversary of The Clarsach Society. Original compositions and arrangements of classic tunes by long-standing friends of both Society and Festival, with exquisite artwork by Festival designer, Jenny Proudfoot.

You can order it NOW (to be sent out after it’s expected publication date of 6th April) from our good friend Tim at Creighton’s Collection and you’ll also soon be able to order it from the merchandise page on this website.

Here’s a list of the beautiful music that will be in it:

• FLOWER OF LOVE – James Gray
• KATE GRAY – Isobel Mieras
• FAREWELL TO NIGG – Duncan Johnstone, arr. Cheyenne Brown
• MARRY ME NOW – Trad. arr. Sìleas
• TRANSITION – Jennifer Port
• AN T-IARLA DIÙRACH (THE EARL OF JURA) – Trad. arr Charlotte Petersen
• WHO’S FOR BUBBLY? – Corrina Hewat
• BRENDA’S ABBEY – Maeve Gilchrist
• LOOKING AT A RAINBOW THROUGH A DIRTY WINDOW – Calum Stewartt, arr. Rachel Hair
• THE COFFEE CUP – Màiri Macleod
• DREAMING ON DEESIDE – Irene Watt
• JANE’S AIR – Ailie Robertson
• CAERLAVEROCK – Wendy Stewart
• WALTZ FOR PARIS – Fiona Rutherford
• MOVING CLOUDS – Eira Lynn Jones
• HAGGISICITY – Park Stickney
• (UNTITLED JIG) DUET Highland Vocal Airs – Patrick McDonald arr. Bill Taylor
• THE HILLS OF LORNE – Charlie Hunter, arr.Ingrid Henderson
• DR MACMAHON, BISHOP OF CLOGHER – Turlough O’Carolan, arr. Elinor Evans
• WITH HER DOG AND HER GUN – Trad. (Petrie Collection) arr. Laoise Kelly
• SCARCE O’ TATTIES – Heather Yule
• CHERRY TREES AT MERCHISTON – Isobel Mieras

Some of the most-loved moments of our Festival are when we get to play the harp together: at the late-night sessions, in our courses, or, when the weather allows, under the blossoming cherry trees at Merchiston. 

We’ve been missing these opportunities and so want, as part of our online Festival, to give you the chance to play along – whether you’ve signed up to a course or not.  

A special version of the tune Rory Dall’s Port has been filmed for the double celebration of the 90th Anniversary of The Clarsach Society and the 40th EIHF and will feature at the end of all three “A New Generation” concerts (free to view at 1pm on Saturday 10th, Sunday 11th and Monday 12th April): we’d love you to join in and play along, too!

To help you do so, harp teacher and performer Màiri Macleod has filmed a workshop, taking you through the tune, arranged by our own Isobel Mieras.

You can download the sheet music for it here: HERE

Please note p1&2 on sheetmusic are the individual parts, p3 onwards is the full score)

We hope you enjoy learning the tune and can’t wait to have you play it with us during the festival!

Rory Dall’s Port (arranged by Isobel Mieras)

This wonderful, strong tune, believed to have been composed by the blind  harper Roderick Morison (1656- 1714), harper and bard to John Macleod of Dunvegan, is one of the few old Scottish harp tunes which have survived.  “Port” comes fom the Gaelic for a tune and it would have originally been played on the wire harp, while this arrangement, originally made for na Clarsairean, the harp orchestra  of the Edinburgh Branch of The Clarsach Society, is suitable for all kinds of harps. The tune was used by Robert Burns for his famous song of parting “Ae fond Kiss and then we sever.”