Talking Harps with Maeve Gilchrist | Pepper Canister Church

“a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”

Cruit Éireann | Harp Ireland presents

Talking Harps - Words and Music with MAEVE GILCHRIST

at the Pepper Canister Church, Mount St Crescent, Dublin 2

Sunday 27 November, 5pm

Supported by the Arts Council of Ireland

Performance and Talk by Maeve Gilchrist - “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”

Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Maeve‘s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish folk group or using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting.

Maeve has collaborated with the prestigious Silkroad Ensemble, Arooj Aftab’s Vulture Prince Ensemble, progressive folk-quartet DuoDuo (featuring percussive dancer Nic Gareiss) and a more electronics based project with Nashville-based bassist Viktor Krauss. She has appeared at Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the historic opening of the Scottish Parliament. She has played with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Tony Trishka and Kathy Mattea.

Maeve has released five albums to date, including The Harpweaver which was hailed by The Irish Times as “Buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling….a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game.” Other albums include three recordings for the Adventure Music label including her 2017 release with bassist Viktor Krauss, Vignette. Her solo-album, The Ostinato Project is a beguiling exploration of the possibilities of her instrument. In 2018 Maeve was a featured soloist on the movie soundtrack, How to Tame your Dragon: The Hidden World.

Maeve taught for 5 years at Berklee College of Music in Boston before switching to being a visiting artist in 2018. She has written several instructional books published by Hal Leonard Music and 80 Days Publishing. She is also an in-demand composer and arranger, with past commissions including a ground-breaking concerto for lever harp and symphony orchestra co-written with composer Luke Benton and several works for harp and string quartet including her three-movement piece Pastures Red. Maeve is the the co-artistic director of the new Rockport Celtic Roots and Branches Festival.