Two of the Foremost Harpers of Ireland and Scotland Together!

Posted March 2nd, 2018

MASTERS OF THE CELTIC HARP

Gráinne Hambly and William Jackson. Coming up March 31, 2018 at 7 pm at Bangor Arts Exchange Ballroom. 193 Exchange St. Bangor, ME.

[ Tickets $20 ]

Gráinne Hambly and William Jackson are two of the foremost harpers of Ireland and Scotland. Combining their extraordinary talents on harp as well as concertina, tin whistle and bouzouki, The Masters of the Celtic Harp, have been performing all over the country and dazzling audiences with their artistry. Their Two Sides of Celtic show is a special treat.

“…the most creative interpretations of Irish and Scottish traditional music you’re likely to hear.”-IrishPhiladelphia.com

Since 1998 Gráinne Hambly has been touring extensively throughout the United States and has garnered an ever-growing following of devoted harp enthusiasts and has captured the Irish music fan with the taste for the fast, driving reels and jigs of traditional music. A lifelong County Mayo resident, Gráinne has won the senior All-Ireland titles on harp and concertina in 1994 and then the prestigious Keadue and Granard harp competitions. Her three critically acclaimed solo CDs, The Thorn Tree (2006), Between the Showers (1999) and Golden Lights Green Shadows, (2003) are “must haves” for every Irish harp player and fan. She and William Jackson teamed up and began touring as “The Masters of the Celtic Harp” in 2005 and have been traveling together ever since. They live now outside of Claremorris in County Mayo.
William Jackson of Glasgow has been at the forefront of Scottish traditional music for more than 40 years. Besides his stature as one of the leading harpers and multi-instrumentalists in Scotland, William has gained an international reputation as a composer. His “Land of Light” won the international competition in 1999 as the new song for Scotland. William was a founding member and creative tour de force of Ossian in 1976, which became one of Scotland’s best-loved traditional bands. The band, whose music influenced a generation of musicians, extensively toured the U.S. and Europe. Besides harp, he also plays tin whistle and bouzouki. William Jackson and his band Ossian were inducted into Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame Sept. 11, 2015 in Inverness Scotland and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Somerset Folk Harp Festival in July 2016.The Swannanoa Gathering awarded William its Master Music Maker award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004.

[ Tickets ]