Karen specialises in playing all three Scottish harps: wire, modern levered clarsach and bray. As well as giving solo concerts, she performs with The Cathal McConnell Trio, The Whistlebinkies and piper Allan MacDonald. She has taught wire harp at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, clarsach at The National Centre for Excellence in Traditional Music (Plockton), and at Ceòlas (South Uist) in 2024. She also teaches her own online workshops and courses and has published several books of arrangements and technical work.
4 DAY COURSE: Sat / Sun / Mon / Tue 9.00am-10.30am TUTOR: Karen Marshalsay LEVEL: Intermediate/Advanced (see brochure p23 for explanation) TEACHING METHOD - E+M: Teaching will initially be by ear with written music given out during the session. Music publishing flourished in Edinburgh in the late 18th and 19th centuries, and this course will …
4 DAY COURSE: Sat / Sun / Mon / Tue 4.30pm-6.00pm TUTOR: Karen Marshalsay LEVEL: Mixed Ability (see brochure p23 for explanation) TEACHING METHOD - E+M: Teaching will initially be by ear with written music given out during the session. Featuring a mix of lullabies, waulking songs and other tunes from the Gaelic traditions of …
Karen will demonstrate each of the three Scottish harps: the older wire-strung harp of the Gaels with its long resonance, the more familiar modern lever harp, and the buzzing bray harp of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The workshop will look at the different characteristics, tones, timbres, and techniques of each harp and how players …
