Das Irish Harp Orchestra (vormals The Belfast harp Orchestra) besteht aus irischen Harfenistinnen, Bohran-, Pipes-, Fiddle- Spielern. Gegründet. geleitet, und präsentiert wird es von Janet Harbison - Komponistin und Irlands Meisterin des Harfenspiels.
Das Irish Harp Orchestra gibt weltweit Konzerte in New York's Carnegie Hall, Washington DC's, Kennedy Centre, Boston Symphony Hall, Royal Festival Hall, London, Barbican Centre, Birmingham Symphony Hall, National Concert Hall, Dublin und in der Münchner Philharmonie. Es spielte auf Festivals in Milwaukee, in Bonn, auf dem Festival International de l'Harpe Celtique, Brittany, dem Lorient Interceltique Festival, dem Carolan Harp Festival und dem Granard Harp Festival und war die Attraktion in zahlreichen nationalen und internationalen Fernsehberichten und Filmen, eingeschlossen die aus der Belfaster Stadthalle übertragene BBC Millennium-Feier.
Es ist Grammy Preisträger (zusammen mit den Chieftains) und hat bis heute 8 Alben in Irland veröffentlicht.
"Die sich gegenüberstehenden Elemente seiner musikalischen Tradition sind in einem universellen Fest der Kulturen vereint" (Sean Rafferty, BBC).

Das von LAIKA-RECORDS präsentierte Album stellt das Belfast Harp Orchestra zum ersten Mal in Deutschland vor. 15 Instrumentaltitel aus den bisherigen Veröffentlichungen wurden ausgewählt und neu zusammen gestellt.

The Irish Harp Orchestra is a new, young concert troupe of traditional Irish musicians featuring many current All Ireland Champions. Based at the heart of Ireland’s cultural capital in Limerick, the harp orchestra has a national membership comprising harpers from all over the country, along with uilleann pipes, highland (or Scottish) pipes, fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, mandolins and bodhrana! The Harp Orchestra concerts are always spectacular presentations of Irish music song and dance. We’re just sorry you can’t see us dancing on the CD!
The idea of the Harp Orchestra evolved from the Grammy Award winning Belfast Harp Orchestra (1992-2002) which was created by founder-director Janet Harbison to celebrate the bicentenary of the Belfast Harper’s Festival, the single most important event in Ireland’s cultural history.
Janet Harbison was born in Dublin in the mid 1950s at a time of great renewal and interest in Irish music. Having spent some time as a child boarding at an Irish language college in Rinn, County Waterford, her passion for traditional music and song inspired her career choice which after winning all major national and a number of prestigious international harp competitions, involved traveling the world as a performing soloist for a number of years. In 1984, Janet turned her attention to the 18th century manuscript collection of harp music gathered at the Belfast Harpers’ Festival of 1792. After two years as a Junior Research Fellow and a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at Queen’s University, Janet worked for eight years as Curator of Music for the Ulster Folk Museum, and for another eight years as CEO of the Harp Foundation, an organisation re-establishing the harp and working toward peace and reconciliation in Northern Irish life. The Harp Orchestras was part of this work. In 2002, Janet returned to her roots in the Republic of Ireland, where along with husband Malcolm Gullis, she established the Irish Harp Centre, a College for the study of Ireland’s national instrument (and emblem) and a Stage School for traditional Irish music.

DISCOGRAPHIE:

Janet Harbison & The Belfast Harp Orchestra 15 Tracks / 58:51 Minuten Bereich : IrishFolk VÖ : 30. 10. 2000 Katalognr : 3510131.2 Format: CD, Preis pro CD: 17.- Euro + 3.- Euro Versandkosten in Deutschland, 7.- Euro ins Ausland inklusive der derzeit in Deutschland gültigen Mehrwertsteuer. Streaming und Download auf allen Portalen i Tunes amazon e-mail an LAIKA