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Ailie
Robertson is a musician in the broadest sense: composer, arranger,
teacher, improviser and harp virtuoso. “Her synthesis of Irish,
Scottish and contemporary harping technique into an individual style
represents the realization of otherwise unimagined possibilities for the
Celtic harp” (Niall Keegan, 2006).
Ailie
grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was immersed in the harp world from
an early age. Through her piano and Clarsach lessons she developed a
love for both classical and traditional music, and in 2005 gained a
1st-class MA in Irish Music Performance from the Irish World Academy of
Music and Dance.
Although
just 23 years old, she already has some of the most impressive
credentials in the Scottish harp world. A finalist in the Young
Traditional Musician of the Year 2008 and a 4-time National Mod Gold Medallist,
she was also 1st prize-winner at the inaugural London Harp Competition,
and best overall musician at the Edinburgh Competition Festival. She has
represented Commun na Clarsach for Scotland at the Pan Celtic Festival
in Ireland, and in 2005 she was awarded a scholarship from the ESU in
recognition of her 'virtuosic Clarsach playing', and was a winner of the
St Albans New Roots award. She played in the Scottish Harp Orchestra, Na
Clarsairean for many years, performing with them at two World Harp
Congresses - in Seattle and Prague.
Since
graduating in 2006, Ailie has been going from strength to strength as a
professional musician and has steadily gained recognition as a performer
and composer. She works as a soloist for Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music
Now! programme, and has given recitals at events all over Scotland,
including performing for HRH the Queen, and being invited to give a
private concert to the Lord High Commissioner and his distinguished
guests. She has played alongside many great Irish and Scottish musicians
and has supported BBC award winner Karine Polwart. Notable festival
appearances include Sidmouth, Cornwall, Whitby, The Edinburgh
International Harp Festival, St Albans and many others.
Ailie
is currently pursuing her interest in composition further having been
commissioned to write a piece for the Distil showcase in October 07.
When
she is not in the studio or on the road, Ailie is a much sought after
teacher around the UK and Ireland. She has taught at various festivals,
was co-founder and director of the highly successful Borders Harp
Weekend and tutors regularly for Feisean nan Gaidheal, as well as
teaching privately and in several schools.
She
has just released her first album with her band The
Outside Track on the Bedspring Music label, which has been
described as “the most exciting music, let alone folk music…in
years”, and hopes to release her debut solo album in 2008.
Visit Ailie's site
or listen to her on My Space
http://www.myspace.com/ailierobertson
and do check back to hear what she's been up to!