Kathleen Hartshorne
Kathleen Hartshorne performs the beautiful and haunting music of ancient and contemporary Ireland on her Irish Lever Harp. Singing in both Irish and English with her rich mellow voice, she takes you to a world of myth and magic in the misty emerald hills of Erin.
The inspiration to create a CD of the beautiful and haunting traditional music of Ancient Ireland actually came to her in the loveliest of spots in County Antrim, Ireland. On windswept mossy cliffs that dropped a thousand feet into the pristine blue and wild Irish Sea, she leaned against a faery tree in a timeless faery ring, and could see herself dancing a two-hand reel to music sung by the very rocks themselves. Her heart knew it had been longing to play the music of her ancestors.
In her youth, she was a classical musician studying voice and piano with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She even sang with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra Festival Choir. But after a brief trip to Ireland in 1999 to seek out her "roots," She fell in love with the Irish lever harp and the haunting strains of ancient Irish music. She returned to Ireland in the summer of 2000 traveling all over Ireland playing and studying. She had the chance to study Celtic harp with Janet Harbison, director of the Belfast Harp Orchestra, and Gráinne Hambly, principle harpist. She also was able to study Sean Nós (ancient) singing and modal harp styles from Gráinne Yeats at the Termonfeckin Harp Workshop in County Louth, Ireland. In Gleann Cholm Cille, County Dhun na nGall, she made her first attempts at learning the Irish language. Traveling with her two children, nanny, 10 suitcases, harp, equipment, and a 15 passenger van, they made quite a spectacle of themselves! The magnificent Irish countryside will never be the same again! But in the midst of the hubbub, and all the green, and the sheep and cottages, and the magnificent landscape: she found her Irish Soul... and the spirit-heritage of her ancestors!
Returning home to California, she set about learning the ancient language of the Celts from The House of Ireland instructors Tomás Page and Shanti Hofshi in San Diego. Gradually, she built her repertoire of ancient songs in both Irish and English. Mostly she chose songs that made her cry from the pure beauty of the music. When she is playing, she travel to a different land ... a noble land of mist-shrouded beauty. She is enveloped by the mellow strains of the harp and the songs that speak of myth and magic in the emerald hills of Ireland.
She's joined on many of the songs by Tim Brittain on the violin, and Bill Lee on the mandolin. She produced the CD herself. Tim Brittain, who plays with The Celtic Ensemble, is the recording engineer. The Graphic designer is Pam Boldizar. Bill van den Akker took the portrait of her with her harp on the back of the CD. The remainder of the pictures are from the faery glen in County Antrim that was her inspiration for the CD.
Gazing at the stunning beauty of the glens, she fell back on a faery tree in awe, her daughter quickly took the cover photo. Although she eventually had to leave Ireland, her heart and soul will forever reside in that very special land.
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