Karen Marshalsay: 3 Scottish Harps

Karen Marshalsay is a master of traditional Scottish harp music. Playing all three Scottish harps – gut-strung, wire-strung and the distinctive-sounding bray harp – Karen has appeared throughout the UK, Europe, America and Australia. With a particular interest in pipe music, Karen has played with Allan MacDonald in his acclaimed pibroch concerts, including the Edinburgh International Festival’s From Battle Lines to Bar Lines series (2004), and for the National Piping Centre’s 2013 Ceòl na Piòba concert.

She was also honoured in 2018 as an invited participant at the Dáil Cruitireachta as part of Féile na Laoch which takes place every 7 years in memory of Seán Ó Riada in Cúil Aodha, Ireland. Between gigs with Irish music legend, Boys of the Lough founder Cathal McConnell’s group, Karen released her solo album, The Road to Kennacraig, in 2019, earning a four-star review in The Scotsman and showing her to be a fine composer of tunes in a living tradition. Full of musical insights, her concerts take you into the timeless world of Scotland’s ancient instrument.