What is the Emerging Artists Scheme?
Every other year the UKHA committee selects three soloists or ensembles at the beginning of their careers to take part in a collaborative concert series. With support from the UKHA, these artists will work together to curate, plan and perform nine concerts across the UK. Applications from solo harpists, duos and ensembles who work in any genre, playing all types of harp, are welcome.
2024 Emerging Artists
Tara Viscardi
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Eleanor Dunsdon (harp)
&
Gregor Black (percussion/bodhrán)
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Aura Duo
Maria McNamee
& Clara Gatti Comini
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Aura Duo
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Clara Gatti Comini and Maria McNamee are two concert harpists who began playing as duo after receiving the joint John Marson Prize for Outstanding Musicianship in 2020.
They both completed their undergraduate and master’s degrees at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, having both graduated with distinction in 2023.
The duo have enjoyed performing together for various concerts in and around London. Highlights include their debut recital at St. James Piccadilly, as well as their regular concerts in Greenwich at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, St Alfege Church and Queen’s House and as part of the Conservatoire Concerts series in Godalming.
In 2020, the Aura Duo recorded John Marson’s ‘Waltzes & Promenades’ for Da Vinci records, as part of the CD “A day in the life of...John Marson”. In 2023 the duo recorded ‘Gimnopedia Rapsodica’ for two harps, piccolo, flute, celesta and spoken voice, as part of Dr.Simone Spagnolo’s album which will be released on Spotify and Youtube in March 2024.
The duo enjoys collaborating with live composers on generating new music for two harps.
They both completed their undergraduate and master’s degrees at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, having both graduated with distinction in 2023.
The duo have enjoyed performing together for various concerts in and around London. Highlights include their debut recital at St. James Piccadilly, as well as their regular concerts in Greenwich at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, St Alfege Church and Queen’s House and as part of the Conservatoire Concerts series in Godalming.
In 2020, the Aura Duo recorded John Marson’s ‘Waltzes & Promenades’ for Da Vinci records, as part of the CD “A day in the life of...John Marson”. In 2023 the duo recorded ‘Gimnopedia Rapsodica’ for two harps, piccolo, flute, celesta and spoken voice, as part of Dr.Simone Spagnolo’s album which will be released on Spotify and Youtube in March 2024.
The duo enjoys collaborating with live composers on generating new music for two harps.
Eleanor Dunsdon (harp) &
Gregor Black (percussion/bodhrán)
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Eleanor Dunsdon and Gregor Black are a Glasgow-based harp and percussion duo, who met during their postgraduate studies in Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2022. Blending their respective sounds of Scottish clarsach and Irish bodhrán, along with contemporary percussion and vocals, they form a dynamic and innovative new duo. Drawing on their shared experiences in classical, traditional, and jazz music, they aim to challenge perceptions of the clarsach and push the boundaries of the traditional music scene. The duo plan to release their debut EP in Spring 2024.
In January 2024 the duo has performed for Glasgow’s Celtic Connections festival and been invited to participate in the Danny Kyle Open Stage competition. They are looking forward to performing as ‘Rising Stars’ at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival in April this year, as well as being Fatea Record’s featured artists at Southport’s Love Folk Festival in February. Their music has been chosen to feature on Fatea’s Showcase Sessions and broadcasted on Celtic Music Radio. |
Eleanor and Gregor have been invited to present workshops and masterclasses at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, and for students at The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton Music School. In February 2024 they will present a workshop and concert at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland alongside Ukranian bandura player, Anastasiya Voytyuk, showcasing the fusion of their shared musical traditions and the relationship between the bandura and Scottish harp.
Alongside their duo project, Eleanor performs with award-winning Irish alt-folk band, Ranagri, who in 2023 toured across Germany, France and the UK. In recent years she has performed at Manchester Folk Festival as part of the English Folk Expo, Costa Festival in Ibiza, and the World Harp Congress in Cardiff. Throughout 2023 she has been involved in a collaboration project with singer and musician Tony Christie, touring the UK and recording a studio album to be released in Spring 2024. Eleanor is currently working on a project with students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to commission new works by Scottish composers for an ensemble of classical string quintet, clarsach and fiddle, to be programmed alongside Sally Beamish’s work ‘Seavaigers’ for the same ensemble. This project aims to further explore the interplay between classical and folk repertoire and their place within the concert hall.
Alongside their duo project, Eleanor performs with award-winning Irish alt-folk band, Ranagri, who in 2023 toured across Germany, France and the UK. In recent years she has performed at Manchester Folk Festival as part of the English Folk Expo, Costa Festival in Ibiza, and the World Harp Congress in Cardiff. Throughout 2023 she has been involved in a collaboration project with singer and musician Tony Christie, touring the UK and recording a studio album to be released in Spring 2024. Eleanor is currently working on a project with students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to commission new works by Scottish composers for an ensemble of classical string quintet, clarsach and fiddle, to be programmed alongside Sally Beamish’s work ‘Seavaigers’ for the same ensemble. This project aims to further explore the interplay between classical and folk repertoire and their place within the concert hall.
Gregor is a percussionist and bodhrán player, steeped in both classical percussion and the musical traditions of Scotland and Ireland. He has gained his BMus Hons in percussion from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance before relocating to Glasgow to receive an MA in traditional music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has performed at the BBC Proms in London, the Edinburgh International Festival, and was recently invited to attend Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop in Boston. Living and working in Glasgow, he runs a series of traditional music sessions in the city as well as travelling often to London to perform with his Irish trio, Green Time Folk, and ceilidh band, Stroma.
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Tara Viscardi
Hailing from the Beara Peninsula in the South-West of Ireland, Tara Viscardi is an Irish traditional, baroque and classical harpist. First prize winner of the 2021 London Camac Harp Competition, Tara has performed and recorded in venues including Wigmore Hall, Abbey Road Studios, the Irish Cultural Centre, the London Irish Centre, the Irish Embassy London, Áras an Uachtaráin, the National Concert Hall Dublin, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Canterbury Cathedral. She has featured at festivals including the 2023 Cairde na Cruite International Festival for Irish Harp, 2020/21/23 Bloomsbury Festivals and the 2021 Harp on Wight International Festival. She was a prize winner in the World Music Competition at the 2023 Wales International Harp Festival as well as a quarter-finalist at the 2022 Dutch Harp Festival World Harp Competition for her project 'Improvise: Past to Present, Across Genres'.
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