MAEVE GILCHRIST

Maeve Gilchrist performing “Omoide” with Rhiannon Giddens & Silk Road Ensemble

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“One of 10 contemporary Artists rethinking Harp music.” Pitchfork

WHAT THE ICE GETS*

Antarctica was believed to exist long before any one set foot there. The ancient Greeks speculated that a large body of land must lie in the Earth’s far south in order to balance the weight of Asia and the Northern Hemisphere. This theory not only persisted but fueled exploration in search of a southern landmass well into the 18th century. By the time Ernest Shackleton launched his Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1914, belief had become reality and the race to unlock its secrets was well underway. Often thought of as then last major expedition of the Golden age of Antarctic Exploration, it was a time when this kind of adventure truly advanced the world’s understanding of science and nature while still being shadow cast and often funded by institutions founded on colonialism.

In this new innovative collaboration between Irish Music Icon, Seamus Egan** and lauded New York based Scots/Irish harper Maeve Gilchrist; the two musicians use their common lens of traditional Celtic Music to explore the blankest palette imaginable: The Antarctic. Utilizing a myriad of traditional instruments alongside electronic manipulation, sound design, poetry and spoken word. Step into the world of cruel ice, true camaraderie, austere beauty and human ego set against the backdrop of Europe in World War one and an Irishman far from home.

* Named after the collection of poetry by Melinda Mueller

**Co-booked with Myriad Artists

OTHER PROJECTS

  • Harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist’s The Harpweaver hones in on the idea of artistic nostalgia. When we can’t be with those that we love; surely the next best thing is to experience the catharsis of familiar sounds? Notes and words that bring a sense of connection, possibility and joy.

    Originally from Scotland, Gilchrist has been making her mark as a ground-breaking harpist in the US for the last seventeen years through her collaborations with artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, The Silkroad Project, Nic Gareiss, Viktor Krauss, Darol Anger, Solas and Okkyung Lee, but this album breaks new ground for her as she steps into her own as a composer and producer to illuminate her roots as a traditional folk musician through the prism of luscious string parts, electronic manipulation and an archived recitation of The Ballad of the Harpweaver, by the poet who became a celebrity of Jazz-Age America, Edna St Vincent Millay.

    Instrumentation: harp, guitar & string quartet (Aizuri Quartet)

    co-booked with Pink Noise Agency

    Alternate version include:

    • Solo Harp

    • Harp / Guitar Duo

BIO.

Decribed by one critic as “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”, Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility.  

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Maeve‘s innovative  approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at  home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish  folk group or using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting.  


She tours internationally as a bandleader and composer as well as belonging to a number of innovative collaborations including the prestigious Silkroad Ensemble, Arooj Aftab’s Vulture Prince Ensemble,  progressive folk-quartet DuoDuo (featuring percussive dancer Nic Gareiss, cellist Natalie Haas and Yann  Falquet of Quebecois super-group Genticorum) and a more electronics based project with Nashville bassist Viktor Krauss. She has appeared at such major music events as Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the historic opening of  the Scottish Parliament. She has played with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Tony  Trishka, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Darol Anger.


Maeve has released five albums to date, including her most recent 2020 recording, The Harpweaver which was hailed by the Irish times in it’s five-star review as “Buoyant, sprightly and utterly  beguiling….a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game." Other albums include three recordings for  the Adventure Music label including her 2017 release with bassist Viktor Krauss, Vignette and a self released solo-album, the Ostinato Project is a beguiling exploration of the possibilities of her instrument. In 2018 Maeve was a featured soloist on the Dreamworks blockbuster movie soundtrack, How to  tame your dragon: The hidden world. Maeve’s concerto for Lever Harp & Chamber Orchestra premiered in March 2024 with Virginia Symphony & Eric Jacobson.

Maeve was the first lever harpist to be employed as an instructor by her alma mater, Berklee College of  Music in Boston, where she taught for five years before switching to being a visiting artist in 2018. She  has written several instructional books published by Hal Leonard Music and 80 Days Publishing. She is  also an in-demand composer and arranger, with past commissions including a ground-breaking concerto for lever harp and symphony orchestra co-written with North Carolina-based composer Luke Benton and several works for harp and string quartet including her three-movement piece Pastures Red premiered at the Edinburgh International Harp festival in 2018. Maeve is the artistic director of the Rockport Celtic Roots and Branches Festival and the music director of WGBH’s Christmas Celtic Sojourn.

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