ELEANOR DUNSDON
HARPIST | SINGER

Eleanor is a harpist and singer currently living in Glasgow, having completed an MMus in Traditional Music at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in June 2023. Drawing on her background in both classical and traditional music, Eleanor loves exploring the versatility of the harp in cross-genre and collaborative settings. She is a member of award-winning Irish alt-folk band, Ranagri, who have toured folk festivals and venues across the UK, Germany and Italy, most recently performing at the World Harp Congress 2022 (Cardiff), the English Folk Expo (Manchester), Costa Festival (Ibiza), Towersey Festival (Oxfordshire), and Montelago Celtic Festival (Italy). In 2023, she arranged and recorded an album of traditional Irish songs with Ranagri and musician and singer Tony Christie, to be released in March 2024.

In August 2023, Eleanor was invited to perform with members of the Silkroad Ensemble at Jordan Hall in Boston, MA alongside harpist Maeve Gilchrist and percussionist Jamey Haddad. She was also invited to perform with Greg Lawson’s Grit Orchestra for the opening of the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival. Eleanor’s other previous ensemble experiences have included performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the London Concertante ensemble at St Giles' Cathedral (Edinburgh), as well as with BBC Folk Musician winner Luke Daniels (Luke Daniels and The Cobhers) and Irish singer, Cara Dillon. Alongside her duo partner, Irish bodhrán player and percussionist Gregor Black, they were recipients of the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Glasgow's Celtic Connections 2024, and will perform at the festival in 2025.

 

Other notable performance venues include York Minster, Donegal Castle, Eton College Chapel, London's Mall Galleries, the Bodleian Library, Highclere Castle and Spencer House London.

With a strong desire to explore collaborations between musicians of different backgrounds, Eleanor recently brought together students of the RCS from the jazz, classical and traditional departments to publicly perform Sally Beamish's double concerto 'Seavaigers' for solo clarsach, fiddle and string quintet. Through this she was awarded a place as a finalist in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Concerto Competition in April 2023.

Eleanor has a great passion for promoting the sound and capabilities of the clarsach, both in traditional and contemporary settings. As well as writing new material that fully utilises the versatility of the instrument, she strives to bring the clarsach to wider and newer audiences, less conventional venues, and challenge perceptions of the harp. She is excited to be featured as a “Rising Star” artist at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival in April 2024, where she will showcase new music written by herself and duo partner, Irish bodhrán player and percussionist Gregor Black. This music, which they plan to record on their debut album in 2024, revolves around the discovery of old Irish words from the West coast, used by older generations of fishermen to describe the varying temperaments of the sea which are now a fading part of the Irish language. Through the combination of the unique sound of the clarsach and percussion, newly-arranged traditional material and original writing, weaved together with spoken word and field recordings, they hope that their music will bring new life and audiences to the traditional genre.

 

Eleanor has had the privilege of previously studying harp with Sarah Goss, Georgina Wells,  Eira Lynn Jones, Charlotte Seale and Heather Downie. She herself has been providing lessons in both pedal and lever harp since 2012, to all ages and abilities and taking many through ABRSM exams.

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Get in touch with Eleanor here.