Celtic Harp Orchestra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Celtic Harp Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Location | Como, Italy |
| Website | Arpaceltica.com |
The Celtic Harp Orchestra (CHO), founded in 2002 by Fabius Constable, is a musical formation composed primarily of lever harps, or Celtic harps, as they are commonly known, alongside other instruments such as cello, violin, flute, accordion, guitar, bass, drums, soprano voice and choir.[1][2] As of June 2018 CHO has released seven albums currently distributed by the label Ignorelands.[3] The musicians who are part of this project form an interesting and harmonious heterogeneous group, aged between 17 and 60 years. In full, the formation numbers 16 harpists, of whom 12 are women. An important role in characterizing the sound of the Celtic Harp Orchestra goes to the voice of soprano Donatella Bortone, who joined the group in 2003, after having worked with Fabius Constable in an earlier project, "Fir Soar", CHO is considered the largest Celtic harp orchestra in Europe.[4]
On July 4, 2002, during the International Festival of Art, culture, and Music, "Celtica", on a stage set up in the woods of Peuterey, at the foot of Mont Blanc, a group called Harpe Diem performed for the first time. It was an extemporized formation of 44 harpists[5] of all levels, from beginners to internationally acclaimed musicians, such as Briton Myrdhin,[5] who had accepted the invitation of Fabius Constable to play harp together. The concert was held in front of 4000 people. This first success was the beginning of the history of the Celtic Harp Orchestra. The group was then organized. A repertoire, initially composed of ancient melodies and traditional Irish music, was selected and the orchestra began to rehearse and perform together.
Since then, Celtic Harp Orchestra has given many concerts in Italy (at Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, in various conservatories and universities, including Bocconi, the Compagnia Humanitaria in Milan, Villa Erba, Villa Olmo, Villa Balbianello on Lake Como, Vittoriale degli Italiani, the festival Mi.To.) and abroad with concerts in Spain, Switzerland, France, Ireland (at Trinity College in Dublin), Germany, Britain, China, Japan and Korea. Alongside touring there has been an intensive recording activity, that led to the release of four albums.
