Brian Mann, piano, Lou Pappas, double bass, Craig Wuepper, drums, Iain Mann, violin & guitar, James Ruff, voice. Mr. Ruff continues to explore mid-century French and Portuguese popular song, singing Piaf, Trenet and Jobim. Come cool off to some cool jazz!

https://www.vassar.edu/news/events/afternoon-jazz-and-popular-song

This course will introduce students to these two poets, one Scottish Gaelic and one Irish. James will teach students to sing and play a beautiful 17th/18th century song by Sìleas na Ceapaich.

The halls of the Mountain House echo with the sound of bagpipes as the Mohonk grounds transform into the highlands of Scotland! Our Scottish Weekend features award-winning musicians, concerts, workshops, Scottish history, Scotch whisky tasting, the “Address to the Haggis,” Scottish country dance, bagpipe-playing, and kilt-making. James will perform early Gaelic music for the Saturday evening Scottish concert as well as at daily Scottish tea...

Led by the Rev. Matthew Calkins, officiant, and James Ruff, Director of Music with the Grace Church Choir, "Joyful Noise" children's choir and special guests

Join us for a special candlelight service of readings and music, in the great Anglican tradition. A festive dinner of chilis and other dishes to follow in the parish hall. Free and open to all.

A beautiful service of readings, meditation, candlelight, and music on the longest night of the year, featuring James Ruff, tenor and early Gaelic harp.

led by the Rev. Heather Sisk and the Rev. Matthew Calkins,
with music by James Ruff, Director of Music, Grace Church Give your spirit a present, a day of music and movement and reflection on the theme of Many Marys, with talks on Mary Theotokos (God-bearer), Mary Magdalene and other Marys. James will be singing and harping the traditional Irish Lament of the Three Marys, and there will be further music, movement exercises and labyrinth along with a light lunch. Free and open to all; please let us know if you are planning to attend at 845-677-3064 or office@gracemillbrook.org

James Ruff explores the rich Highland repertoire for voice and harp from the 16th to 18th centuries, composed or collected by women, who, though excluded from official positions, proved important bearers of tradition in Scotland as musicians, singers, song collectors, and poets. Come experience their songs in Gaelic and Scots—laments for husbands, brothers and kinsmen, noble celebrations of clan chiefs, and beautiful farewells to home and to the “Music of the Clarsach” woven together with haunting examples of the enigmatic “Port,” said to be old harp music preserved in early Scottish lute manuscripts—rarely heard repertoire that is sure to transport you.

In this course, explore and become familiar with Edward Bunting's rare 18th-century hand-written field transcriptions, and learn where to access them online. Then, learn to play three beautiful 18th-century Irish harp tunes that Bunting included in his first published collection, The Ancient Irish Music, working from settings based directly on his field transcriptions of the Irish harpers. In hands-on class sessions, you will be guided to learning historically appropriate playing techniques and ornamentation to help you bring your own performances of early Irish harp music to life.

Tutors: James Ruff, Dr. Karen Loomis, Dr. Tamzin Elliott

I'll be teaching Harp, from the perspective of historic Gaelic harping, repertoire and sources, history, instruments and techniques - suitable for any harps.

Our 2024 Fèis, August 13-18, has a wonderful line up of presenters, we’re bringing native speakers from Scotland and Cape Breton to provide you with the best possible instruction in language, harp, fiddle, bagpipes, and song - as well as a wonderful immersive experience.

James will perform and teach as part of the Festival.

Join us in Kilkenny, Ireland OR live online each day to rediscover, and immerse yourself, in the music and traditions of Gaeldom's exquisite, ancient harp, guided by expert performers and researchers. Our aim is to share with you the ‘real deal’ of the music of the old harpers, exploring as much of their world as is now possible two centuries after the tradition died out, using everything from 18th-century manuscripts to cutting-edge 21st-century science. We warmly welcome players of ALL kinds of harps.

I'm excited to be singing two Édith Piaf songs with these wonderful colleagues!... Brian Mann, piano, Lou Pappas, double bass, Tom Melito, drums, Iain Mann, violin, guitar, Courtenay Budd, voice, James Ruff, voice

Concert: Womens’ Work: Voices of the Highlands - James Ruff explores the rich Highland repertoire for voice and harp from the 16th to 18thcenturies, composed or collected by women, who, though excluded from official positions, proved important bearers of tradition in Scotland as musicians, singers, song collectors, and poets. Come experience their songs in Gaelic and Scots – laments for husbands, brothers and kinsmen, noble celebrations of clan chiefs, and beautiful farewells to home and to the ‘Music of the Clarsach’ woven together with haunting examples of the enigmatic ‘Port’ – said to be old harp music preserved in early Scottish lute manuscripts – rarely heard repertoire that is sure to transport you.

Course 1: Exploring Historical Sources: Early Gaelic Harp Repertoire for All Harps - To play the Early Gaelic Harp means to become a sleuth in search of early repertoire – a challenge in a culture of oral tradition! Come discover where to find early Scottish and Irish harp repertoire and learn representative pieces from each source along the way. We will focus on Edward Bunting’s field manuscripts, 17th/18th century Scottish lute manuscripts, 18th/19th century publications, and later traditional archive recordings. These treasures all yield important clues on arranging for the early Gaelic harp - and all harps - along historical lines, where specific fingering, damping and bass hand use greatly enhance both expression and style.

Course 2: Singing Historic Songs at the Harp – First Steps in Self-Accompanying along Historical Lines - The harp has long been tied to poetry and singing, though getting a song up and singing at the harp can be a daunting task! In this course open to all, we will break down the act of singing to our own harp accompaniment into practical steps. We will look at representative historic songs in English (John Dowland), Latin (from Dublin Troper), Scots (King Orfeo) and Gaelic (Òran Chlann ‘ic Neacail), incorporating effective tools to match poetry to tune, learn and pronounce expressively in each language, and finally explore historic techniques and style further heightening each song’s expression at the harp.

Gaelic song and the wire-strung clarsach have an ancient history together – but self-accompanying at the harp can be a daunting task! James Ruff, tenor and early Gaelic harp, will lead an online workshop suitable for all levels addressing how to go about finding, learning, singing and playing a Gaelic song: self-accompanying at the harp. Using the example of one song, we will briefly talk about the general structure of Gaelic poetry, rhythmically speak through the lyrics together – making sure to clarify sounds that are difficult to form. We’ll take in the melody and explore the traditional art of matching it with the stresses of the poetry. We’ll play the melody on the harp, briefly looking at fingering and damping issues that arise, and explore ways to accompany this melody on the wire-strung harp following historic lines. We’ll discuss the idea of harmony and ornamentation in this tradition, and find ways to deepen expression. You’ll learn to put song and harp together, joining this ancient tradition of singing to the harp. We’ll finish by going through possible sources for early Gaelic song that can be sung to the harp, as well as Gaelic language sources in general. I’ll include a score and a recording of myself speaking the song lyrics slowly for practice, as well as a performance of the song.

Join us for an all-day online workshop: Singer and historical harper James Ruff will lead you through choice pieces from his repertoire of early music for harp and voice from Gaelic Scotland, bringing to life the 17th century world of the historic harper-bards. We will explore repertoire taken from the Maclean-Clephane harp Manuscript from the isle of Mull, the enigmatic Ports attributed to Ruaraidh Dall preserved in Scottish lute Manuscripts and Dow’s “Ancient Scots Music,” and you can try your hand and voice at a 17th century Gaelic song! We will investigate some of the history and lore surrounding these pieces and explore arranging them along historical lines, learning historic fingering, damping, ornaments, and style from the wire-strung early Gaelic harp tradition. These can be adapted and played with success on any harp. We’ll round out the day with an informal online ceilidh, sharing music and stories together.

Session times will be as follows:

Session One: West Coast 8am - 10:15am Mountain Time 9am - 11:15am Central Time 10am - 12:15pm Eastern Time 11am - 1:15pm

Session Two: West Coast 11:30am - 1:45pm Mountain Time 12:30pm - 2:45pm Central Time 1:30pm - 3:45pm Eastern Time 2:30pm - 4:45pm

Final Session: West Coast 2pm - 3pm Mountain Time 3pm - 4pm Central Time 4pm - 5pm Eastern Time 5pm - 6pm

James will teach Sìleas na Ceapaich's lament: Alasdair a Gleanna Garadh as part of this course, on March 2nd and March 9th.

Gaelic Scotland has a rich history of language, music, and song. This course will introduce you to the Scottish Gaelic language and take you through the basics of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. You'll then explore the historical tradition of heroic ballads, and learn where to find texts and tunes. Building on your introduction to the language, you'll learn to pronounce and sing an evocative Scottish Gaelic song.

This course is for anyone who wants an introduction to speaking and singing in Scottish Gaelic, and/or wants to improve their musicianship of the repertoire of Gaelic Scotland with an understanding of the sounds and stresses of the language.

James will perform a Gaelic song on the Classic Scottish Concert

Saturday, January 27th at 9pm

and will give a lecture on female Gaelic poets with examples of their songs entitled: Women’s Work - Voices of the Highlands (Obair nam Ban: Guthan na Gàidhealtachd)

Sunday, January 28th - 10am

The Highland Oral Tradition encompasses a broad and impressive range of poetry and music. Though officially excluded from the bardic orders, women increasingly became important bearers of tradition in Scotland as harpers and singers, and as poets and composers of song – fully employing the intricate bardic poetic forms. In recent centuries, women proved important collectors of traditional song. James Ruff guides you through some of the rich Highland repertoire of the 16th to 18th centuries – composed, collected, or inspired by women. Come experience these songs, in Gaelic and Scots, by poets such as: Mary MacLeod, Sìleas na Ceapaich, Julia MacLeod, the Baroness Nairne where women lament their dead husbands, brothers and kinsmen…nobly celebrate their clan chiefs, and even beautifully bid farewell to the ‘Music of the Clarsach.’

A time of meditation, candlelight, and music on the longest night of the year, featuring James Ruff, tenor and early Gaelic harp.

With Henry VIII’s declaration as King of Ireland, an interest in Irish music eventually brought the melting strains of the early Irish harp to the court of England as well as to those elsewhere in Europe. Late in Elizabeth’s reign and into that of James I, the wire-strung Cláirseach, pinnacle of Gaelic musical culture, was assimilated into a European context and heard alongside other Renaissance consort instruments. Come experience a taste of the Tudor & Jacobean sound worlds: James Ruff – tenor and early Gaelic harp, Susan Rotholz – flute, Andrew Rutherford – lute, and Patricia Neeley – viola da gamba perform music by Henry VIII himself, Irish songs referenced by Shakespeare next to those by Dowland and Byrd, and a collection of ancient harp laments contrasted with more modern pavanes attributed to Cormack MacDermott, Irish Royal harper to James I.

Join us at the Elmendorph Inn at 3 PM on Sunday, August 6, for James Ruff’s performance of early Scottish music composed, collected, or inspired by women. This concert is being presented and produced by the Hudson River Consort as a benefit for Historic Red Hook.

The Highland Oral Tradition encompasses an impressive range of poetry and music. Though officially excluded from the bardic orders, women increasingly became important bearers of tradition in Scotland as harpers and singers, and as poets and composers of song—fully employing the intricate bardic poetic forms. In recent centuries, women proved important collectors of traditional song. In this performance, James will explore the rich Highland repertoire of the 16th to 18th centuries—composed, collected, or inspired by women. Come experience these songs, in Gaelic and Scots, where women lament their dead husbands, brothers, and kinsmen, nobly celebrate their clan chiefs, and even beautifully bid farewell to the “Music of the Clarsach.” Interspersed with haunting early harp repertoire from Scottish lute manuscripts, this rarely heard repertoire is sure to transport you.

This concert—in the setting of the 1000-year-old tower of Kilkenny Castle—is a rare gathering of some of the world’s leading performers on early Irish harp and pipes, together with a prize-winning sean-nós [‘old style’] singer, in a programme of evocative and lively instrumental music, solo singing, and harp songs, some of which have only recently been unearthed, and reconstructed, after several hundred years of being lost to the living tradition.

Concerts take place live in Kilkenny. A video of each concert will be available to ticket holders, on this page, as soon as possible after each concert takes place. N.B. Concerts will not be live-streamed.