James Ruff,
tenor and early Gaelic harp

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.