15 November Elizabeth Jane Baldry

We are delighted to welcome the return of the highly accomplished local harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, for what will be an enchanting concert. As a recitalist, she is well-known for her warm and approachable presentation style. The Bath Chronicle said of her: “It is hard to say just which was more pleasurable – the exquisite playing or the often deliciously outrageous stories of composers’ lives that Elizabeth Jane recounted in between the music.” She performs both nationally and internationally, giving around eighty performances a year from recitals in historic houses or specialist arts cruises to weddings and funerals. She has performed to sold-out audiences in the USA, Italy and France.

Elizabeth-Jane fell in love with the harp as a little girl whilst reading fairy-tales in which the harp possessed magical powers! She grew up to study at Exeter University and the Royal College of Music, and has been a full-time professional musician for over thirty years. As well as performing recitals, she is the only specialist silent movie harpist in the world, playing live to cinema screenings of early film, and has won multiple awards for her silent film accompaniments and compositions. Her uniquely rich tone on the harp has graced film and TV soundtracks screened in over thirty countries including Canada, Iceland, Kenya, Iran and South Africa. Her compositions have been used by ITV, the BBC and by Irish, Japanese, Danish and Canadian film, radio and television.

A life-long lover of nature, Elizabeth-Jane lives in the Dartmoor National Park. In her spare time, she loves growing trees and creating a magical woodland where she can brew tea in a twig kettle, keep bees and listen to birdsong. Sometimes she gets up on Sunday mornings early enough to sing in the church choir. Her tiny granite cottage is full of music, books and harps, and the kettle is always on for friends.

“She is a great artist and consummate performer. She can draw more tone colours out of the instrument than any other harpist living in the world today.” David Watkins, Professor of Harp, Guildhall School of Music

Here is a taster: https://youtu.be/XgcPT3ZR2JM?si=7pNtngm_kCm4qZyH