Cynthia Cathcart profile picture

Cynthia Cathcart

About Me

Cynthia is an expert on the Clàrsach, the wire-strung harp of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and of Ireland. Performing and teaching internationally, she is a leader in a new wave of interest in the wire-strung harp. Based near Washington, DC, Cynthia represents Ardival Harps of Strathpeffer, Scotland and is their North American Artist in Residence. Cynthia is a recording artist, and the author of several books for the clarsach. She holds a number of prestigious awards, including two-time U.S. National Scottish Harp Master Champion, three time winner of the Clan Lamont Trophy (in Virginia, Texas and Ohio), and holder of the Pennington-Grey Award for service to the wire-strung harp...

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 30/07/2007
Band Website: www.cynthiacathcart.net
Influences: Every person has so many influences, any list is incomplete. Add to this the fact that even bad experiences can influence art in positive ways and it becomes clear that no artist could make a complete list. I share with you here only my good influences, and offer sincere apologies to anyone who I may miss. * * * * * * * * *My influences include every one of my students from whom I learn so much more than I could ever teach; all the great harpers today who share their music and encouragement with me (several of whom are in my friends list, please do look there); my harpmakers; my friends; my father who was my first music teacher; my sons who are so generous with their support; my husband who is my constant inspiration and very best friend; and the great God who creates and thinks of everything: we're just doing her work.
Sounds Like: The sound of the wire-strung harp is often compared to the hammered dulcimer and the harpsichord. It has a very long history, with deep roots in the Gaelic speaking areas of Scotland and Ireland, and is sometimes called the Gaelic harp. A more common name is clàrsach from the Scots Gaelic, or in the Irish Gaelic cláirseach or cruit. No longer limited to Gaeldom, the clàrsach has in recent years spread its branches all over the world. A member of the harp family, its sound is similar to the other small harps, which are often referred to as folk, lever or Celtic harps. The main distinction is that the wire-strung clàrsach has metal strings, usually of brass, often of bronze, and sometimes even of gold or silver.

Our Day at the Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009..

January 18, 2009 - The Concert at the Lincoln Memorial..



Record Label: Highland Circle Music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

The Inauguration of the American President

We went to the Inaugural concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Alex, my younger son, Eric and I took the subway (the "Metro") into the city, and before we even arrived at the S...
Posted by on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:36:00 GMT

FAQs about the Clarsach (wire-strung harp or Gaelic harp)

The vision is that this will be a blog/resource for people who have questions about their clarsach. Please send your questions here to this blog and I'll do my best to answer them! Rather than for me ...
Posted by on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:11:00 GMT

Christmas in August

For my first blog, an important milestone for me: I'm going back into the recording studio to make a new CD. This will be Christmas music on the clarsach (wire-strung harp). The arrangements are from ...
Posted by on Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:05:00 GMT