Nadia Birkenstock
was born
in Solingen in the north west of Germany.
She started playing the piano at five and grew up listening to lots of
classical music.
Her first contact with the Celtic harp was when she saw the legendary
Scottish harp duo "Sileas" perform, and she instantly fell in
love with the sound of the instruments, the voices and the spirit of Celtic
Music.
Thanks to a scholarship, she received her first vocal training in the
USA (Westover School, Connecticut) and afterwards studied voice at the
Music Conservatory of Duesseldorf in Germany.
She taught herself to play the Celtic Harp at 16 and attended masterclasses
with Kim Robertson (USA), Bill Taylor (Scotland) and others.
During her vocal studies she created her first solo performance program
for Celtic harp and voice. This was very well received and Nadia has since
appeared to great acclaim in concerts at festivals, folk-clubs, concert
halls, churches, castles and many stunning venues in Central Europe.
Festival appearances include the "Rencontres Internationales de la
Harpe Celtique" at Dinan (France, Brittany), the "Schlossfestspiele
Potsdam Sanssouci" (Berlin), the Venne Folk Festival, Celtic Days
Hude, Keltenfest Buchberg (Switzerland)
Nadia has also appeared on tv and radio with WDR, SWR, RBB, France Musiques,
Celtic World Radio
Australia and others).
She also frequently plays for the Irish Embassies in Cologne, Munich and
Frankfurt.
Besides her repertoire of traditional Celtic folk songs and harp tunes,
she is also successfully performing her own songs and compositions.
In
2001 her first solo album "Emerald
Isles" was released with a repertoire of Celtic music and three
of Nadia’s own compositions, followed by "Wandering
between the Worlds" (2003), "Winter
Tales" (LAIKA 2006) and " Les
Berceuses de Coline " (Grandie Nature 2007).
The next album with Nadia’s latest original songs is scheduled for November
2008.
Musical cooperations
include live projects and recordings with "Morris
Open" , Sebastian Fuhrmann (percussion, piano, bouzouki), Mckinley
Black , Jo Freya ,
Dominique Dantand (organ), Cathrin
Pfeifer (accordeon), Northern
Lights (string quartet), Bernd Roth (diatonic accordeon), Sarath Ohlms
(percussion), Gabriele Steinfeld (violin, "Freiburger Barockorchester").
Nadia plays a celtic harp that is build by the German harp maker Frank
Sievert. (rosewood, tuning: E flat, 34 gut strings) and the CAMAC
Elektroharp 36 strings.
„Die Zuschauer können sich der Faszination, die von Nadia Birkenstock ausgeht, nicht entziehen“ schwärmt die Rheinische Post, als absolute
Landauf und landab hinterlässt Nadia Birkenstock überall ein völlig verzaubertes Publikum.
Als glaubwürdige Interpretin von irischen, schottischen und englischen Folksongs hat sie sich einen hervorragenden Ruf erspielt. So schrieb das renommierte Fachmagazin Folker! über einen ihrer Festival-Auftritte, daß es „eigentlich gesetzlich verboten sein müsste, daß jemand eine wunderbare, glockenklare Stimme hat, außerdem so unverschämt gut Harfe spielen kann und darüber hinaus noch in der Lage ist, beides gleichzeitig auszuüben. Und das Ganze so relaxt und natürlich, daß man nur noch begeistert von einem in das andere Lied oder Instrumentalstück träumt...“
Die gebürtige Solingerin studierte Gesang in den USA und an der Musikhochschule Düsseldorf und brachte bereits während des Studiums ihr erstes Konzertprogramm für Gesang und keltische Harfe auf die Bühne. Heute tourt sie durch Mitteleuropa, und hat drei Solo-CDs im Gepäck: „Emerald Isles“ (2001), „Wandering between the Worlds“ (2003), „Winter Tales“ (2006, Laika/rough trade) TV- und Rundfunkauftritte bei SWR, RBB, France Musiques, Celtic World Radio Australia u.a.
x www.nadiabirkenstock.com