Cheshire-based composer and harpist Lauren Scott teams up with Scottish harper Karen Marshalsay on the new single “The Meeting of Friends,” a duet that traces its roots back to online harp ceilidhs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those virtual sessions, created as a way for harp players to play together in lockdown, led to an ongoing musical connection between the two players.
Their formal duo collaboration took shape while they were teaching together at a residential harp course in November 2024. Scott composed “The Meeting of Friends” in summer 2024, and the piece was finalized in August 2025 when the pair met in Cheshire to record the duet.
The recording presents three distinct types of harp: the modern lever harp, the wire-strung clarsach associated with the Gaels, and the bray harp, whose characteristic buzzing, sitar-like sound recalls instruments from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
Author: World Music Central News Room
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