SUMMER SCHOOL OF EARLY IRISH HARP
SIMON CHADWICK
Simon Chadwick was born and grew up on the edge of the New Forest, in the south of England; he loved being up on the heath, or at the beach. His mother taught him change-ringing on tower bells when he was just a boy. He went away to University and studied physics for one year before switching to archaeology. He spent many years drifting, travelling, making things, and reading, before turning to music.
Simon taught himself to play early Gaelic harp, based on the earlier work of Ann Heymann. He became interested in researching the extant historical harps preserved in museums, and in commisisoning replicas or copies of them, and also in experimenting with historical stringing and setup. He also started collating and studying the sources for old Irish and Scottish harp music, trying to restore the old music to the reconstructed instruments. He published his discoveries on his research website at earlygaelicharp.info.
These studies led to a deeper curiosity about old traditional music in general, and Simon has become particularly interested in how music traditions work, their context, change, and revival.
Visit Simon’s website for photos, CDs & books, videos and more information.