Combine the relaxing sweetness of the harp with the rhythmic piquancy of multi-cultural repertoire and you have a memorable evening concert with Alison Vardy.

This Victoria harpist brings her Celtic and Paraguayan harps to Steveston on Thursday, March 27 for a unique concert at Britannia Heritage Shipyard Site (5180 Westwater Drive)

With a passion for traditional folk music from diverse cultures Alison constantly searches out, and by ear transcribes, new repertoire for her harps. A concert program is likely to include selections from 5 continents and feature syncopated harmonies with improvised melodic variations.

The audience is included in the journey as Alison provides anecdote, humour and musical information to accompany each piece. It may be a Schottische from Brittainy or an Habanera from Cuba that you will first learn about and then savour.

Depth was something to notice at this concert…her concert was annotated by commentary between pieces that was educational, entertaining and pleasantly light hearted…. A complex embroidery of sound…runs, trills, triplets, glissandos played with the confidence of a seasoned player. Vardy is a master of the technique of the harp! Island Tides - Pender Island Concert

Alison has performed in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the U.S. and now teaches and performs full-time from her home in Victoria. She has two recordings: Harping On (1997) recorded in Dunedin, New Zealand, and Apasionada (2000) recorded in Victoria. A third CD, featuring traditional Cape Breton, Quebecois, Celtic, Balkan and South American music as well as many of her own compositions is in production. Visit her website at www.alisonvardy.com and sample the music!

…a vibrant array of multi-cultural harp music arranged to delight and soothe the senses. on-line arts magazine: rambles.com

Visit Alison Vardy’s Promotion Kit at www.alisonvardy.com for downloadable images and quotes. Thank you.

Alison will be performing many vibrant new compositions from her recently-released second CD, Apasionada. Also featured will be music from Galicia, Brittainy, Israel, Macedonia, Northumbria and even the far reaches of Africa!

Predominant in Alison's music is a strong rhythmic sense and sensitivity to emotional tone and colour.

Alison started playing the harp while living in rural New Zealand. She taught herself in the folk tradition and in 1993 built one of her current performance instruments in a luthier's workshop in Australia. For these concerts she will also be performing on a highly-resonant Celtic harp, custom-built by Sandpiper Harps (Oregon). Each instrument has its distinct sound qualities, but both are endowed with rich, warm tones, well suited to Alison's colourful arrangements and expressive playing.

Since returning to Canada from New Zealand in 1998, Alison has established herself as a high-quality professional musician, performing regularly at corporate, community and private events on Vancouver Island, the B.C. Mainland and Washington. She has recently completed tours of the Sunshine Coast and the Northern Gulf Islands and has a winter concert series planned for the Southern Gulf Islands and the Lower Mainland.

Alison has featured on a number of TV programs and has been the recipient of Arts Awards in New Zealand. Her two CD's, Harping On and the newly-released Apasionada, are available at her concerts and from her website at www.alisonvardy.com.

Visit Alison Vardy’s Promotion Kit at www.alisonvardy.com for downloadable images and quotes. Thank you.

Alison Vardy - Harpist
Performing on
Saltspring Island
at All-Saints Church on
Sunday, March 10, 2002 - 2pm

When harpist Alison Vardy performs, she promises her listeners "a luscious round-the-world tour. Rearranging folk music from around the world, this highly skilled and whimsical woman pulls and twists exotic rhythms from the strings." ("The Driftwood"- Gulf Islands Tour)

On Sunday, March 10 at 2pm Alison performs on two harps (Celtic and Paraguayan) at All-Saints Anglican Chapel in Ganges. Alison's popular concerts are a vibrant journey through the musical cultures of five continents, from Celtic Northern Europe to equatorial Africa and South America.

The audience is quickly absorbed into the journey as Alison weaves musical information, anecdote and humor into the program. Playing music is an opportunity to touch people emotionally, inviting them to create their own inner experience. The harp, used extensively for healing, is an ideal conduit for this musical expression and emotional communication. "Vardy's obvious oneness with her harps affirms her musical demand." (Gabriola Isl.Sounder)

In this concert, Alison will perform original compositions from her most recent CD, Apasionada, as well as brand new works still to be recorded. The program will also include her own harp arrangements of traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Greece, Brittany, Venezuela, Macedonia, Israel, Zimbabwe…with lots of surprises for the audiophile!

Alison is a full-time professional musician living in Victoria BC with her sound engineering husband Stephen and her two teenage children. For further information on harps call Alison at 250.598.6679 or visit her website and sample her music at www.alisonvardy.com

Tickets available at "Acoustic Planet" (Ganges) and at door.

Visit Alison Vardy’s Promotion Kit at www.alisonvardy.com for downloadable images and quotes. Thank you.