4 Girls 4 Harps

Last updated

4 Girls 4 Harps is a quartet of award-winning female harpists formed in 2000. [1] They play Salvi concert harps and modern electric harps. [2] As of June 2012, the members were Keziah Thomas, Angharad Wyn Jones, Harriet Adie and Eleanor Turner. [2]

Contents

Radio

The group's music has been broadcast internationally on ABC Classic FM [3] and in the UK on Classic FM, where their recording was David Mellor's Recommended CD of the week in June 2009,[ citation needed ] on Rob Cowan's Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 3 in September 2009, [4] and on BBC Radio 2's Melodies for You programme with Alan Titchmarsh in March 2010. [5] [6]

In December 2013, 4 Girls 4 Harps performed live on BBC Radio 3. [7]

In May 2015, the 15th anniversary of its formation, the group again performed live on BBC Radio 3 with the BBC noting, "Their upcoming concert at Temple Church in London features the world premiere of 'Tetra' -a four movement work based on the lives of four influential woman and composed by four female composers, commissioned by the quartet to mark the anniversary". [8] In the same month, they also performed live on BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour . [9]

In May 2017, Classic FM's Lizzie Davis noted, "4 Girls 4 Harps [have] made a name for themselves with innovative arrangements of well-known works – from Piazzolla to Borodin. Harps don't often get the chance to be centre-stage, but 4 Girls 4 Harps are changing that, with their creative and virtuosic arrangements of well-known works for harp quartet". [10]

Television

4 Girls 4 Harps have also featured in several TV programmes including S4C's Nosen Lawen (March 2010) and Wedi 7 (May 2009). The group were also showcased in an article in Classical Music magazine (August 2009) about upcoming new groups and in Muso magazine (Oct/Nov 2009 issue).

Critical reception

Reviews of 4 Girls 4 Harps' concerts include:

"...A varied and innovative repertoire and four engaging personalities: A star." - N2 Arts and Entertainment, May 2010

"... no gimmicks, no stunts, no fancy costumes beyond elegant evening wear – just engaging chat and rather lovely music." - Lichfield Gazette, July 2011

"enriched their audience with floods of melody in an eclectic yet well proportioned selection of musical delights." - South Wales Evening Post , July 2012

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio 3</span> British national radio station

BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The station has described itself as "the world's most significant commissioner of new music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Titchmarsh</span> British gardener, broadcaster, and writer (born 1949)

Alan Fred Titchmarsh HonFSE is an English gardener and broadcaster. After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he became a writer, and a radio and television presenter.

Classic FM is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations and is owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment (Global). The station broadcasts classical music and was launched in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aled Jones</span> Welsh singer, TV presenter and actor (born 1970)

Aled Jones, is a Welsh singer, radio and television presenter, and actor. As a teenage chorister, he gained widespread fame in 1985 with his recording of "Walking in the Air", which reached No 5 in the UK pop chart. He has since worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and on radio for the BBC and Classic FM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Baker (broadcaster)</span> English broadcaster

Richard Douglas James Baker OBE RD was an English broadcaster, best known as a newsreader for BBC News from 1954 to 1982, and as a radio presenter of classical music. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first reader of the BBC Television News in 1954.

Debbie Wiseman, OBE is a British composer for film, television and the concert hall, known also as a conductor and a radio and television presenter.

<i>Gardeners World</i> British TV gardening programme (since 1968)

Gardeners' World is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2024 series is the 55th. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its episodes have been 30 minutes in duration; however, this changed in spring 2020 when the format was extended to an hour. All episodes in the 2021 series onwards follow this 60-minute format. Gardeners' World currently airs between mid-March and late October on BBC Two every Friday. The programme usually takes a four-month winter break from November to February.

Catherine Bott is a British singer and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catrin Finch</span> Welsh harpist

Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. Finch has given recitals at venues throughout the world.

<i>Your Hundred Best Tunes</i> Radio programme

Your Hundred Best Tunes was a BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist were initially selected by the creator and presenter, Alan Keith. Subsequently, tunes were suggested by requests and polls of listeners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lizzie Cundy</span> English television presenter (born 1968)

Elizabeth Jane Cundy is an English socialite, TV personality and former wife of footballer Jason Cundy.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2007.

Melodies for You was a long-running BBC radio music programme, broadcast on Sunday mornings until 1992 and Sunday evenings subsequently, which presented works of light popular and classical music.

This is a list of events in British radio during 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Cowan</span> British radio presenter

Rob Cowan is an English music broadcaster and writer.

Claire Jones is a Welsh harpist who held the title of Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2007 to 2011.

<i>Highgrove Suite</i> 2010 studio album by Patrick Hawes

The Highgrove Suite is a contemporary classical harp concerto by Patrick Hawes.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 2, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

A timeline of notable events relating to Classic FM, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1992.

A timeline of notable events relating to BBC Radio 3, a British national radio station which began broadcasting in September 1967.

References

  1. "Mercury Must: Award-winning harpists in town". Stamford Mercury. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 "4 Girls 4 Harps: Saturday, June 9, 2012 - 19:30". BBC Music Magazine . Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  3. "Classic Drive with Julie Howard". Limelight. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  4. "Rob Cowan Breakfast Show". BBC Radio 3. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  5. "Alan Titchmarsh with Melodies for You". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  6. "Alan Titchmarsh with Melodies for You". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  7. Presenter: Sean Rafferty (17 December 2013). "4 Girls 4 Harps, Tallis Scholars". In Tune. BBC. BBC Radio 3 . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  8. Presenter: Sean Rafferty (28 July 2015). "Jubilee Quartet, 4 Girls 4 Harps, Jim Dale". In Tune. BBC. BBC Radio 3 . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  9. Presenter: Jane Garvey; Producer: Beverley Purcell (26 May 2015). "Rock Star Amanda Palmer on the Art of Asking". Woman's Hour . 36:05 minutes in. BBC. BBC Radio Four . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  10. Davis, Lizzie (19 May 2017). "You have to hear Piazzolla's Libertango on four harps". www.classicfm.com. Classic FM . Retrieved 7 June 2017.