Helen MacLeod (1 December 1980 - 23 July 2018) was a Scottish harp player.

Helen MacLeod
Born(1980-12-01)1 December 1980
Skye
Died23 July 2018(2018-07-23) (aged 37)
InstrumentHarp

Life

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Helen was born on Skye on 1 December 1980 to Roddy and Dolores Macleod. Her father was a native Gaelic speaker, and she grew up in Inverinate on the shore of Loch Duich.[1]

She was first taught clarsach by Christine Martin, and then continued to study the clarsach and pedal harp at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh.[2] She learned the piano for a time as well, and was interested in Scottish and classical playing.[3]

Helen then went to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and studied with Welsh harpist Eira Lynn Jones before graduating in 2003.[1][2]

She had a varied career, working with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra among others. She formed a duo Hoot in 2005 with flautist Emma Wilkins, and they released an album Garden of Adonis on 2010.[1] Between 2009 and 2018 she taught at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh.[4]

She died in a car accident on 23 July 2018.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Helen MacLeod". The Times. 21 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary - Helen MacLeod, harp player". The Herald. 17 August 2018.
  3. ^ Julian Worricker (26 August 2018). Last Word. BBC.
  4. ^ "Helen Macleod 1980 - 2018". stmarysmusicschool.co.uk. 21 August 2018.