celtic @ temperance | Eleanor Dunsdon and Gregor Black

ELEANOR DUNSDON & GREGOR BLACK

DANNY KYLE AWARD WINNERS 2024, CELTIC CONNECTIONS

UKHA EMERGING ARTISTS 2024

“Eleanor Dunsdon & Gregor Black were something special ... a different feel and depth to the music” (FATEA)

“This is traditional folk with a soft jazz twist and it’s gorgeous.” (John Reed, The Compendium)

"innovative, beautifully delivered ... decidedly delicious" (Jon Bennett, Folking.com)

“The sound they created was amazing” (Jen Taylor, At The Barrier)

“... hugely atmospheric... the level of excellence was apparent throughout.” (Folknorthwest.co.uk)

Eleanor Dunsdon and Gregor Black are a Glasgow-based harp and percussion duo, who met during their postgraduate studies in Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2022. Blending their respective sounds of Scottish clarsach and Irish bodhrán, along with contemporary percussion and vocals, they form a dynamic and innovative new duo. Drawing on their shared experiences in classical, traditional, and jazz music, they aim to challenge perceptions of the clarsach and push the boundaries of the traditional music scene. The duo's debut EP, 'Let No Man', released on 26th April 2024.

Danny Kyle Open Stage winners at Glasgow's Celtic Connections 2024, the duo have been invited to perform at the festival next year. So far for 2024 the duo have featured as ‘Rising Stars’ at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, played as FATEA’s featured artists at Southport’s Love Folk Festival, and will showcase at Purbeck Valley Folk Festival in the summer. The duo have also been selected as the United Kingdom Harp Association's Emerging Artists for 2024, and will give concerts in London and Glasgow in the Autumn. Their music has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Ulster, FATEA’s Showcase Sessions and Celtic Music Radio.​

Eleanor and Gregor have been invited to present workshops at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, and for students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In February 2024 they presented a workshop and concert at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland alongside Ukranian bandura player, Anastasiya Voytyuk, showcasing the fusion of their shared musical traditions and the relationship between the bandura and Scottish harp.

​Alongside their duo project, Eleanor performs with award-winning Irish alt-folk band, Ranagri, who in 2023 toured across Germany, France and the UK. In recent years she has performed at Manchester Folk Festival as part of the English Folk Expo, Costa Festival in Ibiza, and the World Harp Congress in Cardiff. In 2024 the band will perform at Cropredy Festival, Shrewsbury Folk Festival, Bristol Folk Festival and Wickham Festival. Throughout 2023 Eleanor was involved in a collaboration project with singer and musician Tony Christie, touring the UK and recording a studio album to be released in 2024. Eleanor is currently working on a project with students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to commission new works by Scottish composers for an ensemble of classical string quintet, clarsach and fiddle, to be programmed alongside Sally Beamish’s work ‘Seavaigers’ for the same ensemble. This project aims to further explore the interplay between classical and folk repertoire and their place within the concert hall.

Gregor is a percussionist and bodhrán player, steeped in both classical percussion and the musical traditions of Scotland and Ireland. He has gained his BMus Hons in percussion from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance before relocating to Glasgow to receive an MA in traditional music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has performed at the BBC Proms in London, the Edinburgh International Festival, and was recently invited to attend Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop in Boston. Living and working in Glasgow, he runs a series of traditional music sessions in the city as well as travelling often to London to perform with his Irish trio, Green Time Folk, and ceilidh band, Stroma.

Videos

‘Courting is a Pleasure’ live at Celtic Connections 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAz03fz3AMY&ab_channel=EleanorDunsdon

Showreel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_yrALO8zl0&ab_channel=EleanorDunsdon

Links

Website: https://www.eleanorharpist.co.uk/projects

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3NsholflvbyHjuhHMRk2l0?si=Wa-XHu9yT5KsDSkQbK7O0w

Bandcamp: https://eleanorandgregor.bandcamp.com/album/let-no-man

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleanorandgregor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eleanorandgregor/