Ingrid Henderson

Clàrsach

Lochaber based instrumentalist Ingrid Henderson has been steeped in traditional music all of her life. With early guidance from music tutors such as Savourna Stevenson, Angus Grant and strong family influences, Ingrid couldn’t help but fall into a musical career and began performing, touring and recording at a young age.

Winning the BBC Radio 2 Young Tradition Award as a soloist in herearly teens acted as a launch pad and resulted in world-wide performance opportunities including appearances at the Vancouver Folk Festival and Dranouter, Belgium. Thereafter Ingrid focused on solo performances, touring, and working closely with her brother Allan (Blazin’ Fiddles) to produce a number of albums. This developed into more collaborative work and Ingrid’s band commitments have included Gaelic band ‘Cliar’, one quarter of the Glenfinnan Ceilidh Band and a duo with Skye-based singer Anne Martin.

Ingrid is also involved in different elements of work relating to the Gaelic arts. This includes media work as a performer, composer, presenter and musical director roles for BBC Alba series Innsean an Iar (Hebrides), ‘Cuimhneachan’ and the live flag-ship Hogmanay Show, Cèilidh na Bliadhn’ Ùire.

Ingrid’s teaching work is also very important to her and she is currently principal harp tutor at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music and lectures on the BA Gaelic and Music course at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Skye.

Her musical sensibility means she is much in demand as a session musician and accompanist and her name appears on many traditional recordings as a result. Ingrid’s own solo release “The Little Beauty” was co-produced with Donald Shaw (Capercaillie)and release on her and partner Iain MacFarlane’s own Glenfinnan based music label, Old Laundry Productions. This label has developed since and they have gone on to build and run a successful recording studio in the West Highlands.

“As though it were needed, here is proof that Ingrid is a musician of quite outstanding calibre, a virtuoso in terms of sensibility.” P. Urpeth, Living Tradition