Corrina Hewat, brought up in the Scottish Highlands, is a harpist, singer, composer & arranger, musical director, recording artist, musical collaborator and Principal Harp Tutor (BA Scottish Music) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Corrina attained a degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music on Scottish Harp & Pedal Harp studying with Maire Ni Chathasaigh and went on to achieve recognition for her work with Bachué (with pianist David Milligan), Chantan (singing trio with Christine Kydd and Elspeth Cowie), Shine (with harpist Mary Macmaster & Gaelic singer Alyth MacCormack) and Scots big band supergroup The Unusual Suspects (nominated Live Act of the Year 2005).
Having developed a creative and powerful technique on small harp, Camac Harps sponsored her with the gift of an Electroharp in 2002 and she continues to work with them on developing a new instrument. She was a finalist in the BBC 2 Young Traditional Musician 1995; nominated Instrumentalist of the Year 2004 at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards; received second place in the 2012 Camac Harp Trophy competition at the Interceltique Festival, Lorient and is the recipient of a ‘Women in Music’ Award for composition. As a singer she is blessed with a beautiful earthy voice. The diversity of her stylistic influences is reflected by some of the artists she has recorded and performed with; Eric Bibb, Horse, Carol Kidd, Peggy Seeger, Gordie Sampson, Eddi Reader, Karine Polwart, Bobby McFerrin and in the British Council’s Shifting Sands project merging Middle Eastern music with the music of the UK, her input being described as ‘gold dust’ by the musical director Andy Mellon.
She has written thirteen large-scale commissions to date, the two most recent being a special 6-harp ensemble work for the Edinburgh International Harp Festival’s 30 th anniversary and Mr McFall’s Chamber string quintet plus folk quartet.
She is a Music For Youth mentor; has conducted Feis Rois at the Royal Albert Hall Music and performed there twice; judged at the Inverness Music Festival, Royal National Mod, Scottish Harp Society of America, New Hampshire Highland Games, Dinan Rencontre Harp Composer Competition. She musically directs the Unusual Suspects, the Gordon Duncan Experience and the TMSA Young Trad Tour and accompanying release on cd. She is also a guest tutor at the Highland Feisean. She is a SHSA sanctioned trained judge for the Harp Society of America and has run masterclasses over USA and Europe. Her vocal workshops at Celtic Connections over the last ten years have grown to such an extent she’s been seen teaching 150 people in one workshop! She musically directs the annual Harp Village in Cromarty in late September, and the Song School in Celtic Connections in January.
She is in the process of compiling her first book of tunes with all her traditional-style tunes to date while also working on releasing her second Scottish Harp tutor book, plus a harmony singing tutor book to accompany her singing workshops. She is also working on the Corrina Hewat band with their first outing at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival April 2013.