Heather Downie

Heather has always had a love of Scottish music, and has been singing for as long as she can remember. Her passion grew working with the late Martyn Bennett, after which she decided that a career in traditional music would be her goal.

At the age of 15 she began playing the Scottish harp and was immediately accepted into Splore, the traditional music course at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. She has studied under a number of talents including Corrina Hewat, Wendy Stewart and Savourna Stevenson and is currently working towards a BA in Scottish Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, studying harp with Patsy Seddon and piano with Mary McCarthy and James Ross.

Heather has travelled extensively in Scotland and her music has taken her as far afield as Germany, Demark, Latvia and New York, playing for dignitaries like Jack McConnell and Prince Albert of Monaco. She also provided backing music for Tom Conti’s rendition of ‘A Man’s A Man’ during Tartan week in America in 2006. Heather also has an interest in composition and Scottish history, folklore and the roots of the songs and tunes in her repertoire. She has 3 years teaching experience, both in schools and with individual pupils.

Heather’s future ambitions include seeing traditional music taught further in schools, whilst continuing to sing and perform on piano and harp. She is about to depart on the 2007 September tour of Canada with the band ‘Tyskie’, has just completed recording on Margaret Bennett’s new album ‘Take the Road to Aberfeldy’ and is preparing for a trip to Missouri in October alongside Folk music legend Brian McNeill.

‘…vibrant and thoughtful in her interpretation of traditional standards’

‘Her playing and singing merge together creating a magical experience for the listener.’

‘…she accesses the deepest part of the emotion of the music. Faultless.’