Head of Gaelic Song at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to give presentation at Harvard University

Christine Primrose, Head of Gaelic Song at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, will travel to Boston this week where she has been invited to give workshops and a Gaelic Song Presentation at Harvard University. She will also be interviewed on ‘The World’, a leading public radio news magazine with an audience of 2.5 million listeners every week.

Christine said: “Being able to share Gaelic song at such a prestigious and respected institution will, I feel, help to raise further international awareness of Gaelic language and culture. To be asked to visit Harvard is a great personal honour and, as always, it is very heartening to know that the interest and respect for Gaelic is very much alive all over the World.”

Dr Decker Forrest, Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Gaelic and Traditional Music degree, said: “Over the years, music has probably been the single most important factor in raising initial awareness of Gaelic language and culture to others. Christine’s attractive, authentic singing, along with her experience and engaging personality, has allowed her to become a true ambassador for Gaelic generally and for the College specifically. Sabhal Mòr Ostaig celebrates Christine’s recent invitation to Harvard as yet another ‘win’ for Gaelic.”

Christine is one of the foremost singers of Gaelic song. Originally from Carloway, Isle of Lewis, she was one of the first ‘stars’ of Gaelic song during the folk rival in Scotland in the 1970s and 1980s and went on to travel the world, teaching and performing solo and with many leading folk bands and musicians. Her last album, Gràdh is Gonadh – Guth ag aithris (Love and Loss – A Lone Voice), by Temple Records, is entirely unaccompanied and has been hailed as an instant classic. She was named Gaelic Singer of the Year at the Scottish Folk Music Awards in 2009, inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and earlier this year was awarded an MBE for services to Gaelic music and culture and to education in Scotland and internationally.