James Ruff

James is an award-winning singer (Royal National Mòd, Scotland; National Gaelic Mòd, USA) and harpist, from the USA, who has been researching and performing early Gaelic repertory for nearly twenty years. A fluent Scottish-Gaelic speaker, James has studied early Gaelic song with noted singers, Kenna Campbell and Mary Ann Kennedy, among others, and harp with Ann Heymann and Siobhán Armstrong, among others. He currently enjoys presenting concerts of this music at festivals, and at music series, in the USA and Europe, and is a regular tutor at Scoil na gCláirseach. As a tenor, James has degrees in voice performance from the University of Southern California and Boston University, his professional work ranging from medieval liturgical drama to French baroque haute-contre repertoire, bel canto opera and more. He has served on the music faculties of Amherst College, Smith College, MIT, the University of Connecticut, and Longy School of Music. He has taught at Vassar College since 2009, and teaches voice and harp privately. His solo CD, The Gaels' Honour: Early Music for Harp and Voice from Gaelic Scotland and Ireland, was released in December 2018.