Sylvia Crawford
Sylvia Crawford specialises in the wire-strung traditional Irish harp. Although a multi-instrumentalist, her recent work has focused primarily on the harp and on harp-related research. Based on her study and new insights, Sylvia has developed a reconstructed method of playing the wire-strung Irish harp, using the named playing techniques and fingerings collected from old harpers. Sylvia has published one book, An Introduction to Old Irish Harp Playing Techniques, and is currently working on a second book which is a development of this reconstructed method of playing. She is also currently working on a collection of tune arrangements and settings, which she teaches and performs on the wire-strung Irish harp, and intends to publish as a series of repertory books when completed. After graduating in music and ethnomusicology from Queen’s University Belfast in 1992, Sylvia later moved to Galway, where she spent many years, teaching piano and developing her interest in the fiddle and in Irish traditional music. It was here that she first encountered the Irish harp with metal strings, which was later to become the focus of her life’s work. She also spent a period of time living in Brittany, where she was involved in the traditional music scene, teaching and performing. Sylvia returned to her native County Armagh in 2013, where she now lives with her partner Simon Chadwick, also a wire-strung Irish harp specialist and researcher. Sylvia has collaborated and performed with award-winning singer, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, and provided research and video recordings for Pádraigín’s website project, Oriel Arts (www.orielarts.com). In 2018 Sylvia completed a Masters by Research in Ethnomusicology, which focused on the eighteenth-century Armagh harper, Patrick Quin. Sylvia owns two harps; one was made for her in 2020 by Pedro Ferreira; it is based on the original Castle Otway harp (Trinity College Dublin) which was associated with Patrick Quin. Her newest harp was made in 2024 by Tim Hampson, and is a copy of a John Egan wire-strung Irish harp. Sylvia considers teaching to be one of the most important aspects of her work, as a way of passing on her acquired knowledge, insights and reconstructed method of playing, and to ensure the survival of the revived tradition. She teaches locally in Armagh, and offers online virtual one-to-one lessons, worldwide. She has also been invited regularly to teach and present at festivals and events throughout Ireland, including Scoil na gCláirseach – Festival of Early Irish Harp.