& multi-instrumentalist
Chris Knowles plays a variety of instruments; his
principal instrument is the Celtic harp, and his other
main instruments
for traditional Celtic music are Irish bouzouki, whistle & low
D whistle.
He also often plays other more
improvisational styles of music, on electric
mandolin and alto and soprano saxophones.
Chris is a full-time freelance musician. He lives in
North Wales in the UK, and is available all over the UK and beyond for
public performances, and also for private bookings such as weddings,
corporate events etc.
An established solo Celtic harpist, Chris has recorded 22 albums and has been a professional musician for 30 years with Celtic harp as his main instrument, specialising particularly in traditional Celtic music including much Irish, Welsh, and Scottish material and also some Breton, Manx and Cornish music, and also some original material and live improvised music.
For weddings & corporate bookings,
Chris also offers a large selection of popular music on the
harp as an
alternative to the trad. Celtic material, or in addition to it.
He also has a set of early/medieval/renaissance music.
Chris has performed in widely varied venues including
arts centres, concert halls, theatres, arts festivals, folk festivals,
castles, hotels, museums, folk clubs, restaurants, on numerous TV and
radio programmes, at open air concerts, green fairs, and 2 Glastonbury
festivals. He has also played at a very large number of private events
such as
weddings, garden parties and corporate events.
He was the official harpist at Caernarfon Castle in North Wales for 9
years, performing there several times per week in the summer
months, and during those years he also played many live events at other
castles in Wales for CADW.
As well as his solo performances, Chris has worked in a number of duos and bands, including numerous performances and recordings with Welsh singer Heather Jones, fiddler Mike Lease, acoustic guitarist Anthony Griffiths, singer/songwriter Catrin O'Neill, and in particular with multi-instrumentalist & singer/songwriter Ben Walker.
Chris plays a 34 string Camac Ulysse harp, and also
an antique 30 string Morley clarsach.
He also plays fiddle, whistles and sax with local
North Wales-based ceilidh band
Mooncoin.
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*Latest album: Trad. instrumental album with BEN WALKER: 'The Coming of Spring'
on CD or DIGITAL MP3 DOWNLOAD- (see recordings page) -
Available on iTunes, Amazon, Groove, Spotify...
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CONTACT: For more info or bookings, please email chris@chrisknowles.org
(The terms "harper" & "harpist" have the same meaning, broadly speaking- though 'harper', being the older word, is often used to distinguish a player of the styles and techniques of traditional music, as opposed to a player of classical style; rather like "fiddler" may be used to distinguish a player specialised in traditional styles of music from a classical violinist.)e
Top Image courtesy of Chris Hanley