Helen Webby & Davy Stuart | ||||||||||||||
Music for Celtic harp & guitarString wizardry extraordinaire. Take the top Celtic harpist in NZ (who also happens to be Principal harp with the Christchurch Symphony), add one of NZ's most versatile Celtic accompanists on guitar and bouzouki and you had a glorious instrumental combination, equally at home in a woolshed or a concert hall.Their repertoire ranged from the traditional music of Ireland and Scotland to newly composed material from NZ and elsewhere. In concert you could expect a varied selection of music - reels to polkas, airs to waltzes and, where appropriate, a few songs of definite Scottish accent. With the easy rapport that came from 20 years playing together, they enthralled audiences all round NZ and Australia. They completed a very succesful tour in early 2008 for Chamber Music NZ, including in their programme four pieces of new music from contemporary NZ composers which were specially commissioned for them. 2011 and 2016 brought further visits to the Australian National Folk Festival in Canberra as a featured overseas act, where they also tutored harp and bouzouki at the National Folk School. In performance they featured a gut-strung 34 string Neo-Irish lever harp made by Helen's brother Kim Webby and a steel-strung 6 string guitar and 8 string guitar/bouzouki made by Davy. When travelling, Helen sometimes used a 30 string carbon fibre harp made by Davy. They released their first CD “The Peacock’s Dance - Celtic music for harp and guitar” at the end of 2001 and in 2010 a second CD, "The Golden Strand". 2015 saw the release of their third "One Beautiful Day". But all things must come to an end and after 20 years playing together the duo regretfully made the decision to stop playing together - living 400 kms apart made the logistics of travel, rehearsal and peformance just too difficult. Listen to music from our CD's  CD review: The Golden Strand, March 2010 NZ Harp Society Journal This CD is a gem. These two musicians have worked together for years and it shows. The synthesis of their sounds and styles is wonderful to hear. One of the most beguiling effects in music is when the timbres of two instruments weave together until they almost can't be distinguished from one another -- and this is one of my favourite things about this album. The guitar and the harp come together beautifully in these lovely celtic tunes, some familiar, and some less so. There is a joyous sense of originality even in the well known melodies, with crisp and lively ornamentation and lilting phrases. Any lover of Celtic music will enjoy many listenings of this delightful CD. -- Carolyn Mills, New Zealand Symphony Contact: Davy 021 041 5793 Helen 021 664 344 Email: peacock@stuart.co.nz or helenwebby@gmail.com | ||||||||||||||
