CROMARTY HARP VILLAGE 2026

“I am delighted to welcome Fraya Thomsen to the festival for the very first time as a tutor, and thrilled to welcome back Mary Macmaster, who has been to the Harp Village a few times now!

The beauty of having different tutors every year is that you get to experience a wonderful variety of musical styles, learning techniques, session tunes, and teaching approaches. Plus, there will be plenty of lively harp chat during our lush meals together at the Brewery.

I know this year is going to be incredibly special. Spending time with Mary – the harper who inspired me to keep learning and showed me this could be a real career – and Fraya, whom I taught from her very first beginner steps and who is now out making her own music in the world, is a dream come true. I feel like the cheese in a very special harp sandwich!

Corrina x

Please try to book as early as you can so we can tailor the weekend just for you.

Tutor Spotlight

Corrina Dawn

Corrina Dawn (formerly Hewat) is a Scottish harper, singer, composer, and educator. She is MD of the Sangstream Scots Folk choir, and works across the country leading harmony singing and connection workshops. She is also a trusted harp tutor, serving as Principal Scottish Harp tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (2012-2022), winning Tutor of the Year in 2013 with a second nomination in 2020. Corrina co-founded the bands Bachué, Shine, and The Unusual Suspects, and theatre show Dragon Song Productions for the younger audience. She has collaborated with artists including Karine Polwart, Pippa Murphy, Kate Young, Eric Bibb, Kathryn Tickell, Dave Milligan and even had a sing with Bobby McFerrin. She has composed 18 large-scale works, released 14 albums under her own name/bandnames, and has been a session musician since 1995. Currently, she is studying Energy Medicine to aid her work with singers and musicians.

Mary Macmaster 

Inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame as part of the groundbreaking harp duo Sileas and with all-women ceilidh band Sprangeen, Mary is best known for her pioneering work with the metal-strung clarsach and the fantastic Camac electro-harp.  She is also a fine singer of Gaelic and English language songs. 

During the last forty years she has been an exponent of the Scottish harp and Scottish music, touring throughout the world with Sileas, The Poozies, Shine, Macmaster/Hay and award winning project, Songs of Separation.

She has worked with Dogstar Theatre Company in a production of Hamish MacDonald’s Seven Ages of Man, with Licketyspit’s wonderful children’s adventure tale Molly Whuppie, with Grid Iron’s The Devil’s Larder and with Anne Woods bio-play, When Mountains Meet.

Mary has collaborated live and in the studio with many wonderful musicians including Scottish hero Dick Gaughan, Northumbrian pipe virtuoso Kathryn Tickell, the late English folk legend Norma Waterson and Sting.

Fraya Thomsen

Fraya Thomsen is a harper and composer whose foundations began with the traditional music of Scotland. From an early age she was attracted by the raw emotional quality embodied by the Scottish musicians around her. She aims to draw on this in her approach to composition.    

Having composed music for a number of award winning short films, as well as for contemporary dance, artist’s installations and concert commissions such as Celtic Connections’ New Voices, she has recently scored a significant feature documentary ‘How Deep is Your Love’ (dir. Eleanor Mortimer).

Winner of the Princess Margaret of the Isles Scottish Harp competition 2022, Fraya has performed at festivals throughout Europe the US, South America and Australia most notably as one half of harp and song duo The Duplets who have released two albums to critical acclaim. These were followed by two solo recordings and four books of self composed harp music, now featured in the Trinity London Lever Harp syllabus.

With an MA in Composing for Film and TV from the National Film and Television School, a BA (Hons) in Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a PGDE in Primary Teaching under her belt, Fraya’s diverse interests are reflected in her body of work. She is especially delighted to be a part of Cromarty Harp Village as Corrina Dawn taught and inspired her from the first moment she played a clarsach!

The weekend includes:

• Six workshops across two days
• Friday evening tutors’ concert
• Harp Slow and Steady session
• Saturday evening harp session and singaround
• Shared meals and social time
• Residential and non residential options

Cromarty Harp Village is about more than learning technique. It is a chance to immerse yourself in music, connect with fellow harpists and enjoy a memorable weekend in one of Scotland’s most beautiful coastal towns.

Places are limited and early booking is recommended.