Harp Makers Symposium 2025
2025-11-16 11:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Irish Institute of Music and Song
Come along to Cruit Éireann|Harp Ireland’s gathering of harp makers on Sunday 16th November 11am-4pm in the Irish Institute of Music and Song, Balbriggan.
Take the opportunity to meet some of our most renowned Irish harp makers, each of them living and making harps here in Ireland.
You will have a chance to learn from expert master craftsmen about the traditions and techniques that go into building our national instrument. You can find out too about how to care for your harp at our Harp Clinic, guided by some of the best harp makers in the world.
Ask all your harp questions at harp makers’ talks, panels and Q&A sessions and compare the sound of different harps at harp pop-up performances, featuring some of our up and coming young players.
Don’t miss out on joining the harp makers, who bring your harp from design to reality, and learn to care for it from the inside out.

Sonóir : Celebrating Harps
2025-11-30 17:00 - 20:00 | The Whyte Recital Hall, 36-38 Westland Row, Dublin, D02 WY89
This stellar event brings together some of Ireland’s finest harpers and musicians for an unforgettable evening of music. We are thrilled to present the world premiere of Sonóir, Cruit Éireann|Harp Ireland’s commission composed by Mel Mercier, performed by harpers Alannah Thornburgh and Niamh O’Brien, bassoonist Sinéad Frost and Malachy Robinson (Viola da Gamba) with Mel Mercier (percussion). The evening also features performances by Ireland’s foremost harp duo Cormac De Barra and Anne-Marie O’Farrell, newly-commissioned work by acclaimed harper-composer Michael Rooney performed by the 20-strong Harp Ireland Ensemble and performances from Biird founder Lisa Canny (harp), Laura Doherty (fiddle), Tod Doyle (drums) and Niall Hughes (guitar and bass).
Date: Sunday 30 November 2025
Time: 5pm
Venue: The Whyte Recital Hall, RIAM
Tickets: https://www.riam.ie/whats-on/sonoir

Music on the Farm Concerts - Maria Matthews (soprano) and Fiona Gryson (harp)
2025-12-07 15:00 | Cornstown House Farm, Cornstown, Ashbourne, Meath, A84 N512
Maria Matthews (soprano) and Fiona Gryson (harp)
Maria Matthews is an Irish soprano and honours graduate of the TU Dublin Conservatoire of Music and Drama. She also holds a Master of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Maria performs regularly with Irish National Opera as chorus member, most recently in their productions of Gounod’s Faust and Puccini’s La bohème. In opera scenes Maria has portrayed roles including: Mimi (La bohème), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes).
Maria took part in the 2021 “Raise Our Voices” and the 2023 “Celebrating the Voice” concert series, both curated by Irish Mezzo Soprano Tara Erraught. In 2021 she was the winner of the Birr Lyons Vocal Bursary in conjunction with the Trench Award, and in 2023 Maria was a Camerata Ireland Young Artist and a Voice Fellow at Opernfest Prague where she had the opportunity to sing with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in Smetana Hall.
Fiona Gryson enjoys a varied career as a professional, freelance harpist and teacher. A thoughtful and consummate curator, Fiona is a member of the Advisory Group for Cruit Éireann | Harp Ireland, director of the Fingal Harp Ensemble and co-director of the TU Dublin Conservatoire Harp Ensemble with Rachel Duffy and Clíona Doris. Fiona is in demand as a teacher of both Irish lever harp and concert pedal harp, running a private harp studio in Co. Dublin. A recipient of a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship awarded by Research Ireland, Fiona Gryson is pursuing PhD research with Prof. Clíona Doris and Dr. Helen Lawlor at TU Dublin Conservatoire. With clarinettist Berginald Rash, Fiona recently released their début album of clarinet and harp transcriptions entitled ‘Dathanna: Hues and Shades’ under the Orchid label. She has performed as Principal Harpist with the RTÉ National Symphony and Concert Orchestras, the Irish Chamber and the Ulster Orchestras. As a soloist and member of ensembles, she has performed extensively nationally and internationally, both live and on television and radio. With Rachel Duffy, she is delighted to co-direct Cairde na Cruite’s An Chúirt Chruitireachta International Harp Festival 2025.
