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Canadian born and of Scottish and Irish decent Loreena abandoned her earlier dreams of becoming a Vet when the allure of music came to her. Unusually, she developed a passion for Celtic music, no doubt spurred on by her Scottish heritage, and began to play the Celtic Harp publically, busking round Toronto in order to raise enough money to advance her music.
It was here that Loreena began to develop her unique sound. She is generally considered a world music artist but is usual because of the extensive research she does on the areas where the music she is emulating comes from. In a way her music becomes folk music as the entire history of the place she is emulating becomes entwined in the music. For example, her research in the Galicia, the Celtic area of Spain, led to ‘The Mask and The Mirror’ an album that intertwined the Arabic and Celtic sounds that merged together in the area.
She has toured worldwide with the likes of Mike Oldfield and her music has been used in popular films like Ever After, all of which has helped to build her profile to the point where a number of her albums have turned multi-platinum. It’s not often a world music artist sells this many records, but the depth and history that is contained within her music has obviously helped it to resonate with a broader audience than previously thought possible.
Loreena McKennitt has the voice of an angel. Each time I hear her my breath is taken away. I have listened to recordings over and over again, and never grow tired of the crystal clear soprano that resonates right through me. For this reason, I was desperate to see her perform live. Goodness me, I had no idea that she was such a talented multi-instrumentalist as well.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on tickets for a really intimate venue and I was right at the front. Watching her fingers dance across the harp was something that you could never grasp from a recording, and was really worth witnessing in person. Her style is extremely unique, and she even put a new spin on her own music, mixing things up to surprise the audience. It’s great that she dedicates herself entirely to the music and the story that she’s telling, watching her facial expressions, movement, and the way she carries herself offers a whole new level of meaning to each and every track. When she performed the Lady of Shallot, everyone was singing along, and she even stopped singing intermittently to allow the crowd to join in. The way that McKennitt chatted so informally to the audience was great, as we were able to see snippets of her personality that don’t translate in her music. After seeing the concert, now whenever I listen to her recordings, it takes me back to that fantastic evening.
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