Sacred Sounds: Ellen Gibling

Please join us for Sacred Silence Sacred Sounds, a contemplative gathering with different artists every month.

This month features harpist Ellen Gibling.

Ellen Gibling is a harpist based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia whose music spans classical, Irish traditional, and improvised genres. She is a band member of Many Worlds, Scions, and Borrowers, as well as playing with The Bombadils, Charlie Wilson, Olivia Barrett, Hayley Ryerson, The Narrows, and Jack Chen.

Ellen’s solo album The Bend in the Light (2022) was reviewed as “bold and beautiful” (Celtic Life International) and “enchanting” (Folk London). Her duo album with fiddler Adrianna Ciccone, The Pear Tree (2024), has been described as “genuine, heartfelt, and as replenishing as a spring morning” (Textura).

Ellen has enjoyed recent creative collaborations with Mocean Dance, Rock Bottom Movement, Maria Osende Flamenco, playwright Mary Fay Coady, and kora player Zal Sissokho. In January 2024, Ellen premiered a harp concerto by Jeff Reilly with Symphony Nova Scotia at the Open Waters Festival.

As a harp instructor and workshop leader, Ellen has taught at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Acadia University, the Huron Harp Festival, and the Canadian International Summer Harp Institute.

Ellen studied classical harp at McGill University with additional training in the World Youth Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She also studied Irish traditional music at the University of Limerick, and improvisation through the Creative Music Workshop.