Sonic Inspirations

Harpist Esther Swift on the fun and the fury behind creativity

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FOR harpist Esther Swift, hitting her mid-30s brought something of a revelation. The Edinburgh-based composer, arranger and musician had always put work first, building a name for herself as a collaborator. Drawing inspiration from folk, classical and jazz music, her inquisitive nature and sensitive approach to collaboration took her around the world to Vietnam, New Zealand and Malaysia.

For Sound Effects, commissioned by Celtic Connections in 2022, she worked with folk and electronic musicians to create new compositions inspired by the words of Edwin Morgan, William Butler Yeats and former BBC Scotland Poet-in-Residence Rachel McCrum.

In 2018, to mark 100 years of some women gaining the right to vote in the UK, she created a similar work for Manchester Jazz Festival using the words of then-Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

"Like many professional musicians, I've been trying to make ends meet for most of my life but now I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I don't have to hustle so hard anymore," she says. "Plus, I love to collaborate - it's like my comfort zone - and putting my own name to something like a solo album was a terrifying idea."