Biography
Adopting the musical traditions of the Scot Gaels brought the greatest impact to New York-born vocalist Talitha MacKenzie, who now bases herself in Edinburgh. A short-lived partnership called Mouth Music with computer programmer Martin Swan produced a chart-topping album in 1988. Her first solo effort, Solas, climbed to the top three on the Euro World charts in 1994; two years later came the equally successful Spiorad. The Manchester Guardian has described MacKenzie as "one of the most exciting vocalists on the folk/world stage."
Piano lessons began at age four, yet fascination with traditional Scottish music took hold before her eighth birthday. Field recordings of Gaelic music prompted her to teach herself the language during her teenage years. Ethnomusicology studies at the New England Conservatory of Music further deepened that bond. Between 1982 and 1983 she served as a team teacher at Harvard University, contributing to the course “Structure and Form in Music and Movement.” While living in the Boston area she pursued multiple musical projects, collaborating with several dance companies to broaden her grasp of the Russian, Baroque, Balkan and Celtic traditions. She also performed in a multicultural a cappella duo alongside Anne Goodwin and helped found the worldbeat ensemble Sedenka. In 1985 she recorded with the Celtic dance band St. James Gate.
Her debut album, Shantyman, appeared in 1986 and highlighted her eclectic leanings through a set of traditional maritime songs shaped by her own time as a shantyman aboard square-rigged vessels. The next year she moved to Scotland and joined the Celtic department at Edinburgh University’s School of Scottish Studies. She had first visited the region in 1979 and returned in 1984 to document singers from the Scottish west coast and islands.
Piano lessons began at age four, yet fascination with traditional Scottish music took hold before her eighth birthday. Field recordings of Gaelic music prompted her to teach herself the language during her teenage years. Ethnomusicology studies at the New England Conservatory of Music further deepened that bond. Between 1982 and 1983 she served as a team teacher at Harvard University, contributing to the course “Structure and Form in Music and Movement.” While living in the Boston area she pursued multiple musical projects, collaborating with several dance companies to broaden her grasp of the Russian, Baroque, Balkan and Celtic traditions. She also performed in a multicultural a cappella duo alongside Anne Goodwin and helped found the worldbeat ensemble Sedenka. In 1985 she recorded with the Celtic dance band St. James Gate.
Her debut album, Shantyman, appeared in 1986 and highlighted her eclectic leanings through a set of traditional maritime songs shaped by her own time as a shantyman aboard square-rigged vessels. The next year she moved to Scotland and joined the Celtic department at Edinburgh University’s School of Scottish Studies. She had first visited the region in 1979 and returned in 1984 to document singers from the Scottish west coast and islands.
Albums
