"Soprano Fiona Gillespie’s vocals combine youthful sheen and mature sentiments. She’s a spirited reveler in Beethoven’s “Come Draw We Round a Cheerful Ring” and a world-weary narrator in Haydn’s tale of intimidating courtship, “My Boy Tammy.” Gillespie’s clear diction and Celtic accent add to the authenticity and poise of the music. She also tosses off well-executed trills and melismas in Beethoven’s “Sunset” and a moving upper register in Weber’s harmonically vibrant “The Soothing Shade of Gloaming.”
-Early Music America
"Vocalist Fiona Gillespie opts for a distinctly folky voice production, but her delightfully pure voice and subtle ornamentation represent a winning combination."
-Early Music Review
"Soprano Fiona Gillespie adopts a non-classical style of vocal production... [her] tonal
quality is consistently beautiful and haunting, her intonation is spot on, and her Scottish-inflected
diction crystal-clear, and she sings with great feeling throughout".
- Fanfare Magazine
-Early Music America
"Vocalist Fiona Gillespie opts for a distinctly folky voice production, but her delightfully pure voice and subtle ornamentation represent a winning combination."
-Early Music Review
"Soprano Fiona Gillespie adopts a non-classical style of vocal production... [her] tonal
quality is consistently beautiful and haunting, her intonation is spot on, and her Scottish-inflected
diction crystal-clear, and she sings with great feeling throughout".
- Fanfare Magazine
ABOUT
Fiona is a folk and Classically-trained singer, songwriter, composer, and music educator living between New York City and eastern Pennsylvania. Raised in a family of traditional Celtic musicians Fiona grew up step dancing, singing ballads, and playing the Irish whistle, on which she competed nationally and internationally until 2006. She holds degrees in voice performance from Westminster Choir College (BM) and the University of North Texas (MM).
Fiona's debut full-length compositional work with collaborator Elliot Cole premiered in 2020 to a sold-out performance hosted by Metropolis Ensemble. The half-hour folk rock cantata, scored for voices and 12-piece band of historical, modern, and electronic instruments, recreates the ancient Scottish ballad of "Tam Lin". The piece will be commercially released online in 2021. Fiona's album of Scottish folk songs arranged by composers of the Viennese School, "Wisps in the Dell", with members of Baroque band ACRONYM, under the name Makaris, released in 2019. As a soprano, Fiona's recent engagements include The Queen's Baroque Ensemble (Paris), Mountainside Baroque, The Academy of Sacred Drama, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Fire and Grace, ALKEMIE, The Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, and The Reading Symphony Orchestra. She sings as a professional chorister with Skylark Ensemble, Apollo's Fire, Kinnara Ensemble, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, Brevitas, and St. Tikhon's Choir, among others.
Fiona is a co-founder and manager of the band The Chivalrous Crickets, which explores the crossover between English, Celtic, and Old Time American folk music with music of the Renaissance and Baroque, as well as writing many original songs and tunes. The group, comprised of both folk and early music specialists, performs around the United States, and recently made their (virtual) European debut with the Derby Folk Festival in the UK. They have released two recording projects, an EP and Pavorreal Sessions, and are working on a full-length album, No Pence to Spend. Fiona also performs frequently with duo partner Paul Holmes Morton in recitals, house shows, and for online events. They perform a mix of Renaissance, Baroque, Celtic, Old Time, and original music.
Fiona teaches voice at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, where she also leads opera workshop and music directs main stage productions (recent: Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury, 2019). Fiona taught voice at Lycoming College from 2013-2017, as well as directed opera (stage & music: Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel), co-taught courses on Baroque music and art that traveled to Italy, Germany, and Austria, and helped coordinate and lead choir tours to Washington DC, Florida, and China. She has led folk song arranging workshops at the Big Sur Fiddle Camp, lectured for Skylark + on the genre of the English and Scottish Popular Ballads, and taught Celtic singing and songwriting workshops for Bethlehem PA's renowned Celtic Classic Festival.
Fiona is a tax-deductible artistic entity covered under Fractured Atlas Fiscal Sponsorship.
gillespiefi@gmail.com
for classical singing resume click HERE
