"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
"Gillespie was a standout, singing with power, polish, and idiomatic...inflection"
-Chicago Classical Review
Fiona is a Classically-trained and folk music-bred singer working as a freelance artist in the Celtic folk and early music worlds. She is a frequent collaborator helping to build crossover-genre shows with ensembles around the nation, the director of two ensembles (Celtic band, The Chivalrous Crickets and Scottish Baroque ensemble, Makaris), founder of nonprofit Hearthsong Folk Arts, and a songwriter, instrumentalist and folk dancer. Fiona taught at liberal arts colleges for a decade (voice, opera workshop, mainstage music and stage direction and music history), and currently teaches folk-singing workshops, camps, and private voice lessons in many styles.
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