Ian Harrison

Ian Harrison grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne and began his musical carreer as a Lay Clerk in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral.  He gained a Master in Music Performance Practice at the City University, London and went on to study at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. As co-director of the Medieval and Renaissance ensemble Les haulz et les bas, and of The Early Folk Band, as well as a guest in reknowned ensembles such as Sequentia, The Harp Consort, Hirundo Maris, and the Freiburger Barockorchester, he has played and broadcast throughout Europe, America, Asia and Ausralia, and has taken part in numerous highly-acclaimed CD productions. He specializes in historical wind instruments, noteably the shawm, cornett, flageolet and historical bagpipes - the more improvized the better! His original, virtuosic and improvisational skills have earned him prizes at the Bruges Early Music Festival, the Rencontres des Maitres Sonneurs, St. Chartier and the German Pop and Rock Awards, among others. He teaches shawm and ensemble music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and historical improvisation at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt and at the Department of Early Music of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, as well as being in demand as a teacher and lecturer at workshops and conferences.