Tamsin Dearnley

As a child, Tamsin couldn't decide if she wanted to be a harpist, a trapeze artist or an expert on Japanese art. So she hedged her bets: six years of nagging persuaded her parents to let her have harp lessons; as a more rebellious eighteen-year-old she (politely) informed her parents she was taking up a year's place in a circus school before going to university to read Japanese.

When performing and composing, Tamsin is now glad of her somewhat eclectic musical education: as a beginner harpist she learned to play medieval and traditional music by ear; as a broke student she learned on the job to play jazz in a wine bar; as an adult she went back to basics to improve her technique and sound, becoming a passionate advocate of the versatility of the lever harp. She is particularly interested in promoting the lever harp as a jazz instrument. 

Having gained a distinction in her masters degree in composition, Tamsin is at home in many different sound worlds, and her work ranges from the atonal to the lyrical. She has released several albums of solo harp music, as well as an EP of self-penned songs for voice and guitar. 

She now divides her time between performing, teaching, composing, and designing weird and wonderful interactive soundscapes for museum installations and indie game designers.

She has performed and taught in a variety of (mostly respectable) locations around the world.

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