Bella Hardy
Though only 25 years old, Bella has already been nominated three times in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and has been well known on the folk circuit for many years, playing fiddle in a variety of popular line-ups as a teenager and reaching the finals of the BBC Young Folk Awards in 2004.
However, it was following the launch of her debut album Night Visiting in 2007 that she quickly rose to become one of the shining lights of the folk scene, famed for entwining her hypnotic voice with her own fiddle accompaniment to stunning effect. Night Visiting secured Bella a raft of rave reviews, and 2008 saw a packed year of gigs and festival appearances. In July 2008, Bella was invited to perform in two concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the first ever Folk Prom. The programme was broadcast simultaneously on BBC4 and BBC Radio 3. She also appeared on BBC2 on Christmas Day, singing the Coventry Carol in Howard Goodall’s The Truth about Carols.
Originally from Edale in Derbyshire's Dark Peak, Ella was always singing as a child. Edale was the ideal place to nurture her evident natural ability, with an abundance of communal song. At 18, Bella followed her love of stories and moved to York to study English literature. She spent three years singing with trio Ola, and in 2004 she entered the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards as a solo artist. She got through the semis as an unaccompanied singer and went into the finals as a fiddler/singer. After a few years hibernation, during which time she gained a Masters in Music from Newcastle University, Bella decided the time had come to make singing her main priority.
On her latest album, In The Shadow of Mountains, Bella presents a selection of new works, including Sylvie Sovay, a modern look at the story of traditional song Sovay Sovay. It is a remarkably assured album from an impressive young woman who presents folk songs in the best tradition, not as antiquated museum pieces but as relevant and very human artworks.
Bella will be accompanied in Orkney by Anna Massie.
more @ www.bellahardy.com
www.myspace.com/bellahardymusic