Haley Hewitt of Burlington, CT Receives Top Honors 
The Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA) and the Clan Currie Society are pleased to announce that Haley Hewitt of Burlington, CT is the 2013 U.S. National Scottish Harp Champion of America. The championship was held on Saturday, September 21 at the 55 Annual Ligonier Highland Games in Ligonier, PA – just east of Pittsburgh. Judging the Nationals were renowned harpers Sharon Knowles and Ann Heymann.
Rev. Dr. David Currie (left) presents the trophy to Haley Hewitt at the 2013 SHSA National Championship.

Rev. Dr. David Currie (left) presents the trophy to Haley Hewitt at the 2013 SHSA National Championship.

It was a successful event, with a full flight of competitors. The championship hosted competitors in four Special Categories as well as solo artists at every level of ability. Many traveled halfway across the country to take part. Judges Knowles and Heymann had a challenging event to judge as the quality of the competitors’ performances were extremely high. In addition to judging, they provided competitors with thoughtful feedback on their performance.
For Haley Hewitt, the win was unforgettable. “I am very proud to have won, and am excited to share my love for the rich tradition of this wonderful instrument! I was delighted to have taken part in what is apparently a thriving community of Scottish Harp players in the USA! It has been quite an honor to receive this award, and I am very grateful to everyone who has ever taught me a harp tune, and the people who have given me the encouragement and inspiration to reach this level of performance and repertoire.”
Commenting on Hewitt’s award-winning performance, judge Sharon Knowles said: “The tone and colour of Haley Hewitt’s performance was outstanding. Haley has always been able to create music with expert use of dynamics and this was a brilliant example of her capabilities. Her many years at the Ohio Scottish Arts and School and her recent Master’s Degree at the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland were well spent. Her performance was magical! I have judged several National Competitions and Haley is the most accomplished performer I have heard to date.”
Knowles continued, “Haley’s performance is all the more outstanding when you realise the very high standard of this year’s competition. All the Master competitors were excellent. They gave what amounted to be a wonderful concert and I am only sorry that I had to judge each harper because listening to them was a real gift. Although I feel this way, the Scottish Harp Society of America’s competition circuit has created this high standard and I look forward to the assured future of Scottish harp playing in the United States.”
Haley Hewitt at the 2013 SHSA National Championship

Haley Hewitt at the 2013 SHSA National Championship

Judge Anne Heymann added, “The standard at the 2013 SHSA National Championships, held at the Ligonier Highland Games was unbelievably high, and the perfect performance of Haley Hewitt in the Master Category earned her the title of 2013 SHSA National Champion. A close second in the Master category was Rachael Clemente, who delivered stunning examples of traditional style that earned her the coveted “Harper of the Day” award and her name on a most impressive perpetual trophy.
Not to be overshadowed was the winner of the Journeyman Category, fifteen year old Mary Abbott, who propitiously garnered both the SHSA Travel Scholarship of $2000 and the Washington Area Folk Harp Society’s scholarship to their ‘Harper’s Getaway Weekend’!”
The championship was sponsored by the Clan Currie Society, who has entered into a five-year commitment to act as Title Sponsor for the Championships through 2014.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have the Clan Currie Society make such a generous and long-term gift,” said SHSA vice-president and Competition Chair, Jen McGovern Narkevicius. “Part of the success of our National Championship depends upon generous donors like the Clan Currie to ensure we have sufficient funding in place to produce a first class competition. It is especially rewarding when that support comes from a clan with such an ancient and distinguished history of Gaelic poets and musicians.”
Clan Currie Hosts the annual Harp Glen at the Seaside Highland Games

Clan Currie Hosts the annual Harp Glen at the Seaside Highland Games

According to Robert Currie, president of the Clan Currie Society, the partnership with SHSA is a perfect fit. “The founders of our Clan were the celebrated MacMhuirich bards of Medieval Scotland and the instrument of the Bard was the clarsach.”
“Over the past several years Clan Currie has sharpened its focus on the arts with our concerts, special events and scholarship program. In addition to sponsoring this championship, we have established an annual harp scholarship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and host the highly-popular Harp Glen at the Seaside Highland Games in Ventura, CA.
We look forward to supporting additional Scottish harp programs in the future.”
About Haley Hewitt
Haley Hewitt spent two years in Glasgow, Scotland obtaining her Master’s degree in Scottish harp. She loves to play new music, collaborate with other musicians, and perform on both pedal and lever harp.
She holds a Master’s degree in Scottish Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she studied under Corrina Hewat, and a Bachelors Degree in Pedal Harp Performance from the Hartt School of Music in the studio of Rebecca Flannery.
Haley Hewitt

Haley Hewitt

As a pedal harpist she has played in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings extensively, including performances at Carnegie and Benaroya Halls. As a traditional musician, she has presented programs featuring the music of modern Scottish harpers and fiddlers, and looks forward to the release of her debut recording in 2013.
Hewitt was born and raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She started taking harp lessons with Pat Larkin from West Springfield, and then went to the Hartt School in Connecticut to study with Rebecca Flannery and obtain my Bachelor’s Degree in Pedal Harp Performance. After graduating, Haley went to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to complete her Master’s Degree in Scottish Music, studying under Scottish harper Corrina Hewat.
About the Scottish Harp Society of America
SHSA is the sanctioning body for the U.S. National Scottish Harp Competition and qualifying regional Scottish harp competitions. The annual U.S. National Scottish Harp Competition includes the National Championship with its prestigious Herbert P. MacNeil  Award, along with competition for all ages and category of competitor, from beginning to professional harpers. Through the year, the Society sponsors performances, presentations, workshops and classes, competitions, and gatherings all over the United States and Canada.
Founded in 1981, SHSA is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the Scottish harp, the clarsach, and its music both ancient and modern. Members of the Society include musicians, harp makers, and people who simply enjoy listening to the Scottish harp.  SHSA is dedicated to the performing of Scottish Music, both new and old, on the small harps of Scotland. The Society supports the playing of nylon, gut, wire strung, levered and unlevered harps.
About the Clan Currie Society
The Clan Currie Society, an American-based, international, non-profit cultural and educational organization, is the preeminent Scottish-American cultural society in preserving and promoting Highland heritage through an extensive scholarship program and at Scottish Games and festivals, as well as community groups and classrooms.
The Society was originally formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959 to further the knowledge and appreciation of the MacMhuirich (pronounced MacVurich) bardic dynasty. The MacMhuirichs served for over 700 years as professional poets to the Lords of the Isles and later to the MacDonalds of Clanranald among other prominent Highland clans and families.  The Red Book of Clanranald, one of Gaelic Scotland’s literary treasures, was penned by successive generations of the MacMhuirich family.
Today, the organization is a respected producer of outstanding programs and events to honor Scotland’s rich culture and ancestry.  The Society’s signature events include The Pipes of Christmas – a musical celebration of Christmas performed on bagpipes and brass, harp and fiddle, and organ – the annual observance of Tartan Day on Ellis Island – the largest Tartan Day celebration in the country – and the new Harp Glen – a hands on, interactive celebration of the Scottish harp held at the Seaside Highland Games in Ventura, CA.
The Society also hosts the annual MacMhuirich Symposium featuring leading Gaelic scholars and historians. The 2013 symposium was held in Nova Scotia, Canada in conjunction with the 150 anniversary Antigonish Highland Games.
The symposium brought together many of the luminaries in the Scots and Canadian Gaelic communities to interpret and celebrate the vast accomplishments of the MacMhuirich bardic dynasty which spanned nearly 700 years. The 2014 Symposium will be held in Scotland in conjunction with the 700 anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Bannockburn.