Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM ( born February 17, 1957 in Morden, Manitoba ) is a Canadian musician and composer. Since 1981 she has lived in Stratford (Ontario).
Biography
Loreena McKennitt was born on 17 February 1957 in Morden, Manitoba and has Irish and Scottish ancestors. Her mother Irene was a nurse and her father Jack cattle dealer. Loreena wanted to be a veterinarian as a child. But as she says, was " not get it to music, but the music for her." Loreena in 1981 moved to Stratford (Ontario ), where she still lives. She published in 1985 her first album Elemental. Stronger global attention they reached with the albums The Visit (1991 ), The Mask and Mirror ( 1994) and The Book of Secrets (1997). All albums are produced by herself and published by their own record label, Quinlan Road.
In 1998, her fiancé Ronald Rees and two other good friends were killed in a boat accident. After this personal tragedy, she founded the same year, the Foundation Cook -Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety. Revenue from the sale of the double album Live in Paris and Toronto went into the foundation.
In July 2004, she was awarded by the Governor General Adrienne Clarkson membership in the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award in Canada.
After a long absence from the stage Loreena McKennitt occurred on 7 December 2004 in Brussels Cirque Royal, at a concert of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. In addition to her travels and working on their albums they committed as an actress, singer and composer at the Stratford Festival of Canada, a renowned Canadian Shakespeare festival.
In September 2006, she gave three concerts in the Alhambra of Granada. The concerts were recorded by the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service television station and sent in March 2007. A concert recording was released on DVD.
On 17 November 2006, the album was released An Ancient Muse. In preparation for this album she undertook research trips to Turkey, Greece, China and Mongolia. Concerts her eponymous European tour in spring 2007 were sold out in many places.
At the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, she had a cameo appearance in the music program.
In November 2010, the album The Wind That Shakes the Barley appeared, a collection of Irish folk songs. This album is also the focus of the two European tours in the spring and summer of 2012.
Music
Loreena McKennitt songs stand out in the newer albums by mystically influenced texts, together with the music of traditional instruments. Dominating here are traditional Irish or Celtic and oriental motifs. With their album A Midwinter Night 's Dream is Loreena McKennitt 's commitment to religious roots by interpreting Christian texts and hymns. McKennitt processed in their music as well as traditional and classical themes. So she set to music, for example, works such as " The Lady Of Shalott " by Alfred Tennyson and " The Highwayman " by Alfred Noyes and several texts by William Shakespeare.
In her music Loreena McKennitt used features such as modal tonalities, quint parallel voice leading or drones as well as typical rhythms and instruments, especially from the " celtic folk " and thus a pseudo-archaic effect. On the albums The Mask and Mirror, The Book of Secrets and An Ancient Muse is finding increased influence of Spanish and oriental music (especially Sufism ). Loreena McKennitt plays several instruments, including the piano, harp and accordion.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilations and live albums
EPs
Singles
- 2004: No Journey's End
- 2007: Nights from the Alhambra (Live - DVD 2 CDs)
- 2008: A Moveable Musical Feast