News – Oct. 15, 2009
Hannah Phillips of Glasgow, Scotland is First to Receive Col. William
McMurdo Currie Memorial Harp Scholarship
Hannah Phillips, a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow has been selected to receive the innaugural Col. William McMurdo Currie Memorial Scholarship for the Clarsach.
According to Dr. Joshua Dickson, Head of Scottish Music at the Academy, Phillips was a natural choice for the scholarship. “Hannah Phillips is a tremendously talented clarsair whose potential as both performer and tradition-bearer would be greatly aided by support from the Clan Currie Society. She has shown her commitment to attaining the highest levels of musicianship by achieving rare top marks in both clarsach and pedal harp performance in her undergraduate Honours year, where her technique, expressiveness and diversity of repertoire were deemed flawless.”
Dickson continued, “Far from just an outstanding musician, however, Ms Phillips has shown a great work ethic as a performer and a devotion to teaching and inspiring our future stars. These qualities altogether made her, to my mind, a natural choice as the inaugural recipient of the Col. William McMurdo Currie Memorial Scholarship for Clarsach.”
Hannah Phillips is first to receive Clan Currie clarsach scholarship
Hannah Phillips
As part of Scotland’s Homecoming 2009 initiative, the scholarship was announced at a public reception last July at the Glasgow City Chambers. The scholarship is named for the founder of the Clan Currie Society (est’d 1959). Col. William McMurdo Currie. The clarsach is a small harp and all students studying it as part of the Glasgow-based Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama’s Scottish traditional music degree program will be eligible to apply.
About Hannah Phillips
Hannah Phillips, Scottish and pedal harper based in Glasgow is passionate about folk, solo and chamber music. She began studies at the RSAMD in 2005 and during her time here won the Governor’s String Recital Prize. In July she graduated with a first class Bmus (hons) degree and took up a place on the Postgraduate Diploma in Scottish music course in September. She loves performing and teaching and is the clarsach teacher at the RSAMD Junior Department and The Glasgow Academy. Hannah is a current finalist in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2010 award, to be held at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow in January 2010.
About Col. William McMurdo Currie (1916 – 1992)
The son of John Currie of Balilone and Helen Currie [nee McMurdo], Col. William McMurdo Currie led an illustrious life, highlighted by a distinguished military service during the Second World War and a lifelong commitment to sharing his extensive knowledge of the Clan Currie, anciently the Clan MacMhuirich.
Col. William McMurdo Currie – Founder of the Clan Currie Society
He was raised in Glasgow and attended the Royal College of Science and Technology, as well as the Glasgow Art School. In 1939 he joined the British Special Services. Cited for numerous acts of bravery, Sir William was recipient of a host of military honors including among others the Tunisian Order of Glory [1943], the Polish Virtuti Militari [1944] and the Croix de Guerre de Allies [1945].
In 1959, a Bond of Manrent (Bond of Allegiance), signed by over 400 West Highland members of Clan Currie, was presented to Col. Currie as their acknowledged Chief. This action combined with his formation of the first Clan Currie Society in Glasgow also in 1959, were the first steps towards igniting an interest in reconnecting the far flung members of the worldwide Clan Currie.
Col. William McMurdo Currie
An avid historian, author, and genealogist, he was a Fellow of the Royal Celtic Society and the Society of Antiquitaries of Scotland. His publications included A History of the Curries of Cowal [1973], With Sword and Harp – The History of the Clan Currie [1977], and An Historical Description of Loch Lomond and District [1979].