Cheryl Ann Fulton
Encyclopedia
Cheryl Ann Fulton is an American harpist. Fulton performs, records, teaches, and researches the harp
. She is performer of historical harps, and one of the few harpists to play triple harp
, medieval harp, and lever harps.
Fulton has performed on over thirty albums and soundtracks broadly ranging from medieval
, baroque
, orchestral, and contemporary music to Celtic music
and film scores, on records labels such as PolyGram
, Koch International Classics
, Nonesuch
, Gourd Music
, and others. Her first solo album, The Airs of Wales, brought her recognition. She is a composer as well as a performer, and her original compositions from her second solo album, The Once & Future Harp (Gourd Music
), have been featured on National Public Radio.
and D.M.
in early music/historical harp from the School of Music of Indiana University
, Bloomington. Her doctoral thesis on the history of the triple harp won her the Burton E. Adams Prize for Academic Research. Fulton is a Fulbright scholar who, in 1987, received a Fulbright Award
for research and performance in Lisbon, Portugal, where she served as principal harpist for Portugal's orchestra, the Orchestre Gulbenkian
. She is a contributing scholar for the new edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and has written a chapter for A Performers Guide to Medieval Music.
Fulton was the producer, director, and featured performer with her Celtic harp group The White Horse Harpers, on the 2001 recording Christmas in an Irish Castle. A founding member of Ensemble Alcatraz, she has worked with many professional ensembles including Anonymous 4
, Sequentia
, Les Idees Heureuses, American Bach Soloists, The Boston Camerata, and Chanticleer
. With her friend Diana Stork, she performs in the duo Twin Harps. She founded and directs the medieval harp choir Angelorum and is the founding president of the Historical Harp Society.
Her music is also featured in the video game Braid
.
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
. She is performer of historical harps, and one of the few harpists to play triple harp
Triple Harp
The triple harp, often referred to as the Welsh triple harp , is a type of harp employing three rows of strings instead of the more common single row...
, medieval harp, and lever harps.
Fulton has performed on over thirty albums and soundtracks broadly ranging from medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
, baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, orchestral, and contemporary music to Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
and film scores, on records labels such as PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, Koch International Classics
Koch Records
E1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
, Nonesuch
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
, Gourd Music
Gourd Music
Gourd Music is a record label featuring acoustic, instrumental music. With various ensembles of guitar, cello, flute, oboe, harp, fiddle, hammered and mountain dulcimer, banjo, mandolin and more.Gourd Music was founded by Neal Hellman in 1987....
, and others. Her first solo album, The Airs of Wales, brought her recognition. She is a composer as well as a performer, and her original compositions from her second solo album, The Once & Future Harp (Gourd Music
Gourd Music
Gourd Music is a record label featuring acoustic, instrumental music. With various ensembles of guitar, cello, flute, oboe, harp, fiddle, hammered and mountain dulcimer, banjo, mandolin and more.Gourd Music was founded by Neal Hellman in 1987....
), have been featured on National Public Radio.
Career
Fulton earned a B.S. degree in pedal harp, and an M.M.Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...
and D.M.
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
in early music/historical harp from the School of Music of Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Bloomington. Her doctoral thesis on the history of the triple harp won her the Burton E. Adams Prize for Academic Research. Fulton is a Fulbright scholar who, in 1987, received a Fulbright Award
Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
for research and performance in Lisbon, Portugal, where she served as principal harpist for Portugal's orchestra, the Orchestre Gulbenkian
Gulbenkian Orchestra
The Gulbenkian Orchestra is a Portuguese symphony orchestra based in Lisbon. The orchestra primarily gives concerts at the Grande Auditório of the Gulbenkian Foundation....
. She is a contributing scholar for the new edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and has written a chapter for A Performers Guide to Medieval Music.
Fulton was the producer, director, and featured performer with her Celtic harp group The White Horse Harpers, on the 2001 recording Christmas in an Irish Castle. A founding member of Ensemble Alcatraz, she has worked with many professional ensembles including Anonymous 4
Anonymous 4
Anonymous 4 is a female a cappella quartet, based in New York City. Their main performance genre is medieval music, although they have also premiered works by living composers such as John Tavener and Steve Reich...
, Sequentia
Sequentia (music group)
Sequentia is an early music ensemble, founded in 1977 by Benjamin Bagby and the late Barbara Thornton . The group specializes mainly in Medieval music. Sequentia focuses particularly on music with texts, specifically chants and other stories with music, such as the Icelandic Edda...
, Les Idees Heureuses, American Bach Soloists, The Boston Camerata, and Chanticleer
Chanticleer (ensemble)
Based in San Francisco, California, Chanticleer is a full-time classical vocal ensemble in the United States. Over the last three decades, it has developed a major reputation for its interpretations of Renaissance music, but it also performs a wide repertoire of jazz, gospel, and other venturesome...
. With her friend Diana Stork, she performs in the duo Twin Harps. She founded and directs the medieval harp choir Angelorum and is the founding president of the Historical Harp Society.
Her music is also featured in the video game Braid
Braid (video game)
Braid is a platform and puzzle video game developed by independent software developer Jonathan Blow. The game was released on August 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. A Microsoft Windows version was released on April 10, 2009. Hothead Games ported and released the game to Mac OS...
.