A medieval harp with its own built-in amplification device will feature in a concert at a church near Alsager this weekend.

The bray harp was designed to cut through the dances and gatherings in castles during the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

It's one of three Scottish harps that musician Karen Marshalsay will be playing in the concert at St Bertoline's church in Bartholmey on Saturday (August 9th).

The other harps are the modern lever harp, which will be familiar to folk music followers, and the wire-strung clarsach from Scotland's Gaelic tradition.

"Harp players were the ceilidh band leaders of the day back in medieval times," said Karen.

"And the bray harp was the instrument they played. Each string has a "bray" – a small piece of wood – that makes a buzzing effect, not unlike the sitar.

"If you put that together with a crumhorn and a tabor, or hand drum, that would have been the band that people danced to."

Karen, who has worked with some of the Scottish and Irish tradition's foremost musicians, recently recorded her second album, Eadarainn a' Chruit : Between Us the Harp, and invited some genuine legends to the studio.

"Legends is an overused term," she said. "But it's an appropriate description for Cathal McConnell, who is one of the great figures in Irish music and a founder member of the world-renowned Boys of the Lough.

"I've been fortunate enough to play with Cathal's trio for some years now and it was great to have the trio, with Cathal singing and playing flute and Kathryn Nicoll playing viola, on the album."

Also appearing on the album are Alison Kinnaird, who is the doyenne of Scottish traditional harp playing and a mentor and friend of Karen's, and piper and Gaelic singer Allan MacDonald, who is one of three piping brothers who have made a huge contribution to pipe music.

"I wish I could bring everyone on the album with me to St Bertoline's but I'll be able to give a flavour of the music we recorded with the help of the different harps," said Karen.

"I'll actually have four harps with me as there's a baby version of the wire-strung harp that I like to include in concerts. It adds an extra sound to the tonal palette."

As well as Scottish and Irish musicians, Karen's CV also includes collaborations with Indian, African and Paraguayan players.

She has also orchestrated her music when performing as a featured soloist with the Russian String Orchestra. Eadarainn a' Chruit : Between Us the Harp, and its predecessor, The Road to Kennacraig, however, focus mostly on the Scottish aspect of her music.

"I'm really looking forward to playing at St Bertoline's because I did some Googling about St Bertoline himself, who seems an interesting character, and it's the only church named after him," she said.

"I'll be playing music from both of my albums and I'll also be talking a bit about the tunes and the harps because people seem fascinated by the instrument.

"It has associations with angels, of course, although the bray isn't quite so angelic. It often comes as quite a surprise because it looks as you might expect a harp to look but sounds quite different from the other harps."

The concert, starting at 3 pm, features three Scottish harps solos and includes a glass of fizz in the interval. Tickets cost £16.50 for adults and £8.30 for 12 years and under and are available here

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