Bio
Sahra's musical explorations began at age 10 with formal instruction on the silver flute. By 14, she had begun experimenting with other instruments (violin, tin whistle) and had tried recording early improvised compositions. The same year she first attended the Celtic Roots Festival in Goderich, Ontario, and her love and immersion into the world of Celtic music began. Sahra found divine inspiration shortly after when she first beheld a Celtic harp. She was instantly hooked and started learning on her own harp by the time she turned 16. She loves the diversity of being a multi-instrumentalist, but it is with the harp that she has truly found the instrument of her soul.
Sahra recorded her debut album in Toronto and Cannington with Don Ross, who engineered, mixed and performed on the album. Now an audio-engineer herself, Sahra just completed work on a full-length album with her trio, Fig for a Kiss, which is scheduled for release in summer 2005.
Lately Sahra has chosen to pursue projects, both in performance and recording, that stretch the boundaries of her artistic experiences to date. While she maintains a deep love of Celtic music, she finds herself driven to depart from the traditional, and to break new ground and delve into a broader palette of genres and expressions. Sahra's second solo album promises to feature some of these new directions and explorations.
Sahra has done studio work on over twenty commercially released albums, by various artists (see "Discography"). She has performed across Canada and throughout Ontario at venues such as the Molson Amphitheatre and Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, the North York Performing Arts Centre, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. She has also performed in Chicago, IL, and Nashville, TN. Her debut album (2003) receives airplay on CBC radio and other stations. She has shared the stage with numerous artists and bands including Don Ross, David Essig, Fig for a Kiss, Lori Cullen, Aengus Finnan, Tim Harrison, Bobby Watt, Melissa McClelland, Rob Lamothe, Quagmyre, Claire Jenkins and Emaline Delapaix. Recently she had the honour of opening for Irish fiddle legend, Martin Hayes (Toronto, October 2003) and also for one of Ireland's leading traditional bands, Dervish (St. Jacobs, ON, April 2004). She has also opened for Ontario's Celtic super group, Leahy, Australia's The Waifs, and Canadian singer/songwriters Danny Michel and Martina Sorbara.