Rachel Clemente: A Passion for Music

Written By Maureen Buscareno
Rachel Clemente with her pedal and lever harps
“The Best of the Tradition is Yet to Come”
— Martin Hayes

In my interview with Corrina Hewat she quoted fiddler Martin Hayes. She said that in a workshop she attended, Hayes stated that, “The best of the tradition is yet to come”. I can’t think of a better example of this than today’s guest, harpist Rachel Clemente.  Rachel is a New England based pedal and traditional Scottish harpist.  I met Rachel at The Somerset Folk Harp Festival. We have so many harpist friends in common who have influenced and inspired her music.  Artists like: Corrina Hewat, Kim Robertson, Dominique Dodge, and Rachel Hair to name a few. Catch my earlier interviews with these and other amazing harpists to get inspired by them as well. 

Rachel started playing harp at the age of five and thanks to the Ohio Scottish Arts School she became interested in Scottish music.  She studied pedal harp at The Interlochen Arts Academy then went on to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and graduated with a bachelor's degree in traditional Scottish music. Some of Rachel’s accolades include U.S National Scottish Harp Champion in 2016 and in 2021 she was the winner of the Princess Margaret of the Isles Clàrsach Competition (USA).

Rachel now focuses on performing, composing and teaching harp in New England.  She frequently performs as a duo with piper Dan Houghton.  Later on in the interview I’ll play you a track that Rachel recorded with Dan.  Right now we are listening to the track, “Countryside Quiet” from Rachel’s album, “A Quiet Uniqueness”.  Rachel is working on a new album that should be released some time in 2022, , but in the meantime check out Rachel’s Youtube channel and her 2018 release, A Quiet Uniqueness.

Enjoy my conversation with Rachel. 


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Maureen Buscareno
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