Corrina Hewat is a singer, harpist and composer. Born in Edinburgh and raised in the Scottish Highlands, her huge range of musical influences has contributed greatly to her very individual take on traditional music. In the years following her study of Jazz & Contemporary Music at City of Leeds College of Music, Corrina achieved recognition and critical acclaim for her work with bands Chantan (singing trio), Bachu� (with pianist David Milligan), Shine (with Mary Macmaster & Alyth McCormack) before going on to form Scots supergroup The Unusual Suspects, also with David Milligan.
The essence of Corrina’s music lies in her passion for Scottish traditional music and song, but what sets it apart is her effortless blending of other musical genres. Her love of folk, jazz, contemporary classical and pop music has in no small part influenced Corrina’s style of performing and composing over the years – a style shaped by a fascination with experimental music and improvisation, alongside a deep respect for the more formal architecture of music. She performs with a reverence for tradition and a dedication to innovation.
As a harpist, having developed a creative and powerful technique, she was nominated Instrumentalist of the Year 2004 at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards. As a singer she is blessed with a beautiful earthy voice, which resonates with years of soaking up Scotland’s musical tradition, while echoing jazz and contemporary elements. The diversity of her stylistic influences is reflected by some of the artists she has worked with; Eric Bibb, Horse, Carol Kidd, Peggy Seeger, Gordie Sampson, Eddi Reader, Karine Polwart and more recently Bobby McFerrin in an impromptu improvised performance during his Celtic Connections show in January 2010.
Corrina has earned an enviable reputation as one of Scotland’s most creative writers and bandleaders. As well as being a prolific tunesmith and now branching into songwriting, she has written several large-scale works for instrumental and choral ensembles, most recently ‘The Lorient Suite’, commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council and The Scottish Government to celebrate the Year of Scotland at the 2007 Lorient Interceltique Festival. Her natural flair as a leader has seen her called upon to direct a wide variety of shows such as ‘Songs of Conscience’ 2007, ‘Scottish Men’ 2006 and the annual ‘TMSA Young Trad Tour’ since 2005. Corrina has always loved collaborating with others and this has led her to recording over 30 albums in the last fifteen years. Aside from solo performances, recent projects close to her heart include; a duo with Kathryn Tickell and vocal trio Grace, Hewat, Polwart with Annie Grace & Karine Polwart.
