top left image
top right image
bottom left image
bottom right image
Stacks Image 688


Clare Salaman

Director, Nyckelharpa, Hurdy Gurdy, Hardanger Fiddle, Medieval Vielle

Beautiful vehement playing’ The Telegraph

www.claresalaman.com


I was brought up in a house with no TV. It was full of musical instruments though and playing music seemed a great way to pass the time. Old habits die hard.

I have always been drawn to interesting sounds, especially those which include plenty of jangle and scrape. A holiday job, cataloging the instruments in the Pitt Rivers ethnographic museum fed my curiosity and one thing led to another - first baroque violin, then hurdy gurdy, nyckelharpa, Hardanger violin and medieval vielle. These instruments introduced me to new worlds of musical repertoire.

My first job - a position in The English Concert – instigated five years of touring the world with period instrument orchestras but since then my work has become increasingly diverse. I have played accordion with a contemporary dance theatre company, been a member of the Dufay Collective and The Ian McMillan Orchestra, and have made a music theatre piece involving boa constrictors with Tanzanian street kids. I have also composed music for theatre, led projects in the Royal Academy of Music and other conservatoires and enjoyed many exciting collaborations with musicians from different musical traditions. This year I have written and presented a couple of programmes for BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show which I have found immensely enjoyable and satisfying.

I founded The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments in 2010 and this is now my main focus. The organisation includes a forum for discussion through social media and an active performance group. Through it, I am able to share my love for the colourful world of strange and ancient instruments and play with some of the most imaginative and creative musicians I know.