NADIA BIRKENSTOCK

was born in Solingen in the north west of Germany.
She started playing the piano at five and grew up listening to lots of classical music.
Her first contact with the Celtic harp was when she saw the legendary Scottish harp duo “Sileas” perform, and she instantly fell in love with the sound of the instruments, the voices and the spirit of Celtic Music.
Thanks to a one-year scholarship (ASSIST), she received her first vocal training in the USA (Westover School, Connecticut) and afterwards studied voice at the Music Conservatory of Duesseldorf in Germany.

She taught herself to play the Celtic Harp at 16 and attended masterclasses with Kim Robertson (USA), Bill Taylor (Scotland) and others.

During her vocal studies she created her first solo performance program for Celtic harp and voice. This was very well received and Nadia has since appeared to great acclaim in concerts at festivals, folk-clubs, concert halls, churches, castles and many stunning venues in Central Europe.

Festival appearances include the “Rencontres Internationales de la Harpe Celtique” at Dinan (France, Brittany), the “Schlossfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci” (Berlin), the Venne Folk Festival, Celtic Days Hude, Keltenfest Buchberg (Switzerland).
Nadia has also appeared on tv and radio with WDR, SWR, RBB, France Musiques, Celtic World radio Australia and others.
She also frequently plays for the Irish Embassies in Cologne, Munich and Frankfurt.

Nadia's repertoire features both original songs and compositions and traditional Celtic folk songs and harp tunes.

In 2001 her first solo album “Emerald Isles” was released, followed by “Wandering between the Worlds” (2003), “Winter Tales” (LAIKA 2006), “Les Berceuses de Coline” (an assignment for the French company “Grandir Nature” in 2007) and finally, her songwriting debut, “Strange New Land” (2008).

Musical cooperations include live projects and recordings with Morris Open, Sebastian Fuhrmann (percussion, piano, bouzouki), Mckinley Black, Jo Freya, Dominique Dantand (organ), Cathrin Pfeifer (accordeon), Northern Lights (string quartet), Bernd Roth (diatonic accordeon), Sarath Ohlms (percussion), Gabriele Steinfeld (violin, “Freiburger Barockorchester”).

Nadia plays a celtic harp that was build by the German harp maker Frank Sievert rosewood, tuning: E flat, 34 gut strings) and the CAMAC Elektroharp 36 strings.