Fiona Gillespie Joins Ambler Musicivic as Community Director

Fiona is a folk and classically trained singer, songwriter, composer, and music educator. Raised in a family of traditional Celtic musicians, she grew up step dancing, singing ballads, and playing the Irish whistle and flute. Fiona’s passion is blending musical styles, bringing listeners of different musical genres together, and sharing the music of unfamiliar traditions with new audiences from backyards to barns to halls. Her ensembles the Chivalrous Crickets (folk band), Disordering the Attic (duo), and Makaris (chamber ensemble), all bring singers and instrumentalists from Celtic, old time, early music, new art music, and pop and music theatre backgrounds together to create historical and original thematic and rich textural programs.

Fiona has taught voice and opera workshop and directed opera at liberal arts colleges for the past decade, as well as teaching folk and group singing workshops at educational festivals and institutions. She sings professionally with classical ensembles around the nation and abroad, including the multi-time Grammy-nominated Skylark Ensemble, The Baroque Orchestra of Colorado, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, Alkemie Ensemble, Kinnara, St. Tikhon’s Choir, and Mountainside Baroque, among others. She holds a Master’s in voice with a focus on Baroque music from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor’s degree in music from Westminster Choir College.

Fiona is an avid reader and traveler. In addition to many musical tours she has both been on and managed, her favorite wild adventures include a 2-week Himalayan trek in 2019, and several cross-country road trips spent seeing over 30 states and camping on public land.

She and her partner, plucked-instrumentalist Paul Morton, recently relocated from New York to Philadelphia. Hailing from Bethlehem and Lancaster, respectively, they look forward to dedicating their time participating in and building arts community and experience in south-east Pennsylvania.

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