Fiona Gillespie is a folk and Classically-trained singer, music creator, instrumentalist, and educator. Raisedin a family of traditional Celtic musicians Fiona grew up Irish step dancing, singing ballads, andplaying the Irish whistle and bodhran. She holds degrees in voice performance from Westminster Choir College (BM) and the University of North Texas (MM).

Fiona is the founder and manager of Celtic/Early Music band The Chivalrous Crickets andhistorical Scottish classical-crossover ensemble, Makaris. Whether as a leader, facilitator, orparticipant, she finds regenerative life in the ritual of gathering. Through community sings,neighborhood caroling, classroom visits, staged audience participation-focused concert-theaterproductions, collaborative exchanges between professional and community groups, and festival-fundraiser design with community nature preserves, Fiona values building connections. Hernonprofit Hearthsong Folk Arts hosts cultural events that promote seasonal celebration,community connection, nature awareness and individual wellbeing by bringing heritage arts andcustoms into modern lives. She enjoys doing (and sometimes calling) ceilidh and EnglishCountry folk dancing, attending shape note sings, studying Scottish Gaelic singing, dabbling inhandcraft and going to as many fairs, festivals and get-togethers as she can with a two year old.

Current collaborative and performance projects include story-telling concerts of the balladBarbara Allen and a Celtic Christmas created with The Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado;Folk/Baroque crossover program Wassail! an Irish-Appalachian Christmas with Apollo’s Fire;projects with Massachusetts-based ensemble Tiny Glass Tavern; “The Hagiography: a musicalpilgrimage through the lives of the saints” with Theotokos and The Chivalrous Crickets in NYC;Scottish Baroque programs with Makaris, Ruckus Early Music Band, Fire and Grace, and Elm CityConsort, and appearances with NY/MA-based Skylark Vocal Ensemble.

Fiona’s half hour folk-rock cantata of the traditional Scottish ballad Tam Lin, with co-composerElliot Cole, (scored for voices and 12-piece band of historical, modern, and electronicinstruments), released in 2021. Her album of Scottish folk songs arranged by composers of theViennese School, Wisps in the Dell released in 2019, followed by The Gallant David Rizzio (2022)and the modern premiere of Allan Ramsey’s ballad opera The Gentle Shepherd due to release in2025. All were created with New York-based ensemble Makaris, which focuses on musicalprojects exploring Scottish culture and heritage.