Biography and Electronic Press Kit

Her father sang her to sleep on the wings of old spirituals, and her mother said that singing a prayer was like saying it twice. Lana (Donnelly) Quinn's childhood was filled with beautiful music and the sound of the sea on the Prince Edward Island shores. They crafted her growing talent. Folk, classical, and music from many lands filled their island home. The melodies of traditional Irish and Scottish ballads were Lana's favorites, and she soon memorised and sang even the longest ones. As a young girl she learned to play the piano, as a teenager she learned to play the guitar, and as a young women she began to write and perform her own songs. Lana moved to Saskatchewan in the 1980's, and studied singing at the University of Regina with Lynn Channing, and later with Lisa Hornung.

Lana produced her first CD entitled One Step Away in 1997, following the passing of a handicapped son. The album is a collection of prayers and inspirational writings, which she set to music in an Irish-Celtic style and lures the listener into a state of calm by its slow soothing rhythms. Saskatchewan musicians who performed on this CD are Byron Olsen(guitar), Joan Savage(violin), and Martin Janovsky(piano/keyboard). One reviewer's comments were:

“... Her melodies alight and soar in a graceful and elegantly understated manner, and the artist's sincerity and purity of motive permeates the compositions, both through melody and quality of voice...” One of these songs, Hold Thou My Right Arm, a prayer set to a traditional Cape Breton melody, was published (June 98) in an international children's magazine, Brilliant Star .

In 1999 she purchased a Celtic harp (made by John Dorman). In 2004 she released a second CD, Ye are the Angels with harp accompaniment in most of the songs. The opening track Run to Her is about the eternal/maternal nature of the sea, followed by Ye Are the Angels, a song about the angel within us. The album includes two poems which she has set to music, I Meant to do My Work Today (Richard LeGallienne) and Judge Tenderly (Emily Dickinson), Another Tune, Another Rhyme, a song about escaping the boredom of housework, and more original songs!

Lana's recent performances include the gala opening of the Golden Eagle Lodge in North Battleford (2006). A series of concerts in Regina, Saskatoon, Indianhead , Meadowlake. Three concerts of Harp and Song for the Spirit, at the Her-i-cane Festival of Women's Art in2006 and 2005, the Sundog Handcraft Faire(2005). She regularly plays for weddings and banquets throughout the province. In 2004, she performed for the North American Association for Baha'i Studies conference Spirit and Intellect in Calgary (Sept./04). She has performed at Telemiracle, community events, weddings, and memorial services, throughout the western provinces. She has also participated and performed in choral/composition workshops given by Tom Price (Nashville),Van Gilmer, a (Washington D.C), and Tom Jackson(Nashville).

If you are planning to attend one of Lana's concerts, be prepared for an impressive repertoire of traditional ballads, contemporary songs, as well as many of her own compositions. The rich bass tones of her harp ring in the air long after the last string has been plucked. Green countryside, sunlight and the sea, sparkle before you as this angelic soprano voice, and 36-string Celtic harp carry you to a timeless place, where tranquility transcends our hurried lives!

Downloadable press kit items

MAKING BEAUTIFUL MUSIC - Harpist Lana Quinn (above) and her husband entertained music lovers with a performance at the Chapel Gallery last Sunday. Photo by Lillian Blackstar
From The Optimist, Sunday February 1, 2004

The Optimist, Friday December 21, 2003

The Optimist, Wednesday June 3, 1998

The Guardian June 13, 1997, by Sally Cole

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