Harpist

Sophie Askew

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(5.0)Read all 9 reviews
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About Sophie

Sophie is an experienced professional harpist and harp teacher based near Edinburgh.
Harpist
Dalkeith
Public liability insurance of £10 million
Verified profile

Sophie is a highly experienced and respected professional harpist. She holds a B.A. in Music, M.Mus. in Harp Performance and a P.G.D.E. in Music. Based in Eskbank just outside Edinburgh, she performs in the most prestigious venues in Scotland including Archerfield Estate, Cameron House Hotel, Dundas Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Glamis, Glenapp Castle, Gleneagles Hotel, Hopetoun House, Stirling Castle, Glamis, Marr Hall, National Gallery of Scotland, One Devonshire, Prestonfield House, Scone Palace and Skibo Castle. Sophie has performed for live broadcasts on BBC Scotland television and radio and STV. Alongside her concert work, Sophie performs for private and corporate events from formal functions to marriage proposals, weddings, civil partnership ceremonies and birthday parties. Sophie tailors her music to suit the occasion and client from an extensive and ever expanding repertoire to create just the right atmosphere for each unique occasion and is always happy to arrange music for your event and her harp playing has been enjoyed by members of the British and Norwegian Royal families, politicians and Heads of State and celebrities. Sophie combines her passions in busy performing and teaching careers. As an orchestral player she plays with orchestras across Scotland; as a recitalist, she performs as a soloist and in various ensembles and duos including Cuerdas with cellist Lindsey Martindale, with soprano Simone Sahyouni and flautist Sue Evans. Sophie has appeared as a guest recitalist and teacher at the Edinburgh Harp Festival, performed concertos with many orchestras including the B.B.C. Scottish Symphony Orchestra and regularly premiers works most recently Steve Davismoon’s work Driven Voids (for Harp, Voice, Violin and Electronics), a space specific piece for the Glasgow School of Art Reid Building and is a member of the Glasgow Glam Rock Dialogues. I have PLI through the Musicians’ Union.

Encore badges
Saved the day!
Booked for an Encore gig with less than 24 hours’ notice
6th Anniversary
This act has been working with Encore for over 6 years
10 gigs
Experienced: 10 bookings through Encore
Musicianship
Genres:
Christmas, Traditional church music, Contemporary Christian, Classical, Early music, Musical theatre, Opera, Baroque, Classical crossover, Film / TV music, Renaissance, Medieval music, Contemporary classical, 1920s era music, 1930s era music, 1940s era music, 1950s era music, 1960s era music, 1970s era music, 1980s era music, 1990s era music, Folk, Traditional English folk, Traditional Scottish folk, Traditional Irish folk, Welsh folk, Jazz, Blues, Easy listening, Light music, Pop, Covers, Top 40, Indie, Glam rock, World music, Jewish music, Scottish music, Bollywood
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Instruments:
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Event types:
Wedding, Wedding proposal, Funeral / Memorial service, Church service, Hotel / Restaurant event, Bar / Club / Venue event, Private event, Corporate event, Charity event, Concert, Recording session, Theatre / Show, Cruise, Burns night, Birthday party, Christmas party, New Year's Eve
See all event types
Other skills:
Fluent sight-reader, Instrumental teaching
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Customer questions

What if my timings change after I've booked you?

Usually absolutely fine but always to give me as much notice as possible.

How much time do you need to set up?

I like to arrive 45 minutes to an hour before so I can unload and set up.

Do you need any equipment provided to play outdoors?

Just a flat surface.

Can you learn specific pieces before the event?

Absolutely, yes. I love arranging and discovering new music. There is a fee of £30 for this service to take not account arranging and rehearsal time.

Prices

Note: prices may vary based on travel distance. For an exact quote, click “Check availability”.

Standard Prices
Performance durationPrice
Short performance (up to 15 min)£120
Up to 1 hour£300
Up to 2 hours£450
Up to 3 hours£550
Sophie
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5 out of 5
5 verified reviews
Satisfaction
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5.0
Professionalism
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5.0
Communication
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5.0
Punctuality
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5.0

Reviews

From Encore customers:

WO
Will O
4 months ago
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5 out of 5

Sophie played at my wedding in October time and was absolutely brilliant. Everyone was so impressed by her playing which was perfect for the occasion. As well as being an incredible harpist she is also extremely warm and friendly. I can't recommend her highly enough. Thank you so much Sophie!

Reply from Sophie
4 months ago

It was an absolute pleasure to play for you all!

CP
Claire P
1 year ago
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5 out of 5

Sophie played beautifully. She endeavoured to include our music requests and also had great suggestions of her own. Highly recommend her for an event. We have special memories of our small wedding event, made most special by the harp music during the ceremony and at the reception afterwards.

Reply from Sophie
4 months ago

It was a beautiful and very special occasion. A pleasure to be a part of.

AL
Areti L
3 years ago
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5 out of 5

Sophie was a pleasure to work with, with a very high level of artistry. I would recommend without reservation.

GB
Gillian B
3 years ago
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5 out of 5

Fantastic!

Read all 5 reviews

From other customers:

SK
Steve S
5 years ago

You were super as always- thank you so much

TA
Trish G
6 years ago

I just wanted to thank you so very much for playing the harp at our wedding in St Giles. It was absolutely beautiful and I also had so much lovely feedback from guests of how beautiful they thought it was too. Thank you so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to make our day even more special.

Read all 4 reviews