Abigail Kent’s harp and voice duo VOXIE is featured in the March–April 2021 issue of Irish Music Magazine and on Dutch radio show Song from Ireland, hosted by William van Gent. The duo, comprised of Abigail Kent, harp, and Lara Brooksbank, voice, garnered praise from both organizations for its debut album, Between the Distance. Irish Music Magazine‘s Sean Laffey describes it as “a riveting debut album inspired by the bardic tradition, featuring pure vocal storytelling and hauntingly beautiful harp.” Kent’s solo harp selections from the album were included on van Gent’s live broadcast on March 21.
Kent founded VOXIE in 2011 at the age of 16 after performing with many larger Celtic bands. “Celtic harp was my first love in music,” she says. “With VOXIE, I wanted to make music on a smaller scale, with just a duo of harp and voice.” The duo began working on Between the Distance at the start of the pandemic in 2020. “I felt that this was the perfect moment to slow down and focus creatively on an artistic project with all of the empty time from canceled concerts and festivals,” Kent says. “Between the Distance was our way of creating something beautiful and healing from the difficulties the world has had to endure in this new reality.” Kent was “completely surprised and amazed” at the duo’s features in the magazine and on the radio show. “Having not promoted the album but with a mention on Facebook, it was surreal to be noticed through blogs, print media, and radio in Celtic circles across the Atlantic, both in Ireland and in The Netherlands. This was simply a case of good, old-fashioned, word-of-mouth amongst Celtic musicians!” VOXIE’s album is available to stream on Apple Music.
Kent is a U.S. national champion of the Scottish harp, winner of the Scottish Harp Society of America’s traveling scholarship, and was an American Harp Society concert artist from 2017–2019. She holds harp degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes School of Music, and is completing her doctoral studies at The Juilliard School. To learn more about Kent, visit her website and read Harp Column’s 2019 Q and A with Kent.
