Ailie is one of Scotland's leading composers. 

Ailie Robertson is a multi-award winning composer, and harpist from Scotland. She has been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions including the BBC Proms, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Red Note, Bang on a Can, The RSNO, Cappella Nova, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, The Scottish Chamber Choir and the Riot Ensemble. She was composer-in-residence with Sound Festival 2019-2022 and composer-in residence with Glyndebourne Opera from 2020-2022. She was awarded the ‘Achievement in New Music’ prize at the inaugural Scottish Awards for New Music and has also won prizes for ‘Best Chamber work’ and ‘Innovation in New Music’.

She holds a PhD in composition from Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Her work ranges from composing concert music to film scores, working with traditional choirs through to collaborating with other artists on abstract, site-specific installations. As well as more conventional concert hall music, she has a passion of writing for amateurs, for young people, for the theatre and, also, devising unusual and site-specific works. 

Key works and performances include:

Chaconne - Dunedin Consort, Premiered at the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall

Pay the Piper - Glyndebourne Opera

Archetypes - Scottish Ensemble 2022 Tour

Motherhood - Sound Festival and Exaudi

Caoineadh - London Philharmonic Orchestra

Unfurl - Red Note Ensemble, Co-commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Sound Festival

The Bells Are All Silent - Commissioned by Bang on a Can

Orpheus - RSNO Community Orchestra

The Seven Sorrows - Celtic Connections Festival

 “Her synthesis of Irish, Scottish and contemporary harping technique into an individual style represents the realization of otherwise unimagined possibilities for the Celtic Harp”

(Niall Keegan, IWAMD).

Ailie Robertson from Edinburgh is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians and Celtic harpists. A five-time National Mod Gold Medalist and a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year finalist, Ailie also won first prize at the inaugural London Harp Competition, was judged best overall musician at the Edinburgh Competition Festival and won the St Albans New Roots award. Her debut solo album ‘First things first' won the 'Live Ireland' award for 'Best Instrumental Cut of the Year’. She has performed and taught all over the world, released 3 solo Celtic Harp CDs and published 7 volumes of harp sheet music. She gives performances, teaches private lessons, and has an online harp school.

"Innovative, assured and beautiful...her harp exerts an undeniable and inexorable tug at the heart strings" - Scotland on Sunday

"Flair, precision and consummate skill, plus passionate drive and gentle reserve. There's many clichés you could use such as 'old head on young shoulders', and 'talent beyond her years' – but they don’t come close. Inspired genius." - Folkwords

"A player of Ailie's class has the ability to tear your heart out" - Maverick

“Robertson's genius is in straddling the Irish and Scottish traditions with a fresh-faced and utterly bearable lightness of being.” - Irish Times

'She is a superior musician, understands the tradition, has her own style and is at home in trad as in the jazz idiom. The amount of major awards she has won for her harp playing would fill this column. The awards don't tell the story. This is wonderful. A major new star' - LiveIreland.com