Celtic Harpist Charms in Chinese

Katie Targett-Adams
Forbidden City Concert Hall
28th March 2014

Chinese audiences always appreciate it when a visitor from abroad makes some attempt to address them in Chinese. So there was widespread applause when Scottish singer and musician Katie Targett-Adams began her concert in the Forbidden City Concert Hall by introducing herself in Mandarin.

But the applause turned to cheers when Katie continued her introduction in Chinese, and it became apparent that she can speak the language properly. She studied modern languages at Oxford before she established herself in Hong Kong, where she runs her own dance studio and which she uses as her base for her tours and performances in China.

Katie is a well-known and popular performer in China, as was reflected in a healthy turnout at the prestigious venue. She put on an entertaining show for the audience, which went well beyond simply playing and singing, and included plenty of witty exchanges with Master of Ceremonies Gu Yue, and cultural references in both Chinese and Katie’s native Scots.

The first half of the show was devoted to traditional Scottish songs, with Katie singing and playing unaccompanied on her harp. Dressed in a beautiful golden gown she sang the well-known hymn Amazing Grace, two songs from the great 18th century Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns - My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, and Ca’ The Yowes - and Fear a Bhata (The Boatman), sung in the Scottish ethnic language of Gaelic.