The death has occurred of:
Aileen MacArdle
Aileen MacArdle, who had a distinguished career as an orchestral harpist, and for the past 30 years was an influential harp teacher in Wales and Northern Ireland, died on 1 October 2018 at her home in Woodingdean, East Sussex. Aileen was born on 21 October 1924 in Belfast and began to play the Irish Harp at 10 years of age, as well as winning a gold medal at the All-Ireland dancing championship, before moving on to the concert harp. She performed with orchestras in Cork and Belfast, and made BBC Belfast and BBC General Forces broadcasts from 1942, as well as recordings of Irish songs and ballads with the Ulster tenor Richard Hayward and others. In 1954, after studies in London with Tina Bonifacio, she was appointed Principal Harp in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which made a pioneering tour behind the iron curtain under Rudolf Schwartz, Charles Groves, and Constantin Silvestri. She married Derek Powell, a violinist in the orchestra, in 1956. In 1972 she retired from Bournemouth to freelance with all the major London orchestras, notably the Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as BBC Belfast and other provincial ensembles. On receiving a diagnosis of osteoarthritis that was projected to cut short her playing career, she researched and adopted the De Coti-Marsh diet and remained active for a further 40 years. Aileen taught throughout her career. She developed a technique firmly anchored in the Paris Conservatoire school to support an intense focus on quality of sound, a priority that, along with an inexhaustible patience and a playful sense of humour, became her hallmark. She held posts in the Welsh College of Music and Drama (Head of Harp), and in Limerick University (Head of Harp), and in 1993 began a 13-year association with the Music Service of the Southern Education and Library Board of Northern Ireland in Portadown, which continues the annual award of a cup named in her honour. The association led to the establishment of a harp school in Newry that became the model for others elsewhere in the province. Through her unique ability to teach the pupil, rather than the harp, Aileen became a widely respected and beloved teacher, coach, and adjudicator, fostering talented pupils who went on to prominent concert careers of their own. Aileen was a constantly enthusiastic participant in gatherings of harpists both formal and informal, including the World Harp Festival celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Belfast Harpers Assembly of 1792 at which Edward Bunting had recorded the already vanishing tradition of Irish harpers. She was elected a Member of the The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain in 1990, after which she served as a member of the Court of Assistants and as the Honorary Area Representative in Northern Ireland. She is survived by sons Ardal (USA) and Brian, daughter-in law Julie, and grandchildren Joshua and Isabelle (Trellech, Wales).
She was predeceased by her husband, later Professor of Violin at the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, from whom she had been separated since 1978, by her sisters Cora, Leontia, and Patricia, and by many close friends who were prominent figures in the harp world. A Requiem Mass was said on 10 October at Our Lady Of Lourdes church in Rottingdean. Memorial contributions may be made to the Bursary Account of the UK Harp Association, c/o Wagstaff Funeral Directors, 231 South Coast Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex BN10 8LB or at www.wagstafffuneraldirectors.com.