About Anja

Anja Bakker and Sean the Harp together have been the successful duo ‘The Flauting Harper’ from the time they first met in 2009. Since then they’ve been enchanting audiences throughout France, Spain, the Netherlands, UK and Ireland with their performances in music, song and stories. In 2010 they travelled on foot from West Cork, where they are based, to Santiago de Compostela. This let to their commitment to walk and play daily which is what they to practice to this day.
In 2010 they joined the female poetry collective ‘Catch the Moon’ with whom they performed throughout Ireland and then joined the writer/poet/columnist/novelist Tina Pisco to form the performance poetry trouppe ‘Gifted Eccentrics’ which has built a reputation for making one ‘either smile or cry’ they joined forces with the ‘Bog Canon’s Roadshow’ but have also worked with the poet Paul Casey and were at the front of the experimental electronica act ‘Illusion Creation’ until its demise in 2014. They also work in healthcare settings and practice ‘Harp Meditations’ by invitation and they’ve recorded an album with Ocean Studios on the Sheeps Head which is due out later this year.
Their performances have been described as: ‘Mesmerizing’, ‘stunning’, ‘hypnotic’ and ‘unbelievably beautiful and relaxing’. ‘She draws you in and then… out you come on the other side, different, if you know what I mean.’

Anja Bakker started playing music at the age of 4 and is a harper (harpist) recorderplayer and singer with a love for performance. She studied with Piet Zwart, Douceline Aleven as a child and holds a B-Mus hons from the Cork School of Music where she studied with Seamus de Barra and Alan Cutts, Elisabeth Jones, Laoise O’Brien and Bonnie Seljean. She’s a multiple awardwinning recorderplayer in both CSM competitions the Feis Ceoil and Feis Matthew been performing in places like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, for the Nederlandse Opera Stichting from childhood in productions like Peter Grimes, Carmen and lots of Bach. In 2009 she performed in the National Concert Hall Young Talent series. Festival she performed at are as diverse as Flatlake, Slieve Bloom Literary Festival, Boyle Arts Festival, Bandon Engage, Bliss (2015), Ballydehob Maritime Festival, Fermoy Historical Conference and the Clonakilty Organic Festival. And she is no stranger to smaller stages like the Crane Lane, the Roundy, the Bru Bar, De Barra’s Folkclub, and many more bars, cafes, churches, squares, kitchens and livingrooms througout Europe. Her sound is as unique as her background a rich mix of Jazz, Blues, Medieval, Renaissance, Levantine and folk.
Sean the Harp is a Ravenna 26 built in the very successful workshop of Dusty Strings in Seatlle. Despite his size he’s known for his robust sound and warm tone. He holds his own in both acoustic and electronic settings and loves the live he has built, tied to his frame on Anja’s back moving, often on foot from their home to whereever they are going next.