Harp and Friends
September 13 2025
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About the Artists
Deanne van Rooyen - Harp
Deanne attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (B.Mus) and Roosevelt University in Chicago (M.Mus). She has performed extensively throughout North America, Europe and her native South Africa, as a soloist and chamber musician. Deanne has performed at two World Harp Congresses and has made recordings of chamber music and solo repertoire, including premieres of new works for harp by contemporary composers. As harpist with the Curtis Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and Miami’s New World Symphony she performed with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, John Adams, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson-Thomas, and Yuri Temirkanov.
Deanne is an Associate Professor of Geology at Acadia University with PhD from Carleton University. Her research interests include structural geology, geochronology, and metamorphic petrology in relation to structural and tectonic problems in the Appalachians, Northern Quebec, and Labrador.
Christianne Rushton - Mezzo Soprano
Mezzo-soprano Christianne Rushton has delighted audiences with her engaging presence and versatility on both the operatic and concert stages. Christianne is a first prize winner of the Canadian National Music Festival, a prize winner at the prestigious Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition, a two-time grant recipient from the Canada Council for the Performing Arts, and a winner of the Canada Council’s Bernard Diamant Prize in Voice. In recital, she debuted at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and was featured on the New York Festival of Songs. She was a guest artist for the Royal Society of Canada, toured with Debut Atlantic, sung with Symphony Nova Scotia, performed at the Indian River Festival, recorded with the Canadian Chamber Choir, and has sung with Baltimore Musicales.
Dr. Rushton is Director of the School of Music at Acadia University where she is Professor and head of vocal studies. Christianne is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center at The Juilliard School and completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from SUNY Stony Brook. She was honored to receive an Emerging Leader Award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) for her innovation and success teaching voice. Dr. Rushton is past President of two arts organizations: President of the Canadian Atlantic Provinces Chapter of NATS, and the President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Provincial Music Festivals. Christianne is founder and President of “Discover Your Dynamic Voice”, a program that offers coaching to women and non-binary leaders in order to unlock the power of their own unique voice.
As well as being active as an adjudicator, pedagogue, workshop clinician, and performer across the country, she is a proud mom to two very busy boys, seventeen and thirteen.
Scott Henderson - Uillean Pipes
Scott Henderson is a seasoned musician with over 35 years immersed in traditional and contemporary folk and Celtic music. His extensive career includes performances at thousands of events and venues, having shared the stage with celebrated artists such as The Chieftains, Natalie MacMaster, J.P. Cormier, and The Barra MacNeils. Scott's diverse musical experience spans professional involvement in numerous traditional and contemporary folk groups, dance bands, classical ensembles, and orchestral settings. A versatile multi-instrumentalist, he plays Uilleann pipes, Highland pipes, Border pipes, flute, and whistles, and also offers vocal arrangements accompanied by Irish bouzouki and guitar.
