Emmanuelle Parrenin
Emmanuelle Parrenin is a French folk singer, harpist and hurdy-gurdy player who was first active in the late 1960s and 1970s as part of "le mouvement folk". Early life and education Parrenin was born into a family steeped in classical music: her mother played the harp and her father the violin, and studied ballet as child. She attended a Catholic boarding school but was expelled. She expanded her musical horizons during her teenage years, and was influenced by meeting Eric Clapton and The Yardbirds, during a visit to England while a teenager. At age 19, she met the hurdy-gurdy player Christian Leroy Gour'han, , and Alan Stivell at Le Bourbon folk club. The instrument itself made a deep impression on her and made her determined to learn how to perform with it.She and others travelled to remote regions of France and other Francophone countries including Canada to record folksongs. The recordings were donated to the Musée de l'Homme and the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires. Career In 1974 Parrenin released an album with Phil Fromont called "La Maurmariée", developing a "reputation for stark and intelligent interpretations of traditional music." By the mid-1970s Parrenin had gained a reputation with