CARTHAGE — Scottish-born master harpist Maeve Gilchrist and her band will play on Wednesday, March 9, at Skye Theatre Performing Arts Center and on Thursday, March 10, at Unity College Center for the Performing Arts.

Gilchrist began playing piano at age 7 and picked up the clarsach (Celtic harp) a couple of years later. Toward the end of her school years, she was an in-demand member of the traditional music scene in Scotland, balancing schoolwork with rehearsals and performances around the country.  

While a student at Berklee College, Gilchrist was awarded a full scholarship, the Outstanding Performer of the Year 2004 Award and the Norm Nate Scholarship. She performed regularly in the school’s Performance Centre.

Also making up the Maeve Gilchrist String Quartet are bassist Aidan O’Donnell, multi-instrumentalist Duncan Wickel and cellist Daniel Plane.

O’Donnell started his musical life in Glasgow, Scotland, playing bass guitar in rock bands, but stepped up to the double bass at age 16. A year later, in 1999 he was accepted into the inaugural year of the Birmingham Conservatoire jazz course. During his time in Birmingham, United Kingdom, he played in various jazz and latin bands, and traveled back to Scotland to play with jazz musicians. He has also been in demand for recording work, having been featured on 16 albums since leaving Birmingham University.

Wickel, also a composer, is gaining recognition for his diverse abilities in Irish traditional, classical, jazz and world fusion idioms. He began studying classical violin at age 4. By age 14, he was recognized as a versatile young violinist. He had a position in the violin section in the Asheville (N.C.) Symphony Orchestra and played his first gig alongside renowned guitarist/singer John Doyle. Duncan has since toured twice with Doyle throughout the Northeast.

Plane draws on a conservatory training, jazz studies and the folk-blues tradition to weave the voice of the cello into unexpected musical settings. After completing his formal study at Berklee and the Longy School of Music in 2007, he toured for a time with the eclectic stringband Taarka. He continues to compose songs and arrange folk tunes for the cello. He performs a blend of folk music, songs and fiddle tunes, both by himself and with Tatiana Berindei as the husband-and wife duo, Viatsa.

Curtain is at 7 p.m. at Skye and 7:30 p.m. in Unity. There will be a preshow jam session 45 minutes prior to curtain at both venues. Audience members are urged to bring musical instruments to jam with the artists for a few minutes.

For tickets, $15, call Skye at 562-4445 or UCCPA at 948-7469. Skye Theater is at 2 Highland Drive. UCCPA is at 42 Depot St. in Unity.