Albums
Sample Songs
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Hold Thou My Right Arm
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Prayer for Mankind
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Another Tune, Another Rhyme
Lana Quinn
Her father sang her to sleep on the wings of old spirituals, and her mother said that singing a prayer was like saying it twice. Lana (Donnelly) Quinn's childhood was crowded with beautiful music and the sound of the sea. Prince Edward Island crafted her growing talent. Folk, classical, and music from many lands filled their Island home. The melodies of traditional Irish and Scottish ballads were Lana's favorites, and she soon memorized and sang even the longest ones. As a young girl she learned to play the piano, during her teenage years she learned to play the guitar, and as a young women this traditional music became the style in which she began to write her and perform her own songs. In 1999 she purchased a Celtic harp from John Dorman (Leduc, Alberta) and began to play!
Lana produced her first CD entitled "One Step Away" in 1997. It is a collection of prayers and inspirational writings, which she set to music. Enhanced by the talents of some of Saskatchewan's finest musicians on guitar, (Byron Olsen), violin (Joan Savage), and keyboard (Martin Janovsky), this album lures the listener into a state of calm by grounding our spiritual feet in another realm. Many of these songs have an Irish-Celtic quality. One reviewer's comments were: "... Her melodies alight and soar in a graceful and elegantly understated manner, and the artist's sincerity and purity of motive permeates the compositions, both through melody and quality of voice..." One of these songs, "Hold Thou My Right Arm", was published (June 98) in an international childrens magazine- "Brilliant Star". It is a beautiful prayer set to a traditional Cape Breton melody.
Lana has trained with mezzo-soprano Lisa Hornung and continues to work on the completion pf her Royal Conservatory teacher's license. However, the lure of the Celtic harp combined with her songwriting and arranging skills have made the release of her second CD "Ye are the Angels" a priority in 2003. The opening track is a song about the eternal nature of the sea- "Run to Her", two Christmas pieces-"Noel Now We Sing", and "The Cherry Tree Carol", two poems which Lana has set to music- "I Meant to do My Work Today" (Richard LeGallienne) and "Judge Tenderly" (Emily Dickinson), a song about the boredom of housework- "Another Tune, Another Rhyme" and more of her own compositions!
Lana has performed at music festivals, coffee houses, fundraisers, community events, weddings, and concerts throughout the province. She has performed in Telemiracle and for the devotionals at the Bahá'í National Convention in Montreal. Lana has participated in a weeklong choral/composition workshop given by Tom Price, a Nashville based composer who tours with his choir to Europe, Russia and the Far East. She has participated in a similar workshop with a Washington based composer/choir director, Van Gilmer who is a Gospel style singer.
Lana has an impressive repertoire of traditional ballads and contemporary songs, as well as many of her own compositions. She accompanies herself on guitar, Celtic harp, and piano. Green countryside, sunlight and the sea, sparkle before you as this angelic soprano voice, and 36-string harp transport the listener to a timeless place, where tranquility transcends our hurried lives.