Loreena McKennitt

Born in 1957 in Morden, Manitoba, Loreena McKennitt has built in Canada a distinctive career at the crossroads of Celtic music, folk, and so‑called “world” music, with a marked affinity for meditative atmospheres sometimes akin to the new age movement. Based in Stratford, Ontario, she founded her own label, Quinlan Road, in the mid‑1980s, which released Elemental in 1985, followed by To Drive the Cold Winter Away in 1987 and Parallel Dreams in 1989, laying the foundations of a universe inspired by Celtic traditions, poetry, and travel narratives. With The Visit in 1991, The Mask and Mirror in 1994, and The Book of Secrets in 1997, McKennitt broadened her scope to medieval Spain, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, blending ballads, instrumental pieces, and adaptations of literary texts. An Ancient Muse in 2006, The Wind That Shakes the Barley in 2010, Lost Souls in 2018, and Under A Winter’s Moon in 2022 continue this approach, while several live albums document stage work centered on acoustic ensembles and a spotlight on the voice and string arrangements.