Jean Redpath, b. 1937. Singer and lecturer - By Alexander...
Jean Redpath, b. 1937. Singer and lecturer - By Alexander Fraser
Born in Edinburgh and raised in the Kingdom of Fife, the singer Jean Redpath studied at the University of Edinburgh. Through the School of Scottish Studies she became aware of the rich tradition of Scottish folk music and became deeply involved in it.
This portrait, by Alexander Fraser, was painted to celebrate Jean Redpath's sixtieth birthday. The artist has shown the singer dressed as she so often performs and with a glimpse of the East Neuk of Fife on the right. The portrait, which was destined from the start for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, is a tribute from Jean Redpath's native Fife.
She is now internationally known as a singer of traditional Scots ballads and is the world's pre-eminent interpreter of the songs of Robert Burns. For twenty years Jean Redpath worked with the American composer Serge Hovey to produce the most extensive collection of Burns's songs ever published.
