Bonita Lestina Performance Series at Old Town Hall

Linn Barnes and Allison Hampton

Traditional American Folk and Celtic music

Linn Barnes and Allison Hampton have performed together as a duo for the last thirty years, beginning their careers as duo-lutenists playing the court music of 16^th century Renaissance Europe. As their interest in Celtic music grew, the need for a broader range of instrumentation became apparent. Ms Hampton has focused on a variety of nylon and wire strung Celtic harps, while Mr. Barnes, in addition to the lute, now plays an assortment of Steel stringed instruments, including the guitar, banjo, mandolin and cittern, and also plays the Irish (Uilleann) pipes.

They have toured throughout this country and Europe, and locally perform each year on the acclaimed Dumbarton Concert series in Washington, D.C., where their annual program, ”A Celtic Christmas” was described by the Washington Post as “a Washington institution.”

They have recorded 25 albums together. The most recent, “Fantasies and Inventions” is a collection of their own compositions for harp and guitars.