A DISTINGUISHED orchestral harpist and influential harp teacher, Aileen MacArdle, died on October 1 at her home in Woodingdean, East Sussex.

After a successful career as a musician, she spent the past 30 years teaching others in Wales and Northern Ireland,

Aileen was born on October 21, 1924 in Belfast and began to play the Irish Harp aged 10, as well as winning a gold medal at the All-Ireland dancing championship, before moving on to the concert harp.

She performed with orchestras in Cork and Belfast, and made BBC Belfast and BBC General Forces broadcasts from 1942, as well as recordings of Irish songs and ballads with the Ulster tenor Richard Hayward and others.

In 1954, after studies in London with Tina Bonifacio, she was appointed Principal Harp in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which made a pioneering tour behind the Iron Curtain under Rudolf Schwartz, Charles Groves, and Constantin Silvestri.

She married Derek Powell, a violinist in the orchestra, in 1956.

In 1972 she retired from Bournemouth to freelance with all the major London orchestras, notably the Philharmonia Orchestra, as well as BBC Belfast and other provincial ensembles.

On receiving a diagnosis of osteoarthritis that was projected to cut short her playing career, she researched and adopted the De Coti-Marsh diet and remained active in music for a further 40 years.

Aileen taught throughout her career. She developed a technique firmly anchored in the Paris Conservatoire school to support an intense focus on quality of sound, a priority that, along with an inexhaustible patience and a playful sense of humour, became her hallmark.

She held posts as head of harp in the Welsh College of Music and Drama, and in Limerick University.

In 1993 she began a 13-year association with the music service of the Southern Education and Library Board of Northern Ireland in Portadown, which continues the annual award of a cup named in her honour.

The association led to the establishment of a harp school in Newry that became the model for others elsewhere in the province. Through her unique ability to teach the pupil, rather than the harp, Aileen became a widely respected and beloved teacher, coach, and adjudicator, fostering talented pupils who went on to prominent concert careers of their own.

Aileen was a constantly enthusiastic participant in gatherings of harpists both formal and informal, including the World Harp Festival celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Belfast Harpers Assembly of 1792.

She was elected a member of The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain in 1990, after which she served as a member of the Court of Assistants and as the honorary area representative in Northern Ireland.

She is survived by sons Ardal and Brian, daughter-in-law Julie, and grandchildren Joshua and Isabelle.

Aileen was predeceased by her husband, who was professor of violin at the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal, from whom she had been separated since 1978, and by her sisters Cora, Leontia, and Patricia.

A requiem mass was said on October 10 at Our Lady Of Lourdes church in Rottingdean.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Bursary Account of the UK Harp Association, c/o Wagstaff Funeral Directors, 231 South Coast Road, Peacehaven, East Sussex BN10 8LB or at www.wagstafffuneraldirectors.com.