ERIE, Pa. — You don’t have to know Julie Fowlis’ name to know her voice. If you’ve seen Disney’s “Brave,” chances are you’ll never forget her.
In the 2012 animated feature, the Scottish vocalist performs two songs, “Touch the Sky” and “Into the Open Air,” which serve as the musical thoughts for Merida, the main character and heroine in the film.
Fowlis will perform songs from both “Brave” and her most recent album, “Alterum,” when she visits Penn State Behrend on Tuesday, Oct. 2, as part of Music at Noon: The Logan Series. The performance takes place at noon in McGarvey Commons, in the college’s Reed Union Building. Admission is free, and reserved parking for audience members will be available in the Reed lot.
Fowlis is an award-winning Gaelic singer who is deeply influenced by her early upbringing in the Outer Hebridean island of North Uist. She continues to be a proud torchbearer of her heritage, often performing in both English and Gaelic.
“Gaelic needs to be a living, breathing language. … If it’s not at home, and if it’s not celebrated at a community level through story and song, we’re in trouble,” Fowlis said in a 2017 interview.
Fowlis has released five albums, including “Alterum,” which was released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Since its release, she has sold out shows throughout the United Kingdom, and the album’s success has helped Fowlis receive 2018 nominations as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and Best Artist at the Songlines World Music Awards.
Music at Noon: The Logan Series was founded by Mrs. Kay Logan in 1989 and receives major support from the Kay Logan Trust. Additional funding is provided by the Penn State Behrend Student Activity Fee. Music at Noon receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support for this program is provided in part from an Erie Arts & Culture Project Grant, made possible by community contributions to the Combined Arts & Cultural Campaign and the Erie Arts Endowment.
For more information about The Logan Series or Julie Fowlis’ appearance, contact series director Gary Viebranz at 814-898-6289 or email gav3@psu.edu.