Marion Kenny plays concert flute, Chinese bamboo flute (Dizi) Chinese reed flute (Bawu) Balinese bamboo flute (Suling) Chinese harp (Guzheng) and the piano.
Marion performs as a soloist but is a passionate collaborator. She presently plays with a number of musical ensembles as well as creating music for theatre, dance and storytelling productions. She also teaches piano and flute working with the Royal Associated Board of Music syllabuses.
Born into a musical family, Marion began studying classical piano at the age of five. After graduating from Exeter University in music and theatre arts, she held piano residencies at Bristol Old Vic Theatre and Bath Puppet Theatre, whilst being a regular feature on the South West music circuit exploring a mixture of musical genres including reggae, jazz, blues, salsa and African High Life.
During the eighties and nineties Marion worked as musical director with some of Britains leading circus theatre companies including Snap Dragon Circus, Medicine show, Fanshen and award winning No Fit State Circus. She has been a musician with Scottish multi-disciplinary company Ocean All Over since 2000.
When Marion moved to Scotland she was invited to be a resident musician at Scotland’s leading dance centre Dance Base where she played music for regular classes as well as accompanying visiting companies such as San Francisco Ballet and Ballet Rambert.
She joined Scottish groups Sola and Salsa Celtica which saw her tour extensively and perform at festivals such as Celtic Connections folk festival in Glasgow, St Magnus music festival in Orkney, Edinburgh Hogmanay and Edinburgh Festival.
Marion studied music and dance at The Beijing Academy of Dramatic Arts in China in 1996 and at the Naja Raja Academy of Music and Dance in Bali in 1997.
On her return she formed Sanskrit Soundsystem alongside Neil Mac Arthur and released the album Original Language in 2003. She also formed music ensemble Zizu with international collaborators Kim Ho Ip, Jean David Callouett, and Joel Sanderson performing extensively throughout Scotland.
She recently produced and arranged the music for a double album called Voices in Scotland featuring storytellers and musicians from around the world, released on Brechin All Record in 2011. After receiving a Traditional Touring Award from Creative Scotland, tracks from the album were performed live to sell out audiences and to critical acclaim at the Celtic Connections Festival in 2012. It received further commissions to launch the International Scottish Storytelling Festival 2012 and Commonwealth Celebration day at Glasgow City Halls 2012.
Marion played on the award-winning album ’13 Lost and Found’ with RM Hubbert produced by Alex Kapranos (of Franz Ferdinand) released on Chemikal Underground label 2012.
She has been playing in Babylon Arabic Band led by Iraqi singer and oude played Mohamed Nafea since 2000 touring nationally and internationally, including Taronalari Music Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, funded by the British Council.
Marion has performed live on BBC Radio with RM Hubbert on the Vic Galloway show, with Babylon Arabic band on the Mary Anne Kennedy show, and also appeared on Al Jazeera Television.