Arctic Talent: Iqaluit harpist ‘in sync with the cosmos’

A concert harp has 47 strings. But when Iqaluit harpist Gisela Eblin Ruan strums hers, she says her heartstrings quiver, too.

“You can feel the vibrations,” she said. “It’s healing your soul — a synchronization with the cosmos.”

Her mastery of the instrument comes from years of dedication, discipline and sacrifice.

Ruan grew up in Mexico City watching her aunts and uncles play guitar and traditional folk instruments. She imagined being a professional musician one day. Guitar was her first instrument.

However, when she picked up the harp in her teens, it was love at first sight.

“When I saw the big harp — it was golden and so tall — it was lovely,” she said. “I fell in love with the harp and never changed to guitar.”

In an interview, Ruan recounted how she and her harp landed in Iqaluit last July.

Summer 2000: Self-taught 14-year-old Ruan had become skilled at guitar but wanted to excel. She sneaked 400 pesos from her state education scholarship fund, worth about $30 Canadian, and paid to apply to try out for an elite music school.

She didn’t seek parental permission in case she blew the audition.

Fall 2000: Good news and bad news. Ruan was accepted into music school, but not for guitar.

Her music teacher convinced her to audition for a different instrument instead, to avoid having to compete with more experienced guitarists.

“He told me to pick an instrument that nobody wants to play,” she said.

She took his advice and chose the harp.

Ruan passed the audition.

“I just listened and focused,” she said.

Her parents were proud, even after she confessed to dipping into her scholarship fund.

2000-2001: Ruan planned to master the harp in music school, then switch back to her beloved guitar in adulthood. Plans changed.

“The sound of the harp made me feel like I’m flying — it was magic,” she said. “Once I started to play, I just wanted to keep going and going.”

She was the last to leave the studio on weekday evenings and the first to arrive Saturday and Sunday mornings.

2002-2009: Ruan felt she was becoming one with her harp.

“You can almost talk with your instrument. It’s like another language,” she said. “It’s an extension of your body.”

She enrolled at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and in addition to her studies, she taught music at five different schools.

“I was teaching in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening,” she said.

One of her commutes was three hours each way by bus and subway.

She said she needed the money because she had ordered a nearly two-metre-tall mahogany harp from Chicago. It cost 300,000 Mexican pesos, equal to about C$17,500.

She spent so much time working to pay it off, she had very little time to play.

2013: Ruan graduated with her music degree. She had recorded a 45-minute album of original music in lieu of a thesis. She interviewed several Mexican composers as part of her research.

2017-2021: Ruan turned professional with a self-titled five-piece band — Eblin Ruan. She played harp and sang, backed by drums, bass, guitar and accordion.

Eblin Ruan recorded an album titled Cantos de Tierra y Luna, which translates as Songs of Earth and Moon.

They performed at museums — Mexico City has approximately 300 of them — and at lots of state functions and private parties.

2022: Ruan completed her master’s degree in music education at the University International of the Rioja in Spain.

2023-2024: Ruan moved to Montreal to study English, before moving to the North in July 2025.

Today, she teaches music to toddlers at First Steps Daycare in Iqaluit. She performs at the Franco-Centre on some jam nights and for special occasions.

Talent tip: “My advice is that if you can imagine something, it could be reality if you never give up believing in yourself.”