Lucinda Belle Orchestra

I heard an interview with Lucinda Belle earlier this year on Radio 4 and just found some great videos of her on the web.

She's got a deal with Island Records and an album out.

I'm going to download it from iTunes now.

Go Girl!



Better still - good to see a harp at Ronnie Scott's

Tuning A=440, 441 or 442?

What pitch to tune my harp to has been a particularly nerdy issue I have struggled with most of my orchestral life. I tune to A=442 as tuning to anything less than that makes the harp sound flat in an orchestra.

I use to worry about what long term effect on the harp tuning so sharp would have, so I would tune to A=441. Until I had a chat some years ago to Billy (the main Salvi/L&H technician in the UK) and he told me he regulates all the harps to A=442 as that is what they are built to be regulated at. He also regulates harps across Europe and South Africa. So any worry I had about the harps being regularly tuned sharper than they are built for was ungrounded as they are already built to be tuned higher then 440. German Horngachers, I believe, are built for A=444.

I wondered whether harps were being regulated to the same A=442 in the US and I found an interesting discussion on a US harp forum about it some years ago, so I'm glad it's not just me that has deep (quite sad) thoughts about the subject! Quite a few of US harpists on that thread seem to find issue with tuning so sharp.

I also found an even more interesting discussion on a US violin forum which gave lots of detailed insight into it from a string players point of view, and it makes a fascinating read.

So, when I was at Kneller Hall recently (which is the home of the Royal Military School of Music which trains musicians for the all of the bands in the British Army) I couldn't believe what I saw in their museum cabinet!!!

And there I was thinking tuning A=442 was potentially a tad sharp. Check out the pitch that the British Army bands used to be at! Information about it in picture below.

It makes tuning my harp at A=442 seem quite insignificant.

And yes, that is A=452!


click on the photo to see a larger view.

Ros Savage

There is a lovely review online of the concert by Keziah Thomas at the Carnegie Hall. Also very nice comments in the review about the solo harp piece she commissioned from Andy Scott, Crossing Waves.

Crossing Waves was inspired by Ros Savage who rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean and happened to be in New York at the time of Keziah's concert so she went along to the concert and spoke to the audience.

I heard Ros Savage speak after a dinner last year in Liverpool and she is a very inspirational woman.

Alison Stephens

My friend and colleague, Alison Stephens, passed away yesterday, 10th October 2010.

We first met in 1988 at Trinity College of Music, when in a musicianship class, the teacher was busy pairing all the students off to do a project. Much like the weedy kids who are never picked for the sports team, Ali and I were last to be paired off, so in desperation the teacher ordered us (mandolin and harp) to "go off and find something to play together". And so began a life time friendship and musical collaboration.

We played together as much as possible, and when we weren't playing we were either researching what music would work on mandolin and harp, scheming about life in general, having a laugh (or cry) and eating or drinking and everything else students fill their time with.

It was with the greatest joy for me that Ali had such a wonderful career. When I had my children and Ali was busy jetting off round the world with the RSC, we always had time to share with each other whether it was with an email, text, phone call or best of all a bottle of wine and a good chat.

As a duo, we always had a very special connection. To have a duo consisting of two plucked instrument you have to a near "pyschic" connection to play absolutely together, and we always had such joy playing together.

Six years ago Ali and I started work on publishing mandolin music and a fantastic catalogue has been brought together. Ali was so keen that future young mandolinists would have music readily available and she worked so hard to provide that music.

I was so glad when Ali finally met and settled down with the love of her life, Mitch, 6 years ago, and it is a comfort to know that her final years were her happiest.

When Ali was first diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago, she was determined to not let it stop her and much to the amazement of her medical team continued with her gigs and recordings, her running training, and with her colleague Mike Maran undertook a massive fundraising initiative for various cancer charities.

When she was diagnosed with cancer for third time, we all thought Ali would beat it like she had before. Ali and I had gigs booked until 2012 and we were finalising the artwork to re-release our CD, Tapestry. Likewise with her other duo partners, Ali had gigs and projects planned with Craig Ogden, was about to record a CD for Chandos with Steven Devine, had just devised a new stage show with Mike Maran and had many mandolin books which she was putting together for publication.

Just two weeks ago, Ali and I had a wonderful day out in London. I was accompanying her as she did two sessions, one in the Abbey Road studios for the new Harry Potter movie, and one later in the evening for an advert. In between we fitted in a girly day out shopping in Oxford Street and a meal in our favourite restaurant in China Town.

Like any creative musician taken from us prematurely, Ali has left us bereft of the creative projects she has left undone. But I am privileged to have worked with her for the past 22 years and I will very much miss my musical partner.

As a friend I will miss her greatly.

Thank you for the music, my lovely Ali.

Duo Mandala - 1993

Alison Stephens 1st March 1970 - 10th October 2010

Ali and me on our girly day out in China Town just after she had done her Abbey Road session on 22nd September 2010

Ali raised lots of money for cancer charities during her treatments. This one was the Big Fun Run at Milton Keynes in September 2009. Left to right, Andy Scott, Lauren Scott, Ali Stephens, Mitch Harris, Craig Ogden.

Duo Mandala at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009

And Everything is Still...

1,580 miles is a lot of travelling for a gig! But sometimes it's worth it.... Just back from doing a flute, harp and sax gig with Clare Southworth and my husband, Andy in the Dordogne region in France. What a fantastic part of the world, and it was great weather too!

Clare and I also had a great flute and harp gig in Sandbach earlier in the week too.

There were three premiers by us this week (video clips will be up online soon!!)

And Everything is Still.... for flute and harp by Andy Scott

Paquito for flute and harp by Andy Scott

Salt of the Earth for flute, tenor sax and harp by Andy Scott

All of Andy's music for harp (4 new pieces premiered in a week including the solo work premiered by Keziah) will be published and available from Astute Music this coming January.

Crossing Waves

Just back from a pleasant jaunt down to London to see a harp concert at the Forge venue in Camden by Keziah Thomas, who was premiering a piece that she commissioned from my husband, Andy.

She played a very ambitious programme to a room packed full of harpists, which must have been pretty daunting!

The programme was, Suite for Harp by Benjamin Britten, The Pearl Divers by Douglas Gibson, American Harp by Elie Siegmeister, Crossing Waves by Andy Scott, Tanzmusic by Glenn Buhr and Spiders by Paul Patterson.

Keziah did a fabulous job with Andy's piece and I especially enjoyed the Glenn Buhr and Paul Patterson pieces.

This is probably a controversial thing to admit in public....... but I really don't like the Benjamin Britten Suite. I was trying to listen to it tonight with a "fresh pair of ears" and to put my long held reservations about the piece to one side.

Unfortunately the performance tonight just confirmed what I always thought, and that the only reason it is performed is because it is by Benjamin Britten. I am a great fan of his music, but the Suite for Harp is just not a good piece of music. Because there is less music written for the harp compared with other instruments, some pieces, and especially pieces by "name" composers are played more than they deserve to be.

Hopefully with harpists like Keziah commissioning new music and breathing new life into the harp repertoire then harpists in years to come will have a real choice of (and this is the crucial point) music to programme.

In the end, it's all about the music.

Bravo Keziah!

Sandbach Concert Series

I'm working on 3 separate recital programmes at the moment for concerts which I have coming up.

I think that is just about my limit before my head starts to implode!

Most of the past few months has been taken up with the concert series which I have been working on setting up. I did all the applications some months back and fantastically we got all the funding, which was amazing especially in this economic climate. I'm chair of the society and Andy is the artistic director, and it has really taken off with lots of people now involved.

As well as a one hour concert by professional musicians, there is also an art exhibition which is open to anyone in the community, a 30 minutes spotlight concert featuring talented young musicians from the area and raffle with money raised going to local good causes. A full seasons listings plus more information about the series on the website.

Special thanks to everyone who has pulled together to make the concert series happen and especially to Caroline who has (and continues to) work her socks off getting everything ready.

How to tie a harp string

I was so glad when I came across these videos on the web. They are really well demonstrated and there is lots more info about harp care on Steve's site here

Tying a harp sting with an anchor, 0-3rd octaves by Steve Moss

Tying a harp string without an anchor, 4th and 5th octaves by Steve Moss

Paris harp joy

Imagine my utter joy when being taken away for a surprise short break in Paris by my lovely hubby and just around the corner from our hotel we come across this amazing sight.... I was peering through the window at night time when I first saw it!

utter joy!!

So, the next day we went into the main harp shop which was 2 doors down from this workshop, and very generously the owner, Alexandre Budin showed me around his workshop. So many wonderful and amazingly historic harps.

I was like a silly kid in a sweet shop that had been given ALL the best sweets.

Alexandre was a total star and despite my chronic lack of French, he gave me a tour in English around the wonderful harps in his workshop.

So the show stopper that had me stop in awe in the window the night before was of course the Pleyel cross strung harp. I have never seen one in the flesh before. And he has TWO in his workshop.

Clockwise from centre, Pleyel cross strung harp (that Debussy wrote his Dance Sacree & Profane for), Erat harp, 2 single action Budin harps at front (made entirely from carbon fibre), the beauty on the left being a Japanese style Erard harp (only 7 were ever made and I could kick myself that I didn't get more of it in the photo, a stunner of a harp.)

So, Alexandre said the Japanese Erard unfortunately would not be playable when they finished work on it, but I'm pretty sure he said that this Pleyel would eventually be playable.

Just when it couldn't get any better (there was a Naderman harp!) Alexandre casually told me that the Erard harp in picture above (foreground minus strings) was unfortunately dead and would never be playable again but they kept it for sentimental reasons because it had belonged to Lily Laskine.

midi harp

So - more about the midi harp in due course, as Sioned Williams will be premiering a midi harp concerto with the BBC S.O January 2011 that she has commissioned from Graham Fitkin.

What an amazing instrument! Here is Arnaud Roy playing on the midi harp.

I'm not personally a fan of blue coloured harps so good to see that Camac have just built a striking black & white midi harp