Harp Summit

It looks like it's going to be an amazing World Harp Congress in Vancouver in a couple of weeks!

As much as I would love to go, I must confess I've never been to a harp congress.

Although I have been to a saxophone congress in Slovenia where I learnt how they made saxophone reeds from scratch, and a Jazz conference in New York where I was nearly mown down by a bunch of enthusiastic jazz supporters running into a concert room trying to get the best seats (don't ask!!!).

Work commitments make it impossible to get away at this time of year, but having looked at the schedule for this conference coming up there are loads of performances I really wish I could go to.

I am really disappointed I won't get to see the performance by Park Stickney and Rudiger Oppermann.

Their CD, Harp Summit is one of my favourite harp recordings. The opening track, Cool Harmonics with its incredible descending chromatic bass lines and stunning harmonics is a track which makes me go "WOW" each and every time I hear it. My favourite though is Conscious Streaming which for some reason nearly brings me to tears each time.

Fingers crossed I can make the next congress, and hopefully see them play live at some point.

being calm

I have had to dig deep into my big bucket of inner calmness lately and have just about managed to get through the last couple of days without losing my temper.

Despite......

• having to sightread a community opera - an unmarked horrendous harp part in open key signature with loads and loads of notes... and accidentals
• having a 3 session day yesterday, enough to make anyone tired and frazzled
• being blocked in the car park at 9.30pm by some silly woman who was refusing to move her car
• being told I could park in a specific space this morning, and then being told by someone else 5 minutes before rehearsal that I had to move my car
• trying to play and watch the monitor at the side of stage so I could follow the conductor for the off stage harp part, only for loads of crew to suddenly stand in front of it and block my view as soon as I start playing
• finding the person who was looking after my harp outside the backstage door whilst I got my car had buggered off by time I got back with the car

I could go on..... but.....

We've now got a dog! She's a retired guide dog, and she's fab. Great temperament, fantastically clever dog of course, and a real joy. Plus she seems to love all the coming and going of our household, being fussed over by loads of teenagers who hang round our house, and seems to enjoy all the music. We are one noisy household with harp, sax, guitar, bass guitar, double bass and piano, it's never quiet for long!

Nothing like a wonderful dog to calm you down. ;-)

Inspiring

I've been running around like a lunatic lately, and have been flinging the harp into the back of the car at ungodly hours each morning for what seems like ages. Much needed day off tomorrow - hooray!!

And instead of feeling frazzled, I'm still buzzing after a brilliant concert by Catriona MacKay & Chris Stout at the Sandbach Concert Series on Wednesday.

What an amazing player with really incredible extended techniques and exceptional musicality! If you have the chance to hear her play live...... do go and see her. Chris & Catriona are an exceptional duo and the audience loved them. Hopefully they will come back and play for us again in a few years.

Lots of my students came to the gig on Wednesday and it was lovely to see how much her and Chris's playing inspired them.

Their latest CD, White Nights is brilliant and I'll be listening to it again in the car on the way to work today.

Laser harp

Ok, so they aren't actual harps....... but have you noticed how laser harps (that are actually built to look like a harp) seem to be popping up everywhere? With lots of science centres now having one.

I've not actually seen one in the flesh, but wouldn't an encounter with one in a museum be fun, and inspiring?

Glen Hill of Mountain Glen Harps seems to be building some great laser harps. Here he is explaining about one he has built for a children's Hospital.

What an amazing and therapeutic thing it would be in that situation. There is lots of info on Glens website about how they work. Essentially it's much like the midi harp in that each "string" triggers whatever is programmed on the software running it, but in this case of course you break the laser beam to make the trigger. Glen also has a blog with some pretty cool pictures of custom harps he is building.

A more traditional laser harp (without it being in confines of a harp shaped box) is nothing new, but I really like this next YouTube clip. Arpa di Luce is a collaboration between Gianpietro Grossi- Laser Engineer, Francesco Murano-Light Designer and Pietro Pirelli-Musician and visual artist.

Hijab Initiation

How about this then!

Hijab Initiation No 2 for harp trio by Amir Konjani

harpists - Claire Iselin, Federica Mossone, Soraya Vermeolen

also a solo harp piece by Amir played by Sioned Williams

Let there be light

Oh yes - this is AMAZING!!!!

Sorry, not Michael Nyman's theme from The Piano (The Heart ask Pleasure First) on the harp.... though it is played nicely here on the celtic harp by Italian harpist Mario Lipparini..

...but check out the lights on Mario's harp!





They are called "Rebecca Light" and were invented by a lighting engineer who plays the harp and the website where you can buy them is here



But I'm a bit concerned that on the website they sell a pedal switch for "when your harp must be silent for a passage"

Does that mean that they are not silent? ;-(

Hopefully it's just a mis-translation from Italian to English?

At $325 for the starter kit it's a bit too much to pay out if they do make a noise.




Wouldn't they would be cool on a pop gig though, and a really fun thing for solo gigs.

Anyone used them and can say whether they found them noisy or not?

If they are silent maybe someone can have a word with Santa.....Christmas is only 7 months away!!

Catriona McKay

I'm delighted that Catriona McKay (scottish harp) and Chris Stout (shetland fiddle) will be playing at the next concert as part of the Sandbach Concert Series on Wednesday 29th June 7-9pm.



Andy and I heard them play at the Edinburgh Festival last year and we were so blown away by this really amazing duo! Catriona is an inspiring harpist to see live, and if you live anywhere in the North West please do come along to see them.

Sandbach is just a minutes drive off the M6, there is free car parking and we even have a lovely Italian restaurant which does before and after concert meals for us just opposite the venue!

Full details are on Sandbach Concert Series website and you can buy tickets online here

Cheating

Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony.

Spot the difference between chord symbols and pedal markings on this hire part?

(Double click on image to see closer view)

1. What is that harp part all about then? Pages and pages of badly written arpeggios that go at the speed of light with impossible page turns. The only way to play them is to cheat and read chord symbols instead.

2. Wouldn't it have been great to have been a fly on the wall and seen the confrontation between the first harpists who had to play this piece and Vaughan Williams? (I know what I would have said to him about it!)

3. Why is my own copy of this piece only partially marked up?

I try not to play this piece if I can all help it as it's not a joyous experience to play with it's constant fistfuls of notes, but I've played this three times now in the past year.

So I suppose it's about time I thoroughly marked up my own part rather than relying on scribbled on hire parts, so that I have a fighting chance of being able to actually read all that information on the page whilst playing it at speed..

Linda

I played at my mums funeral last week. She had been ill for a couple of years with secondary bone cancer, but had suddenly deteriorated and had wonderful care at the end from our local hospice. Everyone at St Luke's was truly amazing.

She had a woodland burial with a "humanist style" ceremony conducted by the family, and we all toasted to her with a drink.

It was.... really nice, peaceful, dignified and a lovely way to go.

I played my little harp; the groundsman had put up a big garden umbrella as it was raining a little bit, and the music drifted through the young trees, mixed in with the bird song, the drink and the chatter as we went about the woodland burial.

Schoolgirl Error - I forgot to bring pegs!!! So we held back the music on my (sturdy) music stand with a small bottle of Jim Bean bourbon and a tuning key.

My mum would have chuckled.

Lily Munster

Ah!!! if only playing the harp was that easy.....

Lily Munster singing and "playing" the harp.