A cool bit of CG from Animusic. I know I’m a geek when I find myself more intrigued by the way they got the strings to vibrate realistically, than by the music itself.
The folks organizing the Northern Lights Harp Fest in Ottawa in October (Oct. 2-4 2009) are trying to encourage everyone who is interested to register ASAP, so they can meet their minimum number of 60 participants by July 15. It would be truly excellent to be able to have a regular harp conference in Ontario, since for most of us, travelling to the bigger conferences in the USA often isn’t feasible. But, in order for that to happen, they first need to make this year’s conference a success.
Please pass this info along to any harp players you may know. Students and beginners are welcome – there will be harp classes for all levels at the conference.
For more info, check out the official website:
http://www.northernlightsharpfest.com/
Let’s make this happen!
Live performance at Encuentro de Arpa de Durango 2005 “Diva’s Harp”. And yes, the actual harp itself is made of metal, not just the strings. Certainly makes for a unique sound! Too bad it gets cut off at the end.
You can see another short video of Cynthia demonstrating the “Vera” metallic harp below.
July 19th ’09 – ‘Harpists for Peace’ Day
An exciting event where harpists all over the world will play for an hour at 2pm (local time) on that date, near important public buildings, town squares, places of political significance etc, to promote World Peace.
Harpists of all ages and all standards, professional and amateur, are encouraged to take part, and can get more details and sign up on this website: www.spanglefish.com/harpistsforpeace
As Lynne Lewandowski once said, “it’s not all pearls and chiffon.”
April 17 ’09: “Slight Imperfection” Celtic Harp and Guitar Duo plays at Crossroads.
Friday, April 17, 7:00 p.m. Cost: $5.
Location: Crossroads, 78 North Ave, Garwood, NJ.
Slight imperfection is: Odarka Stockert (Vocals, Celtic and Pedal Harp and Percussion) and Redentor Jimenez (Vocals, Guitar and Mandolin)
Crossroads Fri. Apr. 17 lineup: Beale Street Love, Generation Gap, Slight Imperfection, Astronaut Jones
More info: (908)-518-3023
www.xxroads.com
myspace.com/slightimperfection
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April 26: The North Jersey Chapter of the American Harp Society invites you to attend their Harpers Bazaar on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at the Evangelical Covenant Church of Montclair, 17 Valley Rd, Montclair, NJ from 11:15am to 3:00 pm.
Our vendors include Virginia Harp Center, Gerald Goodman, Colin Harp Music and Rharps, and there will as CD’s, music and crafts made by our members for sale. There will be an open mic performance for harpists, raffles and a bake sale. Admission is free. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Sharon Fisher Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information, contact Diane Michaels at dianemichaels@verizon.net
Therese is playing a reproduction of the 17th C. “Boston Harp”, currently in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The replica was built by Catherine Campbell, Port Townsend, Washington.
This arrangement of the popular Torche Branle by Praetorius can be found in Therese’s book “The Royale Harpist”. You can watch more of Therese’s performances (of both early and Celtic music) here.
Sunday, April 26th, 2-4pm
Harp Workshops with Boston Harpist
NANCY HURRELL
Ottawa Mennonite Church
1830 Kilborn Avenue
Admission: $30 at the door
And in advance:
The Leading Note, 370 Elgin St.
The Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St.
Contact: Mary Muckle mucklerice@rogers.com 613-825-1379
Details:
We’ll begin with a short session on Playing in a Harp Ensemble, learning a multi-level ensemble arrangement by Nancy. All levels of playing are welcome, and music is provided. Ideas and tips to improve an ensembles’ sound are given, plus brief comments/demo on performing the ensembles in her new book, ‘The Ring of Harps’.
The main workshop is Renaissance Dance Music for Harp. We’ll play Renaissance dances from the 16th century, and also learn the dance steps! Knowing the tempo and pulse of the dance is important for playing the music. We’ll also do some improvisation and discuss sources for music from the period. All levels of playing are welcome. (There will be a short tea break around 3:00pm.)
Information courtesy of M. Muckle
This upbeat tune is popular at the Celtic sessions in our area. It lies fairly easily under the fingers for harp (especially the B part), so with practice you should be able to play it at a decent clip. Click here to listen (right click to download the midi file).
We often play Cliffs of Moher in a set with Tenpenny Bit.
The HarpBlog Tune of the Month is courtesy of Chubby Sparrow Music . For a printable version, right click on the picture and choose “save target as”, or pop over to the Chubby Sparrow Free Music page for more detailed printing instructions (note: if you just left click and try to print directly from the browser, it probably won’t print at the right size).
Live in concert: Anna Gurzuly, flute. Cornelia Smaczny, harp. Karl Suske, viola.