featured in this issue
Feature
Five Easy Fixes
With thousands of moving parts, lots can go wrong on a pedal harp. But here are five things you can make right! There is plenty to love about the harp. Clearly we’re all on in agreement here, otherwise we wouldn’t be playing the harp, or reading a harp magazine, for that matter! On occasion, though, […]
Feature
Musical Comfort Food
What music do you crave when you need something warm and nourishing? he cold, blustery days of winter are upon us. While the snow is falling and the wind is howling outside, inside you throw on a warm sweater and sit down at the harp. You know you should work on some Bochsa etudes or […]
Interviews
A Family Affair
The premiere of a new concerto for four harps is enough to make headlines. When it is composed, conducted, and performed by musicians in one family? Well, that’s enough to make history. —by Charlene Connor here are certain family names that are synonymous with their chosen professions. Politics has the Kennedy family, American football has […]
January-February 2014
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Columns and more
Arranger Profile
Arranger Profile—Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher
Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher talks about her prolific arranging career. What is your musical background? I have three degrees in music—a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate. I was originally trained as a classical singer and pianist. I came to harp at age 35 because it was a very “Celtic” thing to do and I am of Welsh-Irish heritage. […]
Sounding Board
Meticulous Markings
Save yourself and your colleagues headaches from rental parts. When you rent—whether it’s a car, a beach house, or even a harp—you are at the mercy of the previous renters. What you have to work with can be less than ideal—beat up, messy, poorly maintained. The same is true when it comes to rental music. […]
From the Editor
Pot Luck
Getting your fill is a piece of cake. I love a good potluck dinner. Who doesn’t? Filling your plate high with an array of meatloafs, Jell-O salads, mystery crockpot casseroles, and enough deviled eggs to stuff yourself silly. You’d think, given my penchant for potlucks, that I would love the all-you-can-eat buffet, but you won’t […]
Strange But True Harp Stories
Lost in Translation
Going With the Flow in Brazil I had the pleasure of traveling to Brazil last May with a college choir from my hometown of Pella, Iowa, and two of our concerts were part of the Rio International Harp Festival. I was both excited and a bit nervous to use the harp to accompany the choir, […]
Advice
Playing for Students’ Weddings
Q: A former student asked me to play for her wedding. Should I charge? If so, should it be my normal fee? Honored and privileged: two words I’d use to describe my feelings of being asked to provide the music for the most important day in anyone’s life. And to be able to do this […]
Reviews and extras
Recording Review
Dance
Agnes Clement, harp; Lyon & Healy Records, 2012. 4.5 harps (Note: recording reviews prior to 2014 were based on a 5-star system.) When you go to a recital or put a brand new disc into your player, there’s always that little frisson of the unknown. “Will I love it or won’t I?” you ask yourself. […]
Music Review
Sing Us a Song
Billy Joel isn’t just the piano man anymore. —by Jan Jennings Billy Joel has been a pop icon for decades. Although he hasn’t released an album of new songs in 20 years, his Grammy-winning, multi-platinum songs are among our most beloved standards. It is our good fortune that Hal Leonard recently published a collection of […]
Recording Review
Les Amis
Elizabeth Hainen, harp; Michael Stern, conductor; IRIS Orchestra; Jeffrey Khaner, flute; Roberto Diaz, viola; Avie, 2013. 4.75 harps (Note: recording reviews prior to 2014 were based on a 5-star system.) It boggles the mind to think that Claude Debussy was working in an almost mercenary fashion as one harp maker was trying to outdo another. […]