featured in this issue
Stephanie Curcio reflects on a career of teaching and learning about human behavior. waiting list is something you usually encounter at a trendy new restaurant or prestigious preschool or maybe the hot new yoga studio everyone is talking about. But a waiting list for a harp studio? You don’t often hear of that. A waiting […]
Next to “How much does your harp cost?” one of the most common questions harpists hear from onlookers is “What kind of car do you have to drive to haul that thing around?” The harpmobile. It has come a long way over the years. The ubiquitous station wagon dominated harpists’ garages for years. Eventually minivans […]
or me, and probably for you too, happiness is closely related to harp-iness. I have loved the harp since I was little. I love the instrument itself, with its graceful appearance and its warm, liquid sound. I love harp music, whether I’m playing or listening, and I am energized when I am around others who […]
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Plenty of great harpmobile options are hiding in plain sight. ave you ever experienced that phenomenon where you learn something new—an obscure word or maybe an odd hobby—and suddenly you see and hear that thing everywhere? There’s actually a name for it—maybe you’ve heard of it before—it’s called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. Every time I encounter […]
Finding common ground between car lovers and harp lovers. —by Chris Perkins Her: “You mentioned before you like cars—what’s your favorite?” Me: “Well I’ve got quite a lot of favorites but probably the Porsche 911.” Her: “Does that fit a harp?” Me: “No. Why would it need to?” I’m met with a bewildered and angry […]
How to keep your harp cool in your car. Some like it hot, just not your harp. So how hot is too hot for your harp? My rule of thumb is if you are comfortable, your harp is comfortable. Better yet, treat your harp as an older parent or a newborn baby, and, yes, I […]
Reviews and more
9/10 Remy van Kesteren, harp, Nora Fischer, soprano, Eric Vloeimans, trumpet, Mirovia Quartet; self-released, 2014. What makes one musician very, very good and another great? How do we describe that special je ne sais quoi that causes a kind of stirring in our souls where we no longer hear someone as an instrumentalist, but as an artist? […]
7.5/10 Rachel Talitman, harp, Pierre Henri Xuereb, viola; Harp & Co., 2014. With the unrest in Ukraine in the news, there doesn’t seem to be a better time for a closer look at the music of this region of the world. Ukrainian Leopold Wallner grew up surrounded by musicians, as his father was a music […]
Get a jump on your holiday repertoire with these new arrangements. Even though it is still technically summer, it’s not too early to start preparing for the Christmas season. If you have an opportunity to play with flute (or perhaps violin or clarinet), you’ll enjoy Mary Jane Rupert’s suite from The Nutcracker arranged for flute […]
Should I put all my levers down (or all pedals in the flat position) when the harp is not in use? hen a harp is at rest, or to put it differently, when it is not being played or is being stored, it should be in its lowest state of dynamic pressure. It must be […]