Kim Robertson has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Somerset Folk Harp Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. Celebrated for forging her own path as a folk harpist, Robertson is a diverse performer, arranger, and recording artist. “It’s an honor to receive an award like this but looking back, I realize it was laziness and sheer luck that led me down this career path,” says Robertson. “When I was a music major in college, I started to feel classical music burnout, but was fortunate to have a sympathetic pedal harp teacher. She loaned me her small lap harp and and an early edition of the Folk Harp Journal, and that’s how I became smitten with the Celtic harp. At that time (45 years ago!), the folk harp movement was only just getting started in the U.S. and there weren’t a lot of resources yet. So I started playing by ear and making up my own arrangements and ironically, the style I became known for was a result of not wanting to practice for so many hours anymore! I created arrangements that were easy to play, choosing traditional melodies that appealed to me, or composing my own simple melodies.”
These arrangements have resulted in over 15 books of music for folk harpists, and Robertson inteds to continue. “My current plans are recording and publishing more arrangements with a focus on slow airs. There is so much stress in the world these days, so my goal is to slow down, to let the beautiful resonance of the harp ring, and to send peaceful music out in the air.”
To learn more about Robertson, visit kimrobertson.net. Details about the Somerset Folk Harp Festival can be found at somersetharpfest.com.
