Originally from Australia, Matthew is an actor and multi-instrumentalist currently based in New York City. He is currently touring the country with the Broadway musical Miss Saigon.

—by Matthew Overberg

When I tell my friends that I’ve recently started learning the harp, their first question is always “Why the harp?”

I mean, why wouldn’t anyone want to play an instrument that is equally heavenly (angels have literally been depicted playing the harp for millennia) and monstrous (the sheer size of it!)? Who wouldn’t want to play an instrument that sings to the back of a concert hall and doubles as a palace-worthy piece of decor?

From an early age I’ve been a huge band nerd, having picked up the violin at age 8 and eventually adding a few more instruments to my arsenal (viola, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon). Thinking back now I’ve always had a fascination with the harp, but growing up in a smaller city in Australia I never really had the resources to take the leap into learning. I vividly remember playing Mahler 5 on the violin with a youth symphony and being totally entranced and distracted by the beauty of the harp in the fourth movement.

How was I to decide which harp philosophies and techniques to follow?

Fast forward to September 2018, things were going moderately well with my career, and I was fortunate enough to join the national touring cast of Miss Saigon as an ensemble member (I dance and sing a little). With a steady salary and a relatively gentle touring schedule, I thought it was time to finally start a new project that I’ve never had the time and money to commit to—learning to play the harp.

First, I needed an instrument that I could learn on, wasn’t too expensive, could travel easily, and had decent spacing, tension etc. After a little bit of research I decided to invest in a 26-string Harpsicle lap harp.

Initially I started learning by guiding myself through baby harp books and YouTube tutorials before seeking my first lesson (on a much bigger pedal harp) in San Francisco. Before I go any farther, I just wanted to mention that harpists are among the most friendly and welcoming people I’ve met in my three years in the United States. It’s not often that a stranger can write another stranger based purely on a word-of-mouth recommendation and almost immediately be invited into their home or conservatory and practice on their instrument, but that’s what I’ve encountered with harpists.

During my travels around the U.S. over the last year or so, I’ve had lessons with a different harpist in each city I’ve been to. Although not the most streamlined way of learning, I’ve had the huge privilege of gaining insight from 11 fantastic harpists across the country and also seeing inside of some of the most prestigious music schools around the country.

Coming into the harp world, I had no idea that there were multiple schools or ways of playing the harp. My first couple of lessons (with Kristin Lloyd in San Francisco and Kristi Shade in New York City) were focused primarily on Salzedo-based technique, mostly the importance of healthy and relaxed playing. I very quickly realized that this is something all harpists work on for the entirety  of their harp lives. At this point I was learning a cute arrangement of “Beauty and the Beast” arranged by Sylvia Woods and fumbling through some Salzedo exercises.

With the tour of Miss Saigon settling down in Chicago for an extended time, I had the chance to study and practice weekly with harpist Ellie Kirk, who introduced me to a more French approach to playing the instrument. Even in my early stages of learning I could hear a different tone of sound being produced and noticed there was less of an emphasis on maintaining a more rigid framework when playing.

It was with Ellie and Rosanna Moore in Rochester, N.Y., that I touched on Grandjany technique. I was introduced to the concept of oscillating the wrist when playing, a slightly more relaxed frame, and overall more relaxation with the instrument. Playing this way just felt very easy on the body, and I thoroughly enjoyed how efficient everything was.

Harpists Johanna Wienholts in Madison, Wis., and Emily Levin in Dallas, Texas, welcomed me into their homes to practice and hang out.

Last winter I studied with two teachers in Cleveland—Betsey Merkel and Juan Riveros. It was with them that I dove into the Salzedo world of regimented practice, hand positioning, individual finger strengthening, and evenness in rolled chords. Both of these remarkable humans have studied or currently study at the Cleveland Institute of Music where greats such as Alice Chalifoux and Yolanda Kondonassis have graced the halls, so it was only natural that I was exposed to this kind of training here.

As a dancer (I completed my B.F.A. in dance in 2014), I felt very at home with syllabized technique and was absolutely floored to learn that Salzedo worked alongside dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky to develop his technique—a technique that teaches aesthetic presentation working in harmony with sound quality and healthy execution.

How was I to decide which harp philosophies and techniques to follow? To oscillate or not to oscillate? To raise or not to raise? To rest on the soundboard or not to rest on the soundboard? I could go on forever. At first I was just very confused as to how the techniques could vary so greatly. But after talking with all of the talented harpists I’ve had lessons with, we’ve come to the conclusion that all aspects of technique—no matter what school—should be ergonomic, tailored to the individual player, and have the goals of sounding good, feeling good, not injuring you, and looking good (to some extent). But hey, it’s all a work in progress and I can’t wait to meet more fabulous harpists in my traveling studies.