What can a high school harpist do to prepare to be a harp major?

[unknown-user]

I’m sort of in the same boat that you’re in, Jennifer. I am going to be a freshman at Arlington Catholic High School in September, and they have no Orchestra or band program. BUT, they DO have a choir, and I’ve already contacted the direct of the choir and told her all myself. She said she’d love to have me accompany the choir on harp, and, she even wants to take a look at my choir compositions! how exciting

also, I’ve been in youth orchestras with the New England Conservatory of Music for 3 years now, and I’m planning on auditioning for tanglewood (6 week music camp with a huge harp program taught by Ms. Ann Hobson Pilot, the brilliant principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) in February. Not to mention the american harp society competition in June! So yes, I do have a LOT of music to get ready! all you need to do is go on a good search engine like yahoo or google and search “youth orchestras in _______ (your location)”

[Jennifer Ellis]

Hi.

[Jeralee]

My best recommendation for anyone wanting to pursue music as a major is to know your theory backwards and forwards, or at least have a very sound understanding of it before you enter college.

[unknown-user]

o good grief, i was just reading my post over and realizes all my stupid grammatical mistakes. sorry!

[unknown-user]

realized* ahh!

[carl-swanson]

Becoming a professional harpist requires a series of

[unknown-user]

One thing that is important is for you to get the catalogs for the schools you wish to attend and see if you can learn all their required repertoire. You also may want to be able to practice three to four hours every day. Also consider doing, if you haven’t some mini- or full recitals. It is good to have some performing experience. You also need a good music collection and a good familiarity with what there is. You need a sense of direction and what your goals are. What kind of harpist do you want to be? What is your vision of your future? What kind of sounds do you want to make? What teachers are you interested in? They will give you some idea of what they expect. It would be good to have at least basic orchestra experience, or choir/band, so you can understand and follow a conductor. Try playing duets with friends, too. You will need to be able to demonstrate your technical and musical achievements, such as with scales/arpeggios, and good solo pieces of differing character.

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