Which pedal harp with Scoliosis

[simply5here]

My daughter 14, is petite, about 90 lbs and bit over 5ft and has severe scoliosis. She has spinal surgery next month.

It’s also time for us to get a pedal harp for gigs and Youth Orchestra. She loves the sound of her LH Prelude.

We are in San Francisco Area and don’t have variety of harps readily available to try. Since weight and height may be an issue for her back, we’re thinking semi-grand but concerned about projection with orchestra. Also we read somewhere about Camac’s but have never seen one here.

Does anyone have a harp model they recommend? Hoping with responses, we can narrow down choices if it comes down to traveling to try out harps. 20k is absolute max new or used.

Thank you so much.

[catherine-rogers]

You’ll definitely want to discuss any purchase with her teacher first, but for comfort and weight check out a Camac Clio with extended soundboard. The soundboard is really wide for a 44 string harp and the sound is big. Weight is about 57 lbs. I have used one for years in a community orchestra and the director was very satisfied. Or you could consider a Camac concert grand which has 47 strings but still weighs less than other brands.

[Tacye]

Less convenient for your side of the pond, but I find that the Pilgrim Aldeburgh and Malvern have a particularly short or low playing position.

Weight shouldn’t be an issue for playing the harp – moving it is a different matter. As I play, the pedal harp rests nearly at its balance point, so little weight on me, and that is on the knees not the shoulder which often isn’t even touching the instrument. It would squish me otherwise. Do ask her teacher about posture if she is having problems.

[Deette Bunn]

I was recently at L&H in Chicago and they had a small, restored harp that had a HUGE sound – Steve Fritzman called it “The Bomb.” I believe it was in your price range – I would call and ask him about it. If I had had the extra cash, I would have bought it in a harp beat!

[simply5here]

Thanks so much. I love this forum.

Her teacher recommended a Semi Grand for size. There was an older LH 100 we looked at, which is 46 strings. My daughter liked the size but this particularly harp sounded “shrill” to her. Her words. I’m not a musician.

[simply5here]

I forgot to add her youth orchestra will travel/perform. They are performing in vienna next summer so projection and clarity of sound is important. Or maybe one will be available for her there, I don’t know yet.

[Gretchen Cover]

Salvi Harps has a showroom in the LA area. Alexandra Perdew is the sales rep. She is a harpist/teacher and is super knowledgable about harps. http://www.salviharpsinc.com. They have new and used harps.

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