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Our local chapter mails out a self-addressed stamped envelope to all the professional harpists about once every 4-5 years for an anonymous survey of how much you charge. No signatures, etc., just check off boxes with things like (“For a performance of Ceremony of Carols do you charge a) $100, b) $200 , c) $300) type of thing. That way nobody has to publically disclose their rates, and then we tabulate and mail out the results (i.e. Ceremony of Carols range $200-$400, average charge $375) so people can draw their own conclusions. It’s so anonymous that once I was tabulating things up and thought, “gee, this is right in line with what I charge!” until I realized it was my OWN sheet….I didn’t recognize my own check marks!
But back to another question, playing for free…. I occasionally will play for free, but it has to be for a cause that really “resonates” for me personally. We all get inundated with “worthy causes” that want our talents freely given. I almost always say no….but…..for example, I just played a funeral for a 15 year old kid who committed suicide because he was bullied and he was gay. A church called me and asked if I would play for free…they were stepping up to help this family and a kid they’d never met. Other churches had refused to do a service, but this church said they would help out and YES, they would hold a service. They were donating funds to pay the funeral home and donating the church itself (and staff, and flowers, and a color printed program, etc.) for the service–again, for a kid they had never met. Of course I said yes….and it was one of the most profound services I’d ever played. (I wound up joining that church because of that experience.) Another time I said yes was for a group holding a candlelight vigil, “Parents of Murdered Children.” OF COURSE, I said, tell me when and where and I’ll be there. But these exceptions really resonated for me and I would have gone anyway. A tea reception for the Society for the Preservation of Trans-Siberian Fruit Bat Watercolor Portraits….well, I doubt if I’d feel so inclined! I use a dodge a friend gave me. If I get a call I don’t “resonate” with (and the above two examples are the only ones in 20 years!) I will tell them I only do 2 charity functions a year and I’m already booked up for this year, but if they will call me in January 2016 we can see if I’m available then. They NEVER call back.Weather and temperature can also be a big factor. It’s usually quite dry out here in Phoenix, but on a day like today when it’s quite rainy, all my harps have that “What happened??” sound. From bright, bold, and projecting to dull and wimpy. I know that as soon as this weather front passes all will be well.
Balfour, I think you’re absolutely right on both counts. At first I thought it might be a “man thing”–he would be used to intimidating a female harpist, and here I come and suddenly I am unwittingly involved in some sort of testosterone-fueled one-upmanship. But the female harpist who replaced me said the same thing. She went through the same “glissando hell” on every rehearsal and came away with the same experience. I don’t know if he has a fixation on the harp (or an ancient painful memory about an unrequited love affair with a harpist?) but he certainly has it in for us! I honestly don’t know who he has playing–probably a student. And I truly do wish them all the luck in the world!!!!
I recently had an accident onstage. The stage had a jet black matte finish, and there were set flats onstage, where the floor sections were also painted the same jet black matte finish. It was poorly lit, and I did a header over a protruding floor section of a flat. I hit my head on a chair and nearly knocked myself out, and also really banged up my left shin. Fortunately there were several medical people in the orchestra and I was immediately surrounded by concerned colleagues who wanted to call paramedics, but I refused.
What was so ironic about all this was that it was a Halloween concert, and we were all in “zombie” costume and makeup. It was impossible to tell if my bloody bruise on my forehead and torn clothing was part of the act or if it was real! And even my confused shuffling on/offstage looked like part of the gag.
The down side is that I wound up with a MRSA infection on my leg–that’s one of the antibiotic-resistant staph infections. I nearly wound up hospitalized a month later when it ran out of control. Fortunately there was ONE antibiotic that would work, and fortunately I had insurance. My Walgreens prescription statement said, “Your insurance has saved you $4,688.19.” For 28 pills! And I had to get a refill! Egad, I could have bought a small harp for that! But it sure beats losing a leg!
Dave Ice
You are in my most fervent thoughts and prayers. And you have the entire harp community behind you. You are loved, you are wanted, and we care about you! Godspeed.
I realized I never gave a final update on this wedding. Well, for all the consternation and obsession about having exactly 54 seconds of music, etc.–it turns out they forgot that the parents escorting the groom down the aisle (this was a Jewish wedding) were very infirm, and the groom’s processional lasted nearly 4 minutes! I was doing repeats, inversions, every trick I could think of, to stretch things out before the bride came down at the key change. Well, when she started she had shoe/heel trouble coming down the stairs (this was outdoors) and she required 2 or 3 repeats as well. So, once again my own David Ice-ism proved true: “all it takes is one lost bobby pin and all the timing goes out the window.” I will use this tale in the future when dealing with obsessive brides! Up next: the groom who is writing all original music for his wedding, and he wants me to play/arrange it for harp. And he’s only recently grasping the idea of music notation…..and keys….and quarter notes………..
Sorry I’ve been offline for a while. THE PIRATE QUEEN went off fairly well…in that I was only really yelled at the first few rehearsals. At least one person overheard the conductor telling the director “The harp part is the hardest part in the whole show, including the singers.” I wound up playing maybe about 40% of the notes (it was just IMPOSSIBLE!) and even still it was playing as fast and as furious as I could go. For the dress rehearsal my 3rd octave F started to fray out immediately after the overture, and since a lot of the show is in G or D, I knew that yanking the string would really cause me visual confusion. So I rapidly detuned it, and the rest of the act had a–well, one musician said “it sounded like a John Cage piece with a prepared piano….plunk plunk plunk THUD….” I survived, and after the run I slept for about 20 hours straight. Next up is SOUTH PACIFIC, which I am actually looking forward to, and THE PRODUCERS at the end of the year.
Wow….I have to say BRAVO and my hat’s off to her for pulling it off. This part is like a marathon! I’ve never seen a part with so little time off for the harp! The score calls for a “Gaelic Harp” and a “concert harp”–I’m assuming they mean Celtic or lever for the former–and you only have 3 beats to switch from harp to harp! AND a page turn as well….
The irony of all this is that I’ve never EVER had a bride who actually heard the music for the processional! Her mind is on a zillion other things and emotions. I can’t tell you how many brides got back to me later to say, “I never heard a note you played until I got the video of our wedding.”
Hi Gretchen (and Sylvia)–
This bride and groom were positively anal about the music….how many seconds it would take the bride to walk down the aisle, etc. I have timed it to 54 seconds before the key change. I can repeat the first section, no problem, and that is PLENTY of time to get her down a rather longish aisle….but now the bride wants me to record THAT version–playing it twice! “Can’t you just do an iPhone recording?” I told her NO WAY. I like your comment Gretchen–that I’ve already violated copyright law, and I’m not going to record further. I agreed to do the arrangement as it’s a piece I can certainly use in the future (it’s a Beatles tune and who knows, I might get it published!) but this is ridiculous. So I’ve set my foot down. If they persist I’m $100 per hour consulting/arranging. I’ve never had a bride that obsessed with key changes, etc.
…..it always seems that when you bend over backwards to help a client, you wind up with a broken back…..
Dave IceI have already been paid in full….but I agree Catherine, it seems that the clients who want the most are also the most problems.
Helen Rodgers was just at our AHS meeting in Phoenix. She did live in Fargo, North Dakota. She’s nearly 90 or so now.
Good for you Carl, and yes that’s paying it forward for Dickie’s help! I’m like Kathleen…it would never even occur to me to skip out on paying ANY bill, let alone such a valuable item as a harp! My brain just doesn’t function that way. I know it’s corny, but I got hooked on watching JUDGE JUDY…..mainly because it utterly appalled me to see how amoral and dishonest some people can be, all the while smiling and looking you in the face. (Besides that, there’s something about Judge Judy’s voice that literally puts me to sleep before the first commercial break if I have insomnia!) Even still, I’m amazed how method books, tuning keys, etc. still manage to disappear from my house…..
Dave IceNatalie–YIKES! I’ve never had anybody approach me over skinning small animals!!! I seem to get the nut cases who try to convince me they were Frank Sinatra’s agent….or they know ALL about UFOs and alien bases underneath South Mountain….or my favorite, a guy who approached me in a church. He seemed to have a language barrier but it seemed like he wanted me to get some Holy Water so he could shave! (That’s the best I could make out from his gestures!) I just smile nervously and try to be polite, but HONESTLY!…..
