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Not meaning to steal the thread for another temporary subject, but….
This whole gender oriented instrument is actually fairly new. It only started in about the 1940s. Until that time, almost every orchestra only employed male musicians. However, in the late 1940s [I believe] the Boston Symphony hired the first female Principal player in one of the “Top 5” Symphony Orchestras. This woman was Doriot Anthony Dwyer [I’m a flute major actually, and my teacher studied with this woman]. Other than Mrs. Dwyer, the only other woman to ever play with this orchestra was the occasional 2nd harpist. Now that the figurative “glass cieling” was broken, that is when gender-typing instruments started.
Before that time, almost all of the greatest musicians in history have been men due to gender oppression [all of the great flutists definitely].
Anyway. Don’t let it bother you. This is still a fairly new phenomina
Having just been finished with my teen years not too long ago, I myself would say: Go for it!
I too was nervous for a while, but then I realized that being a male harpist only gave me favorable attention. There wasn’t ever a shortage of young women around who weren’t fascinated. 😉
From what little I have seen being a University student myself [for Flute Performance though…. not harp], I have seen very similiar things.
As far as flutists go, without “tooting my own horn” if you will, I am fairly decent. I just won 2nd flute in our All-State Inter-Collegiate Orchestra. The auditions consisted of every flute music major [Bachelor, Graduate, and Doctoral degrees] in the state, and were very hard and quite vicious. But the standards I have seen for harp are quite a bit lower.
I quit taking harp lessons at the end of my senior year in high school. I really considered majoring in harp, but ultimately couldn’t afford a pedal harp in enough time to effectively transition and then
I own one of the Music Maker’s “Studio” harps. It was discontinued a few years ago, but it is still a great harp.
Not meaning to sort of steal the thread here for a moment, but I am curious. In cities like New York, how exactly DO you move a harp around? I mean, most people don’t need cars/have cars of their own, and I wouldn’t dare take it on the subway….. And seeing as how I am considering a few graduate schools in cities like those, this has been a concern of mine.
First of all, understand that the current Troubadour model [Troubadour VI] is MUCH better than the original Troubadours [in my opinion]. The levers have particularly improved.
If you want to stay with Lyon and Healy, you have the option of the current Troubadour model, the Prelude 40 [looks and sounds like a small pedal harp], and the Ogden [has a more celtic shape].
Alright, hold your horses. Don’t dive into “harp replacement” mode quite yet.
First, how long has it been since you changed your strings? If you haven’t replaced the entire set in 3 years, it is long overdue. This can contribute to buzzing sometimes.
Second. Buzzing is a normal problem. It does not mean your harp is falling apart. I recommend buying the book: “Trouble Shooting your Lever Harp.”
