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Michael Jackson was such an amazingly talented musician and entertainer it would be hard to pick from so many hits. To play them well you’d have to have great rhythm chops and lot of soul to come close to emulating his style. Although “Ben” has beautiful lyrics and would be very “playable” on the harp, I still think of it as a bizarre song about “A Nasty Rat”.
I don’t know what Lucille Lawrence had to say about nail polish and rings, but I remember Alice Chalifoux had a conservative view about that. I remember her commenting that the harpists’ hands should not distract from the beauty of the music and the performance. She felt the hand was most beautiful “au natural” and rings were always removed during lessons. She always encouraged us to dress well on a budget, yet always try to be fashionable and elegant.
She reminded us that we were performing on the most beautiful instrument in the orchestra and that we should try to be equally elegant performers. She didn’t care for nail polish and I don’t remember any of my peers ever wearing any.
As for getting “hit on”, I think that always happens to young single female harpists, although a ring can keep some of the nastier wolves away. Sorry Christian, I don’t know how it is for male harpists, but being really friendly always helps, especially when you need to make some good tips! I remember Miss Chalifoux encouraging us to “flirt with everyone” and to be fun and easy-going. She hated “prissy princesses” and “holier than thou” types, but loved someone who was fun and knew a few really good jokes. ; )
I hope you pick a ring that is REALLY BEAUTIFUL and not worry about whether you can play with it or not, you can always slip it back on during your break.
Good luck and best wishes!
Well… I am delighted for you ladies who are comfortable playing your harp while wearing your wedding rings.
I am glad you found a way to keep them from interfering with your playing.
I would never suggest that you should take them off to play, especially if they are so personally meaningful to you as well as the traditional reflection of your marital status. I completely respect that and I am not suggesting otherwise.
However, not everyone else is as comfortable playing the harp with rings and I think it depends on the individual. My hands are small and muscular and they swell a little from time to time. I then find my rings and my watch to be very uncomfortable.
If you add the extraneous buzz issue, along with the weight and annoyance issue, it simply isn’t worth it to me personally.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE BLING, and I have some very special pieces of jewelry that I love, like old treasured friends.
I just can’t play my harp while wearing them!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate wearing my rings and never wear them for rehearsals or concerts and only recently started wearing a watch again because my schedule became so busy. However, I usually take my watch off when I play for extended periods of time. Rings are such an annoying nuisance whether they are turning so the diamond faces the string or just keep you from making a clean muffle. This is critical when you are recording, the last thing you need is an unexpected buzz.
It also feels heavy on my finger especially when I am doing a lot of arpeggios or big stretch chords. Even a skinny band makes a noise and I find it irritating to have to work around it. I find it interesting that some people don’t understand this.
Indeed.
How truly pitiful that a harpist to the Royals should choose to steal and defraud innocent people.
Isn’t it hard enough to make an honest living as a highly trained professional harpist?
I wonder if my harp and I will be strip searched at my next gig to make sure I am not walking out the door with the family jewels and silver spoons stuffed in my harp base?
Pathetic, really pathetic.
Well I don’t have any liquid spillage stories quite like the Turandot story but I have had a few other surprises land on my harp while performing.
Playing outside for weddings in various garden settings, my harp has been the innocent victim of a bird or two’s nasty waste products. Disgusting!
On a lighter note, I had the rare opportunity to play for Arnold Palmer at a golf course opening in Ohio. He was really fond of the harp and stood next to me for a long time while I played. Unfortunately his cigar ashes kept landing on my harp and I finally had to interrupt him and explain that I was afraid his ashes were going to hurt my harp. He was sooooooooo apologetic and offered to pay for any damage etc., thankfully there was none. He actually helped me clean off the ashes, gave me a big hug and an autograph for my golfer husband. He was so gracious and kept patting my harp with his enormous hands. What a gent. : )
Hi Lynne,
Your playing was excellent! It was so nice to hear your elegant “Lucia” and your confident “Symphonie Fantastique”.
I appreciate the fact that you played such difficult orchestral excerpts that revealed your musical and technical abilities. Orchestral chops cannot be faked and you clearly have them. You also have a calm confidence that only comes from successful experience in the performance arena. I wish you the best of luck and am more than happy to vote for you.
Brava, you deserve to win!
David, You are BRILLIANT! I believe you have found the solution.
However, the poor composer will be suffering for lack of the “shock-value response”.
I believe this would have been more important to him than applause!
(Ever hear the sound of one hand clapping?) ; o
Tony, I agree with much of what you have said but I don’t think you entirely understood me. As a professional harpist and teacher, I have devoted my entire adult life to the fine art of harp playing and promoting the harp in a positive light. My opinion is artistic, not political. I only referenced myself as “American” as it seemed to be an issue in previous opinions expressed on this thread. Our country has problems as do other countries, problems are universal. I enjoy a healthy dialogue on issues of importance and I think we are mostly in agreement here.
I have been in the music business a long time and I have taught at universities for many years. I have performed a lot of “experimental compositions” and have a very open mind to art and music. I never said “art” had to be “pretty” and “entertaining” to be valid and comparing the “World Harp Congress” to a beauty pageant is insulting to me as a woman and an artist. “Art” can be “dark and disturbing” and I guess that it can be technically categorized as valid because it is a reflection of reality for the poor woman on the recording. My objection is to the exploitation of human suffering as a subject for compositional dissection and manipulation. If the subject had been a recording of a woman or a child being tortured would that be ok too?
The fact that his government gave him a grant is offensive to those who really do starve and sacrifice for their art. I am sure the composer will be thrilled that his music is a subject of discussion in the harp world, too bad no one is impressed with the depth of his art.
WOW, who knew such perverse vulgarity would be promoted at the World Harp Congress right along side world “class performers” ? I have always considered myself a very open-minded artist and I am very supportive of new music.
I have enormous respect for composers who write great compositions for my instrument. I have also played my share of nightmare compositions because it was my job to play the music that was put on my stand without (audible) complaint.
I do not find any artistic merit in the concept of “exploitation of a drug addicts’ agony” as a subject for a musical composition for the harp. At the very least it is outrageously bad taste bordering on sadism. In this case, one woman’s pain is another man’s pleasure-packaged as “art”. I have endured “musical terrorists” in the music business who are “lying pieces of sh*t” but I would never choose to perform such an offensive pile of “Bird Song” . I guess I am just an American harpist who prefers to play great compositions on my beautiful instrument with “honor.”
Congratulations Saul! I am so impressed with your organizing and performing in such a fantastic harp festival! It is quite a remarkable testament to your talent that you were able to perform after having suffered such a huge personal loss.
I am sure Miss Lawrence and your mother were in attendance, beaming with pride.
I hope you take some time for yourself now as this is a major event in your life.
No one truly understands this until they have walked this path . Having lost both of my parents, I know the depth of this experience very well. Please know that you are being held up in the thoughts and prayers of many, and that we all extend our most sincere condolences to you. I hope you find a way to go to the conference to be with friends and celebrate your teacher being honored. If you are unable to attend, let me be one of many to thank you for your outstanding contributions to the harp world on stage and on-line!
Hi Ann,
Welcome to the club!
You have now officially become a lifetime member of the highly coveted secret society of inspired harp players. There are no initiation fees but the dues are great and sometimes painful. They include finger blisters, an aching back, mental fatigue and frustration, and an occasional moment of musical bliss. : )
The best way to keep that inspired feeling alive is to keep practicing until you are ready to perform, then perform often.
After your performances pick a new piece and start all over again. If you are lucky and truly dedicated, that glorious moment of inspiration will return to you again, and again, and again, throughout your life.
Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of harp music!
Hi David,
I have the ABC interview of Alice Chalifoux in Camden Maine Labor Day, 1989.
It is a wonderful interview with lots of wonderful views of Camden and the Salzedo School on Sea street. Although Alice was in her 80’s at the time and not really playing anymore, there is a shot of her playing the g minor “Pavane”. There is even footage of several of us performing “Chanson dans la Nuit” with Miss Chalifoux conducting. Kim Rowe, Elizabeth Remy, John Carrington and myself are performing along with two other harpists who full names I have yet to confirm.
Edna Phillips is seen sitting on a bench listening to our performance.
It is a magnificent interview and really captures the Camden experience. It’s a classic for anyone who went to Maine and wants to know more about Alice Chalifoux and the Salzedo School. If anyone is interested in a DVD copy contact me directly.
