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Katerina, If my harp talked back to me about the way my playing abuses it, the language would not be fit to print!
Actually Erin, if a Catholic Church employs an organist and/or cantor, it is expected that the Church music fee be paid whether the organist plays at the wedding or not.
If a harpist is wanted for the entire wedding in these Churches the bride must pay the standard Church music fee PLUS the harpist’s fee.
I don’t know if this is customary everywhere but it is here in the NE US.
I would guess a similar policy probably exists in other denominations as well, especially if the organist is a full time employee.Lisa in case Howard doesn’t see your post, you can contact him at the email address listed in the “advertisers” section at the top of this page.
Mine is a Howard Bryan harp and cost me in the neighborhood of $18,000 in excellent playable condition.
I had something of a choice in whether or not I wanted a new soundboard,
and with Howard’s agreement, I chose to keep the original soundboard with Howard’s light stringing. A new Howard Bryan soundboard would have been about $2000 more.
I wanted the harp to sound as close as possible to what it had sounded like when it had come off the Wurlitzer assembly line. If I had wanted to take it out more often, I would probably not have wanted to keep the original soundboard, which is in its original condition very thin.
Have you gotten an appraisal? An appraiser could probably give you a value that you could get for your harp now, and a second potential value after restoration.
You are my idol! I have studied for five years with one of the best music teachers I’ve ever studied with. I’m doing Naderman #1 of the Seven Sonatines, and I LOVE the music dearly, but I continue to feel that my finger technique is so slow I’ll never get it where I’d want it to be.
It sounds from what you’ve written that when you get down to it, you have confidence in your teacher, as I have in mine. Even with the frustration, I know I’m not ready to throw in the sponge.
If your teacher is telling you you can do it, and with two recitals behind you, I think you have what it takes to present a great performance.
Maybe the flutist is full of baloney- if she is really in control of her technique, it’s possible for her to play something slower than the fastest tempo she has played it, so maybe it’s time for the flutist to compromise a little on her tempo. If you can both compromise a bit, you may wind up with more confidence in your part.
Whatever happens, don’t give up on what you love!
Thank YOU Maria, for this most thought provoking thread. It has caused me to re-examine my own questions about my technique.
I agree with Jennifer. I had the chance to play an old Thormahlen over the summer and it sounded wonderful. The Swan is also a very versatile instrument.
If you got the Thormahlen at a good enough price, you could have the old levers replaced with Camac levers if it didn’t have them originally.
As another thought, some people don’t like synthetic strings, so unless you have played them previously, that might or might not work well for you.
Maria, you might want to take a look at Lariviere. It contains a lot of very concentrated work on intervals and distances between fingers.
Also Bochsa 50 Progressive studies in two volumes and the Nadermann Sonatinas.
I just get mad at myself because my progress is so slow, although I know how valuable it is to put in the time on them.Maria I’m so glad to see your post. If you could elaborate a little on what you’re experiencing, it might help me figure out what I’m working against.
I’m having a definite problem with the amount of time I look at the strings vs. looking at the music, but I can’t figure out what It is that I’m doing wrong. I do know that if I have to memorize everything I want to play, I’ll be down to a 6 minute repertoire.
