Meet Lauren Scott!

We are pleased to introduce Lauren Scott, author of Adventures for Lever Harp Book 1 and Book 2. The collections feature Lauren’s original compositions, all written especially for fully levered 34-string harps.

 

We asked Lauren to tell us about her collections:

“They are pieces especially written for lever harp, which have pre-set levers from the start, so that there are no lever changes throughout the pieces. They all focus on one or two different techniques or effects within each piece. They are all very different in style from calypso to jazz to various world folk forms, and they are all in the intermediate to upper-intermediate/advanced range of standard. I was chatting to a harp colleague some years back that there was lots of really good new music for lever harp up to about grade 5 standard, but it was hard to find new music for lever harp students who were in the higher grade 5-8 bracket. So the idea behind these books I have been mulling over for several years now and are in response to wanting to create more music that was enjoyable to play and teach for that higher standard.”

Which arrangement are you most proud of?

“It’s probably the very last thing I wrote, which is ‘Crepuscule’ in Adventures for Lever Harp Book 2. The other pieces I have written so far were fairly ‘organic’ and popped out of my head without too much effort. But with ‘Crepuscule’ I felt I had to work hard to craft and shape it and I worked hard on the form of the piece. So from a compositional point of view I really felt I had started to develop. However I’ve got a lot to learn!

Where do you look for inspiration?

“I’ve always worked with contemporary music groups so I have been very fortunate to meet and work with lots of composers over the years. I also have lots of friends and colleagues who are amazing musicians and I’m humbled to be able to work with them. My main inspiration though is probably my husband who is an incredibly talented composer and I’m fortunate in being able to talk ‘music’ with him.”

Are there any composer or arrangers who particularly inspire you?

“I have a very broad range of music I enjoy listening to and playing—from show tunes, folk, (some!) jazz, contemporary classical, classical to pop. As long as there is musical integrity within whatever musical form it is. So I don’t have a definitive list as it’s always changing according to whatever I’m currently listening to. Recently I’ve been listening to Bartok, Ligeti, Pink Floyd and Chaka Khan!”

What do you have planned for the future?

“I need to write some ensemble music for workshops, so that is the most immediate project I’m working on. However I’ve got ideas brewing for a pedal harp quartet piece so that will be the next project to work on when I have some more time to compose.”

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