Wednesday, March 26, 2014
March wind is unrelenting!
I cannot believe- again- where the month has gone! And the cold, while punctuated by some teaser warm days, has been pretty steady. Slowly the banks of snow are shrinking, but I am hungrier for Spring this year than I have ever been!
I have been working on a few O'Carolan pieces- Miss Noble and Sir Arthur Shaene (?)- and a lament. And a couple of Sue Richards tunes- Fire in the Hearth and Do Not Mourn for Me ( or is it Mourn No more for Me)?? Anywho- lovely pieces from her collection.
Sue and Brother Andrew have organized a Harp Gathering- Tune Sharing weekend coming up in West Park, NY at Holy Cross Monastery that I am busting with excitement over! I will (theoretically) have 20 new tunes in my head by Sunday! Hah! Well, and then a hard copy to refer to, thankfully!
Not spending enough time on the harp with Palm and Easter Sundays approaching and keyboard music to learn, but then it should be pretty smooth sailing and I have promised myself daily dips in the strings!
I am also investigating the carbon fiber harps by Heartland Harps in NC- have any of you actually played one of their carbon fiber creations? They make them all with concert spacing, but CAN make them with the closer Celtic harp spacing (though you void the chance to return it after purchase, unlike their standard guarantee...) and I am wondering if the feel and sound are comparable to wooden Celtic harps and string tension/spacing? I did their harp tasting audio online, and while I was actually able to pick out the wonderful aged Dragonwood harp amongst the carbon fibers, I was blown away by the sound I heard. Not necessarily the best device to listen on, though, so just wondered if any of you have experienced first hand? The weight and the indestructibility, and the ability to leave a harp in a hot car and sling it around, just seems like a miraculous idea! I LOVE my Fisher harp, but transporting it anywhere is such a worry if it involves any distance in warm weather.
It will take me awhile to save up for one, if I go that route- just dreaming for now! Harp lust, you know!!!
Stay warm and have fun, ladies- Spring is really on the way! Promise!! Sharon
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
March has gotten away from me!
Hello my friends, I am sorry about how terrible I've been about posting..... not sure why this is. My primary focus has been my 'real work ' writing and will probably stay that way for the next few months until I finish my current project.
Having said that, however, I am playing the harp somewhat regularly because of the steady hospital gig. So thank goodness for that. My two 'assignments' are to work on Festus Burke to play with my sister along with Loftus Jones(but that is in good shape) and to learn The Fairy Queen, using the Caitriona Rowsome setting, which I listened to so much while I was learning the melody, that I gave up and gave in and am learning her really lovely accompaniment rather than struggling to come up with my own! I kept trying and then I would realize I had internalized her setting and just kept 'finding' her notes! I would love to have Fairy Queen ready for the spring 'Among Friends' party but I doubt I can do that. I'm trying to prepare one new or old tune to play at each hospital day that I haven't played there before, but it's getting harder and harder to meet that requirement! May have to reduce it to every other week.... or..... whenever!
The OTHER HUGE news is that my daughter entered the National Poetry Recitation competition called Poetry Out Loud and is one of ten Vermont finalists - (out of 5000 entrants). Last week we had the 40 semi-finalists meeting and this Thursday she will compete with the nine other finalists, reciting her three poems on live Vermont Public Television. Yowza! You can bet that that is distracting me completely. I've been assigned to be the one who is anxious about everything! Anyhow, it should be streamable and I'll post a link - but really - googling either Vermont Public Television or Vermont Arts Council should get you all the info you need.
Having said that, however, I am playing the harp somewhat regularly because of the steady hospital gig. So thank goodness for that. My two 'assignments' are to work on Festus Burke to play with my sister along with Loftus Jones(but that is in good shape) and to learn The Fairy Queen, using the Caitriona Rowsome setting, which I listened to so much while I was learning the melody, that I gave up and gave in and am learning her really lovely accompaniment rather than struggling to come up with my own! I kept trying and then I would realize I had internalized her setting and just kept 'finding' her notes! I would love to have Fairy Queen ready for the spring 'Among Friends' party but I doubt I can do that. I'm trying to prepare one new or old tune to play at each hospital day that I haven't played there before, but it's getting harder and harder to meet that requirement! May have to reduce it to every other week.... or..... whenever!
The OTHER HUGE news is that my daughter entered the National Poetry Recitation competition called Poetry Out Loud and is one of ten Vermont finalists - (out of 5000 entrants). Last week we had the 40 semi-finalists meeting and this Thursday she will compete with the nine other finalists, reciting her three poems on live Vermont Public Television. Yowza! You can bet that that is distracting me completely. I've been assigned to be the one who is anxious about everything! Anyhow, it should be streamable and I'll post a link - but really - googling either Vermont Public Television or Vermont Arts Council should get you all the info you need.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
March is Irish Month
I am still working full-time plus! Very little time to practice, but I did manage a couple days this week.
Tomorrow evening Fiana NiChoinaill is flying in from Limerick. She'll be staying at my place overnight and then the workshop is the next day. She is also going to fit a private lesson in for me at some point before she flies back on Saturday night.
Fiana was a student of Janet Harbison and now has her Masters Degree in (Irish?) Music performance.
I had the most fantastic time hosting Fiana and at the workshop! She is such a lovely and friendly young lady, not to mention very talented, of course!
She arrived after 10:30 pm and we sat around chatting for three hours! She must have been exhausted after travelling by bus for two and a half hours from Limerick to Dublin and then the flight from Dublin to Leeds. I was full of nervous energy wanting her short stay to be comfy and perfect and excited about the workshop in general. It was really interesting talking to her about music, and also just about things like formal education and grading in folk and Irish music which is a funny thing in itself, plus the differences in formal education between classical and \Irish music. I wish I could remember more specifics, but at the moment my brain is tired.
I had about 4 hours sleep in total, but wanted to be up and ready before Fiana so she could sleep a bit more (only one bathroom in our small cottage!). I 'made' her eat something and made sure I packed snacks for the day just in case. (I really am giving you a play-by-play description, aren't I?).
Mike got us to the venue in plenty of time for Fiana to settle in with the borrowed harp and tune up. My friend Joan commented on how my face lit up when Fiana played the first tune for us. I was thinking, "Now *that's* what it's all about!* She taught us two jigs--Leitrim Fancy and The Wind on the Lake. She managed to teach all 11 of us by ear and no-one even protested about not getting the sheet music beforehand! She was extremely thorough and went at a slow and steady pace so as not to leave anyone behind. We learned the bare bones of the tune first and then three completely different ways of ornamenting it. With the second tune she gave people ideas for what they could do in the left hand. We also learned the slow air With Her Gun and Her Dog which is from the Petrie Collection (around the same time as Bunting, a lesser known collector and collection of harp tunes--must look into it further).
Gigs booked: I now have three summer gigs booked. Two different farmer's markets and my usual gig at Kirkstall Abbey playing inside the Cloisters. One of the market gigs may be as a trio (with Mike and Brian's duo Craig & Wylie, so we'd be Craigs & Wylie or Craig & Craig & Wylie).
In the meantime I had a fiddle lesson yesterday and have almost completely learned Reel of Rio. A bit tricky especially since I wasn't already familiar with it.
Still so so busy at work and have now resorted to practicing my fiddle either before opening the shop or after work before I go home. The harp is another matter and I've so much to work on as always, of course.
Tomorrow evening Fiana NiChoinaill is flying in from Limerick. She'll be staying at my place overnight and then the workshop is the next day. She is also going to fit a private lesson in for me at some point before she flies back on Saturday night.
Fiana was a student of Janet Harbison and now has her Masters Degree in (Irish?) Music performance.
I had the most fantastic time hosting Fiana and at the workshop! She is such a lovely and friendly young lady, not to mention very talented, of course!
She arrived after 10:30 pm and we sat around chatting for three hours! She must have been exhausted after travelling by bus for two and a half hours from Limerick to Dublin and then the flight from Dublin to Leeds. I was full of nervous energy wanting her short stay to be comfy and perfect and excited about the workshop in general. It was really interesting talking to her about music, and also just about things like formal education and grading in folk and Irish music which is a funny thing in itself, plus the differences in formal education between classical and \Irish music. I wish I could remember more specifics, but at the moment my brain is tired.
I had about 4 hours sleep in total, but wanted to be up and ready before Fiana so she could sleep a bit more (only one bathroom in our small cottage!). I 'made' her eat something and made sure I packed snacks for the day just in case. (I really am giving you a play-by-play description, aren't I?).
Mike got us to the venue in plenty of time for Fiana to settle in with the borrowed harp and tune up. My friend Joan commented on how my face lit up when Fiana played the first tune for us. I was thinking, "Now *that's* what it's all about!* She taught us two jigs--Leitrim Fancy and The Wind on the Lake. She managed to teach all 11 of us by ear and no-one even protested about not getting the sheet music beforehand! She was extremely thorough and went at a slow and steady pace so as not to leave anyone behind. We learned the bare bones of the tune first and then three completely different ways of ornamenting it. With the second tune she gave people ideas for what they could do in the left hand. We also learned the slow air With Her Gun and Her Dog which is from the Petrie Collection (around the same time as Bunting, a lesser known collector and collection of harp tunes--must look into it further).
Gigs booked: I now have three summer gigs booked. Two different farmer's markets and my usual gig at Kirkstall Abbey playing inside the Cloisters. One of the market gigs may be as a trio (with Mike and Brian's duo Craig & Wylie, so we'd be Craigs & Wylie or Craig & Craig & Wylie).
In the meantime I had a fiddle lesson yesterday and have almost completely learned Reel of Rio. A bit tricky especially since I wasn't already familiar with it.
Still so so busy at work and have now resorted to practicing my fiddle either before opening the shop or after work before I go home. The harp is another matter and I've so much to work on as always, of course.
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