Hello everyone, I've been lurking for months, and finally thought I should get off my duff and give you something to read in return! Maybe I can inspire you to start posting more as well? I am hopeful that going public with the blog will give me more inspiration about learning new tunes; I am quite lazy about tackling new stuff!!
I have been busy this past year as a therapeutic harpist at a local hospital and hospice. I teach school Tues-Thurs, but every Monday I am so very lucky to be hired to play at the bedside of patients about a half hour from my house. I have one of those wooden platforms that my harp gets fastened to so I can travel the floors and elevators, and my supervisor writes me a schedule of patients to see. I've played in private rooms, in the Infusion Center, in the lobby, even in the Emergency Room one morning! I can't find words to express how very wonderful it is to help people who are sick need less pain medication, have less anxiety, lower blood pressure, etc, etc. People have cried when I played, have blessed my hands and my harp, have invited their family members and all the doctors and nurses on the wing in to their room to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow together. Nurses call in to the office and request the harpist, families meet me in the hallway and ask me to visit their relatives. Most enriching is playing for NAS babies, who are born addicted to drugs. Nurses tell me that their little bodies relax into them when the music begins. Both my dad and mother-in-law died under hospice care, so of course I am so very pleased to give back. And a few weeks ago I was invited to play for the annual Physician's Dinner while my supervisor talked about the benefits of Therapeutic Arts. I am so proud of myself for completing the training to become a therapeutic musician, and feel so lucky to be able to play locally and be paid. Can you tell how much I love this work?? :))
I also play once a month at a local retirement/assisted living facility - also paid! I meet the kindest, most respectful people when I play there. I wish I could do this as my full-time job. And occasionally I play out at the local coffeehouse that I manage with my husband. Together with my husband JP, I play weddings, parties and local gatherings. This month I'm trying my hand at playing at a wedding fair, hoping to get more gigs. I got off my lazy behind and went to a recording studio to make a CD this summer, and handing out free copies has gotten me a lot of gigs. Wish I'd been brave to do this years ago.
But the best harp-related item this year was traveling down a little dirt road in the burren and meeting....Andee Anko! My goodness, so beautiful, lively, kind, gracious, and what a terrific harpist! We were sorry that we were on the way to Dublin (which we were not that excited about to be honest) to meet our daughter and son-in-law. next time we go to Ireland I'll be sure to book a few nights at Bog Hill if they'll have us.
I have 2 songs that I'm working on, one a little more successfully than the other. We have that Frank Volz version of Angels We Have Heard on High at our house, and my husband and I are arranging a guitar/harp version, which we'll play at a nearby Christmas concert we've been invited to join. I hardly ever play jazz harp, so this is fun, but a little tricky. The harder one is the Deborah Henson-Conant (argh, is this right??) New Blues. My God, it will be a miracle if I ever, ever get the muffing and the syncopation down perfectly!!!!
I see that I have used the word 'I" close to a trillion times in this blog post, and I do apologize, but when you only post once a year and you're telling about your harping life these things just happen. I wish you would comment and tell me what you're working on, where you've played, and how things are going. I was one of the people dragging this blog down by not posting, but I'm hoping I can inspire you to start posting like crazy. I promise to do the same!!
Pam
