Start your weekend with harp and yoga: 8 p.m. May 28 at rad'a

Come hear me playing harp this Friday night in a candelit yoga class taught by Albert Bissada.
If there's anything better than harps and yoga, it's both together at once!
Please come and join us this Friday in Montreal from 8 to 9 p.m. at rad'a montreal for just $10.
rad'a is located just a few steps from the Laurier metro station at 841 Rue Gilford (St. Joseph exit).

A new harp comes home!

Another long blog hiatus - translation, yoga and harping are occupying quite a bit of my time these days, and writing, cooking, crafting and socializing have been on the back burner over the winter.

I have many joyous harp tidings to share: In the long-standing tradition of crazy harppeople with more strings than brains, I am pleased to announce a new harp has joined our family this spring: a 25-string Triplett Christina Therapy Harp!

I have wanted this particular harp for some time, as I want to focus on playing in spiritual, healing, wellness and therapeutic settings, and in addition to my weekly lessons, I am studying the distance learning material for the International Harp Therapy Program this year. I have a Reverie therapeutic harp for non-musicians and people with restricted mobility to be able to play along with me, and its companion needed to be significantly lighter and slenderer than either of my current harps in order to be compatible with my walking/public transportation lifestyle.
Since this harp is specially designed for therapy, and has such a sweet, clear voice, it couldn't be more perfect for my needs! This particular model is fully levered with Camac levers and is made of bubinga, an African rosewood that is wonderfully rich and resonant. I'm taking it to the luthier tomorrow to adjust a few levers that are out of tune, and then will be spending lots of time playing it so it can further develop its voice (the seller developed arthritis shortly after purchasing it, so it really is like a new harp). So if you call and I don't answer, I'm probably lost in my dreamworld, and didn't even hear the phone.

Even more exciting perhaps, if that's possible, is that I am making plans to attend the Southeastern Folk Harp Conference this fall, a whirlwind of concerts, master classes and special workshops. Because it's in Asheville, I'll get to spend some time with my mother and grandmother, too!

This winter I've been working on some Bach, Handel and Haydn, some gorgeous arrangements and original compositions by Kim Robertson, and Celtic pieces from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. I'm also trying to master a number of special techniques, some more maddening than others, the most crazymaking being able to consistently play harmonics. Guitarists don't know how easy they have it!

Christmas harp!

Exciting Christmas news! I'll be performing at St. John the Evangelist on Sunday, Dec. 20 and on Friday, Dec. 25. On the 20th, I'll be playing three Advent carols before mass starting at around 10 a.m. On Christmas Day, I'll be playing Christmas carols starting slightly earlier, as well as a beautiful Appalachian Christmas hymn, "I Wonder As I Wander," during mass. Mass in the Anglican Catholic tradition begins at 10:30 a.m. It's going to be a lovely, lovely time and I hope some friends will come out to join us and hear me play!