April 2015 Letter from the president: Dear chapter members, Spring is in the air! This always feels like an exciting time in many ways. Students begin to think about summer music programs or college decisions while lots of us gear up for the wedding season and brush up on repertoire we haven’t seen in a while. I always enjoy some spring cleaning and finding music that has been tucked away on my shelves gathering dust. Reading through some old favorites is a refreshing and fun way to spend a practice session!

The chapter is still looking for a candidate to serve as our next president, so please step forward if you are interested in getting more involved! Chapter duties are truly a collaborative effort among all the officers, and a great way to participate in the activities and events that are offered throughout the year. Please contact me if you have any questions about serving! Catherine

President Catherine Case ! VP Robin Purchas ! Sec. Joyce Rice ! Treas. Clara Frederickson Membership Melissa Walsh & Patti Warden ! Website Marinda Misra

Ex Officio Judith Cummings and Susi Hussong

BITS AND PIECES

1. Annual chapter meeting 2. Chapter elections 3. Apply for scholarships 4. Mark Andersen leaving 5. New member

The monthly newsletter of the Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Harp Society, Joyce Rice, Editor Website: www.ahsseattle.org Facebook group: Seattle AHS Chapter

6. News from Enchanted Harp 7. Looking for a new concerto? 8. In the Spotlight: Valerie, how did you start the harp? 9. Pat Wooster ”semi-retires” 10. Practicing for Performance 11. New book on 20th c. Irish harp. 1. Don’t forget our annual meeting with pot-luck and house-and-garden visit at John Carrington’s beautiful place in North Beach on Sunday, June 14, 5:00. Please bring a dish to share. We will provide the beverages, plates, napkins, etc. Mark your calendars now! 2. Every other year we have chapter elections at the spring meeting. Elected offices are president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. You may nominate yourself or anyone else for any of those offices. Robin Purchas (v-p), Clara Frederickson (treas.) and I, Joyce Rice (sec.) are willing to stay on, but new blood is always healthy if you would like run for one of those jobs. Catherine Case (pres.) is not running again and we are hoping that some one or two will step forward to run for this position. We only have a couple of board meetings a year as most business is conducted through email. The president should try to preside over the spring and fall meetings, and also I invite her or him to write a short monthly letter in Resonance. Election has traditionally been by voice vote at the annual meeting since there are rarely any challengers, but can also be by secret ballot at the meeting. 3. Does anyone need money for lessons, music purchase, harp rental, harp camp? Every year the chapter offers scholarships to deserving students. The information and application form were in a previous Resonance. Application deadline is May 20. 4. I regret to say that our good friends Mark and Lynn Andersen are leaving our area and moving to North Carolina, near where Mark was raised. Mark has been challenged in recent years by multiple sclerosis, and there is experimental work being done near where they will live that he hopes will help him. He says he already has some weddings lined up! Mark was a very involved president of the chapter for three years during time of the Tacoma conference, and when we won the “Chapter of the Year” award. He was also the artistic director at the Daniels Recital Hall, where he often featured our harpists; church organist and conductor of a bell choir; and has been running, with Lynn and another partner, a fascinating business that supplies computer parts for pipe organs. Lynn produced beautiful Resonances for us - much fancier than I ever could - and videoed chapter performances for airing on local television through Comcast and nationally through Time Warner. We will miss you, Mark and Lynn!

If you’d like a chance to say goodbye, their final concert in Seattle will be on April 26th at 3PM at Thirteenth Church of Christ Scientist, 3500 Northeast 125th Street, Seattle, with organ and the very skilled bell choir. Their new address as of May 1 will be: Mark and Lynn Andersen 205 Elizabethtown Rd. Lumberton, NC 28358 (phone and email will remain the same) 5. Please welcome a new member and add her info to your directory: Katherine Diane McLean PO Box 143 Allyn, WA 98524 Email: eziekel.mclean@gmail.com 6. The Enchanted Harp is looking into bringing Liza Jensen to their shop for regulations and workshops on harp maintenance and repair. If you missed Steve Moss while he was in town, this is a good chance to have your harp looked at by another pro. They do not have any dates set, as they would like to collect a minimum number of people interested in regulations first, so please call them soon to get on the list if you are interested! 253-770-0550. New address: Enchanted Harp, 2101 W. Stewart Ave., Puyallup.

7. Looking for a new concerto? The composer Benoit Wery has written to me at Harp Spectrum about his Concertino Mystique – hear it on YouTube at “Benoit Wery / Concertino mystique”. It’s contemporary yet quite romantic and lovely. He has also written a small concerto for Celtic harp, Ballade Concertante , as well as many solo pieces and pieces for flute and harp. He says his scores are available at Theodore Presser, the Virginia Harp Center and others. 8. In the Spotlight: Valerie Muzzolini Gordon, how did you start the harp?  

9. After at least 23 years teaching at UPS and over 20 at PLU, Pat Wooster is turning in her keys to the harp rooms, in a “difficult decision” to leave dedicated students and supportive faculty. She had previously given up the harp posts at the Tacoma Symphony and the Northwest Sinfonietta, and has left the board of the latter. As well, last year was her 17th (!) and final one as chair of the World Harp Congress. In her “retirement” she’ll keep her private students and the South Sound Harp Ensemble, as well as continue board work for AHS and the WHC, including an upcoming trip to Hong Kong, site of the WHC 2017! Otherwise she and Jim are looking forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, both locally and in Ann Arbor, and doing some traveling with their VW Vanagon camper. Good for you, Pat! You’ve earned the chance to smell the flowers! 10. Here are some words of wisdom from Emily Mitchell on Practicing for Performance: “There's learning, and then there's practicing performance. To achieve the performance feeling in your practice room, after a warm-up, play through an already-learned piece, and even if you make mistakes or have memory lapses, keep going. In the learning process, you stop to correct mistakes. But, in "practice performance" you don't want to ingrain a mistake by stopping whenever it happens. In "practicing for performance," wait until you get to the end of the piece to go back to correct mistakes. You want to know that you can continue playing no matter what happens. This is the way to develop your performance skill.” 11. Here’s an enlightening-sounding book for your holiday or birthday list: Irish Harping, 1900-2010 by Helen Lawlor. "This book provides a musical ethnography and a history of the Irish harp. It gives a socio-cultural and musical analysis of the music and song associated with all Irish harp styles, including traditional style, song to harp accompaniment, art-music style and the early Irish harp revival. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Irish harp had a limited presence in Ireland, but over the course of that

My mother was a professional violinist with the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. When I was about 6, the orchestra went on tour in the south of France and our family went along with them. I remember walking into a church before a sound check of the orchestra and the harpist was practicing. She was a friend of my mother so I went up to her to say hello and she asked if I wanted to try playing a little so I did and really enjoyed it. A few months later, my mother asked my older brother and me if we wanted to get into a special program: we would go to school in the mornings and study at the conservatory in the afternoons. We both said yes, I picked the harp and my brother, percussions. The harpist in the church turned out to be my teacher for the next 11 years, Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche.

century the harp experienced a significant revival with the subsequent emergence of numerous styles. Issues of transmission, gender studies and identity are also examined in this book. The Irish harp is now firmly located in the musical life of Ireland, in art music, traditional music and early music. Its present state is conditioned by its history in the 20th century. This book presents and analyses both of these perspectives in relation to the Irish harping tradition." http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=1099

CALENDAR

Saturday, April 11 8:00 Pat Wooster will lead the Pacific Lutheran University Harp Ensemble in a concert, “Care to Dance?” at Lagerquist Concert Hall on the campus of PLU. The performance includes harp, cello, violin and voice, and the first movement of the Debussy Danses, Sacrée, with Mary Kay Waddington's transcription, using the solo harp, harp accompaniment, (2 harps), and male voice for the chant. Free. Sunday, April 26 4:00 Pat Wooster directs the South Sound Strings Harp Ensemble, which will perform their spring concert in Schneebeck Hall at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Free. Saturday, May 2 3:00 Miranda Campos, student of Pat Wooster, will give her junior recital at Pacific Lutheran University, Lagerquist Hall. Free. Wednesday, May 20 Deadline for scholarship applications Saturday, May 30 From the West Seattle Blog: Calling all mermaids for the first West Seattle Mermaid Parade! Come join us (in costumes!). Meet at the Alki Bathhouse at 11 am for a water-themed veil dance by the Sirens of Serpentine to live harp music by Monica Schley. After, we will walk the Alki Beach Trail. Mermaids are not afraid of water, so this parade happens rain or shine. – Free, all ages and open to everyone. Sunday, June 14 5:00. Spring chapter meeting and potluck at John Carrington’s beautiful house and grounds in North Beach. Election of officers, scholarship winners announced and will play. Please come and play, too, and bring a dish to share! June 11-14 New Orleans Jazz and Pop Harp Weekend. One, two and three-day intensive courses to expand skills and enable you to play pop and jazz harp. Three levels in lever and pedal tracks. www.neworleansjazzharp.com/

June 21-24 AHS 11th Summer Institute and 21st National Competition in Logan, Utah. Many workshops, concerts. More info at www.harpsociety.org/Summer-Institute/index.asp

June 30-July 3, 2016 42nd AHS National Conference in Atlanta GA.

July 2017 World Harp Congress in Hong Kong

CLASSIFIEDS

PEDAL HARPS

For Sale: Lyon & Healy “Chicago” Concert grand, mahogany with extended board in spruce. Built in 2010 but hardly played, in excellent condition. Includes dust cover and transport cover (with base and column covers), tuning key, almost full set of strings, shipping box and packing materials. $16,500. Contact Diane McLean at 360-275-2476 or eziekel.mclean@gmail.com. For sale: Lyon & Healy 17 Gold. Rebuilt at the Lyon & Healy factory in 1996, this harp has been completely refurbished. It was fitted with a new neck. Regulation and rewire were done in November 2011. The harp was built in 1923, when Lyon & Healy was doing particularly fine work. Like other harps from this period, it has an exceptionally rich, warm and clear tone. $18,200.Contact 206-973-7037 or hildegardgreen2010@gmail.com. For sale: 1918 Lyon & Healy Style 17 Gold. Serial number, pictures and price upon request. Serious inquiries, only please. The harp was refurbished with a new neck in 1999 and includes the wooden trunk. 425-445-0205. For rent: 85CG circa 1988 that is a very satisfying instrument to play and practice due to its wonderful sound. $150 per month. Fairly recent regulation and new bass wires. Includes cover and harp cart. Contact Mary Frank at frank.mary@comcast.net. For rent: Walnut L&H 23. Wonderful sound. Concert grand harp with 47 strings, it comes with a 3-piece transport cover. $150 per month plus tax. Contact Marian Sussman at 206-290-8192 or at harpnote@gmail.com. For rent: Venus Traditional harp. Oversize semi-grand, almost as large as a grand with extended board and 46 strings. Big sound with concert grand string spacing, floral carving and a high gloss natural maple finish. $125 plus tax. Contact Marian Sussman at 206-290-8192 or at harpnote@gmail.com.. Looking: Mark Andersen is seeking a moving carton for a Lyon and Healy concert grand if anyone has one to get rid of. Please call Mark at (425) 922-6810. LEVER HARPS For Sale: Beautiful William Webster gold and mahogany 18th Century Classic Rams Head Harp, full concert size lever 40 with gut strings, in excellent like-new condition. Includes cover. A steal at $2000. Original price $5,000. Contact Mark Andersen (425) 922-6810. (http://www.websterharps.com/18th_century.html) For sale: Salvi Livia 36-string lever harp in birds-eye maple, 4 years old, like new. Includes fabric cover and wheeled travel case, tuning key and a few extra strings. $4,000. Contact Nerys Jones at nerys-jones@hotmail.com. Photos available upon request. For sale: Triplett lap harp, 22 strings, full levers, full set of new strings, case, tuning key. $800 or best offer (new lower price). Judith Lipton at drlipton@gmail.com or 425-869-2990 or 425-922-3184. For sale: Kailey 3 Folk Harp made by Philip Boulding. It’s about 12 years old, 36 strings, 5 octave range from Low C. Leverless but there is space to have the levers installed. This beautiful harp stands 52” tall and is made of maple. It comes with a deluxe padded cover for travel and tuning key. Excellent conditon and mellow sound. Reduction in price is now $1550.00. Please call Arisa Houston at 360-394-3689. Follow this link for photos: http://arisahouston.com/Images/kaileyharp.jpg

For sale: Lever harp, 31 strings, made from a Music Maker kit. Soundboard is hand-painted with two black swans. Owner is no longer able to play and has to move, and will include music stand, music, tuning key, and tuner with the instrument. $950 price lowered. Contact Lynn Curran, 206-735-5027 (Renton Highlands area). For sale: Thormahlen Swan 36-string lever harp. Made in 2001. Cherry with abalone inlay around soundboard. Concert tension with concert gut strings (reinforced soundboard) and custom bass wires (made by Robinson’s). Full Loveland levers. Very good condition, beautiful tone, gorgeous wood. A rare find. Price reduced: $4200. Includes dark green nylon case, dust cover, and tuning key. Pictures and/or video can be emailed upon request. Contact Cynthia at crkuni@comcast.net or 206-909-5844. For sale: Prelude – 38 strings, Mahogany. 1st Octave E to 6th Octave C. The Prelude features string spacing and tension similar to a pedal harp. A scalloped bronze-finished crown and matching claw feet enhance the beauty. Valued in 2009 at $4,490. Sale Price $4,200. Contact Lu Buranen at 253-564-2741. For rent: Dusty Strings Allegro 26 string folk harp with levers on F, C and B. $35 per month. Great small harp! Susan McLain at 206 932-1861 or greensleevesharp@aol.com. For rent: Dusty Strings Double Strung harp. Maple/Cherry, fully levered. Bold sound. With case. $40 per month. Contact Susan McLain 206 932-1861 or greensleevesharp@aol.com. For rent: Triplett Sierra 30, partially levered. $45/month. Alishia Joubert, henzeharper@gmail.com. For rent: Dusty Strings Double Strung Harp Maple/Cherry. Fully levered. Bold sound. With case. $35 per month. Contact Susan McLain at 206 932-1861 or email GreensleevesHarp@aol.com. Wanted: A used electric lever harp. Camac Electroharp, Baby Blue, or similar, decent shape, does not need to be like-new. carol.levin@ppgnw.org. OTHER For sale: Lightly used 1/2 size cello with bow, “Cushy” case with wheels and backpack straps, and handsome wood stand with velvet lining, beginning book. $650 plus tax. Pat Jaeger, (206) 525-7682, NE Seattle. Borrow, rent, or purchase: Katherine Kirkpatrick is seeking a sturdy traveling case for a Lyon and Healy Prelude harp. Needed for May 29-31 for the Silverwood Music Festival in Idaho. Please contact Katherine at (206) 365-9390, or kkseattle1@gmail.com

FUN STUFF

All Sam [Milligan]'s harps are totally strung in gut. He is a firm believer that if the Good Lord had meant for us to string our harps with Nylon, sheep would come with plastic innards. From www.samuelmilligan.com/index.php/harps

INTERESTING STUFF

What, you’ve never taken apart a harp? Here’s what it looks like inside the neck – pretty complex!