Recording “The Road Home From Skye”: Day One in the Studio
Day One
I encountered morning rush hour on my way to the studio – to my shock. (Why do I always forget that rush hour is a thing?)
It took about forty …
A Harp Weekend in Bemidji
Two weeks ago I spent a few days in Bemidji doing harp stuff.
My schedule included playing 2nd harp on Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra, giving …
Practicing for Any Contingency (Part 3): Six Ways to Prepare For An Orchestra Gig as a harpist
In Part 1 and Part 2 of the series Practicing for Any Contingency, I shared tips on preparing for background harp gigs and for solo harp concerts. In this post …
Practicing for Any Contingency (Part 2): Six Ways to Prepare for a Solo Harp Concert
In my first post of the series, Practicing for Any Contingency (Part 1) : Six Unorthodox Ways To Prepare for a Background Harp Gig, I talked about all the things …
March Showers Are Better than February Snow Storms
New challenges
No really, I DO want you to come to harp lessons. See, I even built this lovely obstacle course on my sidewalk for you….”
Somehow I thought that when the …
Practicing for Any Contingency (Part 1): Six Unorthodox Ways To Prepare for a Background Harp Gig
1. Practice with a light shining in your face.
Once I played harp for a lovely wedding reception on a cruise boat. Dramatic clouds spotted the western sky as a glowing …
Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Overture:” Harp part, page 4
This Sunday afternoon I will be performing harp on the “Russian Easter Overture” for the third time. I love it when I get to repeat an orchestral work because I …
Enjoying the drudgery
Sometimes a piece reaches that in-between stage where it can truthfully claim almost all the right notes, correct timing, and a decent set of dynamics. And there the piece languishes, …
Attempts at a Sustainable Schedule
I was busy sewing away on my Halloween costume a few weeks ago. Costuming is one of my favorite hobbies. But some tasks, like gathering 9 feet of fabric into …
Stephanie Claussen: 2018 US National Scottish Harp Champion
This weekend I traveled to Edinboro, Pennsylvania to compete in the Edinboro Scottish Harp Competition and US National Scottish Harp Championship. My dear friend Emily put me up in her …