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 …
A Performance Observed: Fear and Elation
March 25th, 2017
Yesterday I joined a visiting wind ensemble for a concert of Navarro’s “Clarinet Concerto N. 1” and David Maslanka’ “A Child’s Garden of Dreams.” I had played the …
On Thumbs and Appreciating 20th Century Music
You don’t appreciate your thumbs until you lose one for awhile.
Isn’t it always like that in life? You’ve got a good thing going – full use of all ten fingers …
Well that was interesting| 2016
2016 brought many opportunities for me.
Challenges and fears accompanied every one of them.
Of course there are always challenges that show up unaccompanied (by opportunity or anything else) as well. Whether …
A peripatetic part-time orchestra harpist
Why peripatetic?
Well because it’s a great word that for me it will forever summon to mind Elizabeth Peters’ thrilling novel set in 1890’s Egypt, “The Crocodile on the Sandbank,” in …
Ravenscroft Musicke Guild
Beginnings
About ten years ago, I sat playing my harp under a tree at the MN Renaissance Festival. My father stood nearby, talking with various passers-by. As I finished up a …