Princess Sakura Harp

01/19/09 22:18 Filed in: Harp Sightings

The National Association of Music Merchandisers (NAMM) holds an enormous trade show every January, the largest event that takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center all year. Manufacturers of musical instruments of all kinds come from far and wide to exhibit their products and there is a constant cacophony over the four days as all these instruments are being played at the same time. I worked at the Dusty Strings booth, playing their lovely harps and doing my best to be heard. I was pleased to discover this harp also on exhibit:

Aoyama Princess Sakura model harp

It's Aoyama's newest model, the Princess Sakura - easy to identify with its cherry blossom inlay. It was on display at the booth of North American Hardwoods who had provided the spruce used in the soundboard. I had a chance to play it against the background din of electric guitars, didgeridoos, cellos and amplified fiddles, etc. Although it's still a new harp, it had a full rich tone and smooth pedal action and I would have enjoyed plaing it in a quieter atmosphere.

Waltzing Matilda

01/11/09 23:44 Filed in: Weddings

Yesterday I played at the wedding of Jessica and Mark who were blessed with perfect weather for their celebration. Mark is from Australia so he requested that I play “Waltzing Matilda” as the recessional, which brought chuckles from his family members when they recognized the tune. It was a nice change from the ordinary.

bride and groom with harpist

The Harp Doctor is In

01/11/09 23:37 Filed in: Harp Sightings

Today I returned to the Salvi showroom in Anaheim to fetch the Wurlitzer I’d left last week with Peter Wiley, the harp doctor. Pedal harps need to be seen by a harp technician once every year or two for a regulation because the use of the pedals over time causes all the thousands of moving parts in the mechanism to get out of alignment. At a certain point, intonation is affected enough that the harp no longer plays in tune. An annual regulation is just part of good harp maintenance.

Because of some other repairs that need to be done to my harp first, Peter wasn’t able to do my regulation this time around but we had a good time talking and I learned so much more about the intricacies of the inner workings of the instrument. Peter is one of the world’s most patient people - not only does he take the time to perfect every little nuance of harp intonation and repair, he also expertly soothes the jangled nerves of over-wrought harpists (and we are an easily over-wrought bunch).

Peter Wiley repairs a harp at Salvi
Peter Wiley, the Harp Doctor

I took the time to play some of the exquisite instruments in the showroom and found that lately Salvi has been making great refinements in their designs. Smaller harps with sensitive soundboards are delivering bigger fuller tone. Showroom manager Alexandra Perdew played her favorite instrument for me, the beautifully inlaid Arianna model. I don’t have words to describe the lush rich sound that came from that harp even though it’s brand-new. As it gets played over time it will open up and develop an even more tremendous voice. It had already been sold and will soon be on its way to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where some very lucky students will get to play it.

Alexandra plays an Ariana harp
Alexandra plays Salvi's Arianna model harp

Tags: Salvi harps,, harp doctor

Music with my Mom

01/09/09 23:11 Filed in: Performance

Recently I had the pleasure of playing my first public performance as a duo with my mother. She’s been playing the harp for about eight years (yes - harping is an illness and she caught it from me). She used to be shy about playing where anyone could hear her but now she gigs practically more than I do, either with members of her local harp circle or on her own as a harper/storyteller.

Karen and Laurie play at Christmas
Karen and Laurie play Christmas carols

On Christmas Eve we provided the pre-service music at St. John’s Chapel in Monterey and it went so well that the bishop asked if we’d come back for Easter. I'm just happy to play music with my mom - how many people are lucky enough to do that?

Tags: harp duo

Salvi Harps in LA

01/06/09 11:12 Filed in: Harp Sightings

Over the weekend I drove down to the Salvi Harp showroom in Anaheim to drop off my Wurlitzer. Peter Wiley the harp technician will be in residence this week so my harp will wait along with many others for its annual regulation. When I dropped in I found that the charming Mr. Salvi himself was visiting from Italy.

Mr. Salvi and me

I haven't had the chance to visit the Salvi showroom since they opened a couple of years ago so it was great to have an opportunity to see all the shiny harps and especially some of the newer models.