Paul and I came across this photo in our files last week. It's the cover photo from my cassette recording! Master photographer Gary Mester took this portrait in his studio, and Jerry Lackey, longtime principal tuba with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra (and conductor/composer/arranger extrordinaire) did the recording on a Saturday morning in the spring of 1996. The title was "Requests for Harp", and I had them for sale locally and at the Bar Harbor Inn in Bar Harbor, Maine, where I was the summer harpist for eight summers in the 90's.
That made me wonder--what would YOU like to hear on harp now, in 2010? In 1996, the common requests were for music from movies such as The Lion King, Forrest Gump, Somewhere In Time, Sleepless In Seattle, and shows such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats. I've updated my repertoire recently with selections from Pride and Prejudice, Up, Howl's Moving Castle and The Notebook. Standards such as "Someone To Watch Over Me" and "Misty" will always be in my collection, and no harpist's gig bag would be complete without timeless classical selections such as Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel, J.S. Bach's Prelude in C, and Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune.
So--what do you think? What would make my collection current? I am eager to hear from you! Stay tuned--Beth Paré
I'd love a recording of harp music that included one CD on Christmas music and another on meditation/hymnals, possibly another on lullaby music too! You are so adorable in that photo! Love the red lipstick!
ReplyDeleteThat's the definition of fire-engine red, isn't it, Andrea? : ) Thanks for the ideas!
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