Have you ever had a detour turn out well?

With two performances on piano last week, and three on harp this week, I marvelled once again at the unexpected things that can happen in one's life. Back in the early 80's, I was a music education student at Indiana University School of Music (now Jacobs School of Music) with a concentration in piano. All was OK, but there was no zeal in what I
was doing...until one evening which changed everything.

All piano students were required to be in an ensemble, and I was assigned to the Women's Chorus. We were to sing in the orchestra pit during the university production of the Nutcracker Ballet (a part at the end of the first act which is usually covered by strings in professional productions) and I was placed right behind the harpists. I was  entranced. Already familiar with the Waltz of the Flowers harp cadenza from my parents' music collection, I got a front seat to beautiful harp music in the ballet score that I had never heard before.

The next semester, the first thing I did was to sign up for beginner harp lessons. Before I knew it, I was taking private lessons from esteemed harp instructor Linda Wood Rollo and taking part in Susann McDonald's weekly master classes. My life was forever changed by the wonderful harpists I met and became colleagues with. The following year brought a change from piano study to harp and a world of new possibilities.

That made it all the more special when I began receiving calls to play in the South Bend Symphony Orchestra a few years later, and when I served as the harpist for the Southold Dance Theater's production of the Nutcracker Ballet during the years that they used live music.

I am so grateful for this unexpected detour that has added so much to my life. Stay tuned!

past, present and future

Ever come across a box of old photos and get lost in time for an hour or two? That happened to me last week, as I found not only the photo I posted last week, but all sorts of memorabilia and this photo, taken by master photographer Gary Mester, intended for a future Christmas recording. A little reminiscing was in order. Here are a few of my more memorable experiences as a harpist, not in any particular order:

• a stunning cocktail party in Potawatomi Greenhouse in South Bend in the spring, the sunset gleaming through the glass, amazing acoustics, little white lights everywhere, delicious appetizers.
• an outdoor July wedding at the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor, Maine, in a postcard-worthy setting overlooking Northeast Harbor. It just could not have been a more gorgeous day--temperature in the 70's, completely blue sky, a gentle breeze, and behind the bride and groom, that picturesque harbor. I played harp for the prelude, alto recorder for the processional, harp for the rest of the ceremony, and cocktail piano for the reception--my version of being jack-of-all-trades!
• an amazing evening at Century Center in South Bend, at a wedding reception that was nothing short of spectacular. Again, those little white lights all over (I guess I have a weakness for anything that sparkles--click here!), and fireworks over the St. Joseph River.
• a South Bend Symphony Orchestra Pops! concert, with guest artist saxophonist Danny Lerman. The harp part was well written and just fun, with a neat little solo for the harpist in one of the pieces.

Maybe the most memorable event would have been the one that almost happened. I was contacted by a couple in Bar Harbor, Maine, to play for their wedding. It was to take place on a private island in Frenchman Bay, and I was to load the harp onto a lobster boat, along with the guests, and then the harp was to be carried by the groomsmen to the wedding site, the highest point on the island (there were no paved roads for using the harp cart). Ultimately, the couple decided to have a guitar-playing friend provide their music, and since I had already started worrying about rough seas and careless groomsmen, I was relieved.

Thanks for walking down Memory Lane with me!

I hope to finish that aforementioned Christmas recording next year. For more past, present and future musings, stay tuned....

What are YOUR requests for harp?

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