HarpSong™️ Harp Podcast: A Moon Over the Trees Music and Theatre Productions®

www.moonoverthetrees.com/podcast

Welcome to Season 3 of the HarpSong Podcast!  Thank you for listening and for your support.  I’m so excited to be kicking off this new season with today’s guest, Liza Jensen.  I hope you are taking time for yourself for care and for treating yourself with the same kindness that you would show a friend in need…maybe that means playing your harp in the morning or composing a song as you watch the snow falling, maybe just having a cup of tea and taking a breath help you to recharge…  Just like us, our harps need some TLC every now and again, too. So, let’s take time to help the harps that help us and also keep nurturing and being kind to ourselves while we take those opportunities that cross our paths. 

As Liza says in this interview, “We have to take the opportunities as they come and say yes to the open door.” 

So many of you have sent in questions about harp regulation and taking care of your instrument that I knew I had to have Liza on the show.  I’ve known Liza for 10 plus years and she is just fantastic, as you will hear. 

My interview with Liza was recorded in November of 2021 just before she left for her harp regulation trip to Singapore.  It was her first time back there since the COVID-19 shut down. 

Through curiosity, determination, and sometimes self doubt, we can still  welcome opportunity and the gifts that saying yes to life can bring.  Liza Jensen, is one of the most sought after harp technicians in the world. Her journey of becoming a harp technician has taken her on her own personal journey of discovery that is sure to inspire.

Liza is pleasantly surprised as to how she ended up in this career.  She grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a very musical family.  Her mother taught flute and encouraged Liza to learn harp. Liza is also an accomplished flutist  Living in a small rural town Liza appreciated how the harp got her out of the house to meet new people and discover new places.

Liza’s harp practice got her accepted into The Eastman School of Music where she studied with Kathleen Bride.  Liza recalls some of Professor Bride’s wise advice “You don’t need to practice more than three hours a day, because 1. You don’t want to injure yourself and 2., and I [Liza] really took this to heart, you need to have a life to put back into your instrument…to put back into your music. And for that, I really appreciated her.”  

Even with being accepted into one of the top music schools in the world Liza struggled a bit with Impostor Syndrome.  She thought,  “Maybe if I understood more of how the harp works, that would give me more confidence.”  

Liza has always had a mechanical brain and could be found trying to figure out how things work and how to fix them. Even when she was in high school she remembers trying to figure out how to repair the school’s harp.  At one point Pat Doogle, one of Liza’s harp tech mentors,  made her take the harp apart and reassemble it so that she could see the inside and see how each part is related to the other. It was a big “Ah ha moment” for Liza.

Her curiosity, attention to detail, and hyperfocus are some of the things that make her a great harp tech.  She is also extremely personable like a doctor with good bedside manners.  

“This is a big deal to me, one reason it does take me longer [to work on a harp] is that I like to talk to you about your harp.  I want to know if you are having specific issues, but also, I have very sensitive ears, so I may hear a buzz that you didn’t even know existed…or even if you come to me with a problem that you do know exists, I want you to understand what it was I did to make it go away.  Because a lot of times it’s just something silly.  More often than not, it’s something silly like a string end.  That’s why I give the classes to give you a checklist of what to check for that you can do easily for yourself, especially in the lever harp world. “

It is no surprise that Camac harps have made her one of their International harp techs.

Liza stresses the importance of having your harp regulated.  She suggests getting your pedal harp regulated a minimum of once every other year, but if you are a professional, every year.  Lever harps, if they don’t move much and depending on their construction they should be regulated around every three or four years. But if your harp does shift more than you will need more servicing. 

 “Not all the harp techs work on lever harps. That’s another way that I feel that they are very neglected. It’s getting better, I think. And I feel that part of that is due to Somerset [The Somerset Folk Harp Festival].”

“I feel that there is something special about the lever harp community…the pedal harp community is more formal whereas the lever harp community is more bohemian, but not less sophisticated.”

“I don’t know why, but I have this Bob Ross approach” to teaching harp maintenance…”it’s all going to be ok”

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/liza.jensen.16

https://www.camac-harps.com/en/liza-jensen/

https://www.somersetharpfest.com/index.shtml#jensen

MENTIONS:

American Harp Society https://www.harpsociety.org/

Kathleen Bride https://www.esm.rochester.edu/faculty/bride_kathleen/

Harp Island and The Harp Society of Tasmania https://www.harpsocietytasmania.org/past-events

Camac Harps https://www.camac-harps.com/en/

Katryna Tan http://www.katrynatan.com/

Emily Hopkins  https://www.emilyharpist.com/

My guest today is harpist Tiffany Schaefer. Tiffany is a harp teacher and performer based in Ohio. During our chat we discussed the Ohio Scottish Arts School, or OSAS for short, and how, “music is bringing people together and [how] it is ageless that way.” Tiffany grew up in a musical family and started playing the harp in 2007. Her involvement in OSAS and The Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA) brought her into the world of Scottish traditional music.

The first harp album she found in her local library was by Sue Richards and she became inspired by Sue’s playing. You could imagine Tiffany’s surprise when Sue was one of her adjudicators at her first OSAS’s harp competition! We talk about many of the amazing harpists who have inspired her, many of whom have been interviewed on this podcast folks like: Rachel Hair, Corrina Hewat, Kim Robertson and more...make sure to check out those episodes in our archives.

On competition: Although it can be nerve wracking,

“It’s a great way to work toward something and get some feedback from people who know what they are talking about.”

Tiffany is passionate about creating community, something that we here at HarpSong™️ and Moon Over the Trees are as well. Tiffany’s hope for her free FB group, “Mastering Celtic Music”, is that it will, “grow into a hub for Celtic music and all different kinds of instrumentalists...not just harpists.” You can also check out her Patreon page for classes, and arrangements for the harp.

On performing:

Tiffany performs as a soloist and accompanies her own singing and storytelling. Right now she has two ensembles, one plays Renaissance and Baroque repertoire and the other is an Irish Traditional group called, Creggane. Check out her youtube page for more information.

LINKS

Tiffanyharpandsong.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOUqbcWka4EgODStHBzWBUg

Mastering Celtic Music FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/347044529772564

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tiffanyharpandsong

Ohio Scottish Arts School (OSAS): https://ohioscottishartsschool.com/

The Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA): https://www.shsa.org/

Sue Richards: https://www.suerichards.net/

The first harp album she found in her local library was by Sue Richards and she became inspired by Sue’s playing.  You could imagine Tiffany’s surprise when Sue was one of her adjudicators at her first OSAS’s harp competition! We talk about many of the amazing harpists who have inspired her, many of whom have been interviewed on this podcast folks like: Rachel Hair, Corrina Hewat, Kim Robertson and more...make sure to check out those episodes in our archives.

On Competition:

Although it can be nerve wracking, “It’s a great way to work toward something and get some feedback from people who know what they are talking about.”

Celtic Music Community:

Tiffany is passionate about creating community, something that we here at HarpSong™️ and Moon Over the Trees Music and Theatre Productions® are as well.  Tiffany’s hope for her free FB group, “Mastering Celtic Music”, is that it will, “grow into a hub for Celtic music and all different kinds of instrumentalists...not just harpists.”  You can also check out her Patreon page for classes, and arrangements for the harp.  

On Performing:

Tiffany performs as a soloist and accompanies her own singing and storytelling.  Right now she has two ensembles, one plays Renaissance and Baroque repertoire and the other is an Irish Traditional group called, Creggane.  Check out her youtube page for more information. 

LINKS

Tiffany’s Website: Tiffanyharpandsong.com

Youtube:

Mastering Celtic Music FB

Patreon: www.patreon.com/tiffanyharpandsong

Ohio Scottish Arts School (OSAS): ohioscottishartsschool.com

The Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA):www.shsa.org

Sue Richards: www.suerichards.net

5 Pointe Cafe in Cleveland, Ohio (supporter of local musicians): www.5pointscafe.com

I came across Aisling Lyons’ music while reading through some posts from my alma mater, The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at The University of Limerick. We did talk a bit about  UL during our chat..  The track playing in the background is Aisling’s composition, ‘Buíochas’, which translates to “Thank You” in Irish,  was composed as a thank you to UL and it is also a  track from her new album coming out later this year. You can find this opening track on  Spotify, iTunes & Apple Music, and Bandcamp ahead of the album’s release later this year.  Artists joining her on this track are: Fiddle & Viola: Fergal Scahill, Double Bass: Paul O'Driscoll, Guitar: Seán Lyons and the beautiful album artwork was created by County Clare artist Sorrell Reilly. 

 LINKS:

Aisling’s website: https://aislinglyonsmusic.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3VMWWedquxRNHXJiSp3Vbm?si=SYmJGunHTmi4AflNB3jlkg&dl_branch=1

Bandcamp: https://aislinglyons.bandcamp.com/track/bu-ochas

Instagram: @aislinglyonsmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aislinglyonsmusic

Artist Sorrell Reilly’s Etsy shop: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SorrellReilly

Fiddler Fergal Cahill: https://www.fergalscahill.ie/

Seán Lyons: https://www.facebook.com/seanlyonsmusician

Tolü Makay: https://tolumakay.com/

Lá na Cruite, Harp Day 2021 takes place on Saturday 16th October: https://www.harpireland.ie/national-harp-day-overview/

Irish World Academy of Music and Dance - University of Limerick https://www.irishworldacademy.ie/

Aisling grew up with music, in fact her parents met through Irish music. Unfortunately, Aisling’s father passed away while she was studying for her masters degree.  She decided to take a year off from her degree and focus solely on music.   Working on the material for her newest album became a form of therapy for her and helped her with the grieving process.  

Along with composing and performing on harp and concertina Aisling is also a harp tutor at UL and most recently collaborated with Tolü Makay to perform for Irish President Michael D. Higgins’ 80th birthday.  

Aisling and Tolü Makay’s performance of, “Don’t Let Go '', for Irish President Michael D. Higgins’ 80th birthday

https://twitter.com/TG4TV/status/1382738357273378817?s=20&fbclid=IwAR2HzM1KhJhvFfR-HYcnt7Z94yR_mB0KZz4UL65fNSj3xIn6q7KdktddtyI

Aisling will also be participating in the annual Lá na Cruite | Harp Day 2021.

And for all of your harpers out there be sure to check out Harp Ireland’s website for more information on how you can participate.  

My guest this week is harpist Rachel Clemente.  Rachel is a New England based pedal and traditional Scottish harpist.  I met Rachel at The Somerset Folk Harp Festival. We have so many harpist friends in common who have influenced and inspired her music.  Artists like: Dominique Dodge, Rachel Hair, Kim Robertson and Corrina Hewat to name a few. Catch my earlier interviews with these and other amazing harpists to get inspired by them as well. 

Rachel started playing harp at the age of five and thanks to the Ohio Scottish Arts School she became interested in Scottish music.  She studied pedal harp at The Interlochen Arts Academy then went on to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow with a bachelor's degree in traditional Scottish music. Some of Rachel’s accolades include U.S National Scottish Harp Champion in 2016 and the winner of Princess Margaret of the Isles Clàrsach Competition (USA) in 2021.

Rachel, based in New England, now focuses on performing, teaching harp and composing.  She frequently performs as a duo with piper Dan Houghton.   Rachel is working on an album that should be released some time in 2022, but in the meantime check out Rachel’s Youtube channel and her 2018 release, A Quiet Uniqueness.

Enjoy my conversation with Rachel. 

LINKS

Rachel’s Website: www.rachelclementeharpist.com

Dan Houghton: www.pipingtool-scot.com

Rachel’s Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UC-EdkBOqxDXJlcGykyPeD2A

Rachel’s Princess Margaret of the Isles Competition 2021 Performance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvS23BogPIU

Harp Column article: harpcolumn.com/blog/rachel-clemente-wins-princess-margaret-scottish-harp-prize/

Ohio Scottish Arts School (OSAS): ohioscottishartsschool.com

Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA): www.shsa.org

Interlochen Center for the Arts: www.interlochen.org/arts-boarding-school

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: www.rcs.ac.uk

Princess Margaret of the Isles Clàrsach Competition: www.harpfestival.co.uk/2021/04/princess-margaret-of-the-isles-prize-for-senior-clarsach-entry-deadline-extended/

Edinburgh International Harp Festival: www.harpfestival.co.uk

Ministry of Folk: www.ministryoffolk.com

Waring Harps: waringmusic.com

Somerset Folk Harp Festival:  www.somersetharpfest.com

My guest today is harpist Eileen Gannon.  I first met Eileen at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.  We were both studying for our Masters in Ethnomusicology.  And I want to thank Eileen for encouraging me on my harp journey. 

Eileen grew up in St. Louis Missouri where her parents Helen and P.J. Gannon, who are from Ireland, wanted to make sure their children learned how to play and dance in the Irish tradition.  St. Louis Irish Arts was created with the motto, “From generation to generation”. Established in the 1970s it has become a center of learning Irish music and dance attracting some of the finest Irish traditional musicians in the world to teach. Eileen and her family are passionate about teaching Irish music and dance to the next generation.  Eileen is the head of music education at SLIA and is a well respected harpist in the tradition.  Make sure to pick up a copy of Eileen’s newest solo harp album from 2017, “The Glory Days are Over”.

Eileen’s newest album with fiddler Robert Ryan is, “Down the Rocky Road”.  This album primarily draws inspiration from Petrie’s Complete Irish Music, a publication featuring over 1500 tunes collected in Ireland between 1850 and 1860, and from the music of the Sliabh Luachra region in Ireland.  On this album Eileen wanted to let the harp sing.  She would find the harp resonating with the tunes making the overtones and harmonics of the harp shine.

We also discuss accompanying other instruments with the harp and how to play harp in a Traditional Irish Session. St. Louis Irish Arts: www.slia.org

Eileen’s Bandcamp: eileengannon.bandcamp.com

Workout at Home with Eileen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/279418142090331

Down the Rocky Road: robertryanfiddle.bandcamp.com/releases

The New Pornographers - Challengers: https://store.matadorrecords.com/challengers

The Petrie Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland:
Mícheál Ó Raghallaígh (concertina): www.copperplatemailorder.com/mor01.html

Renée Anne Louprette, organ & Ivan Goff, uilleann pipes & Irish flute at St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC: www.reneeannelouprette.com/recordings/

The Focal Point - St. Louis: thefocalpoint.org

The Pageant - St. Louis: www.thepageant.com

The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at The University of Limerick, Ireland: www.irishworldacademy.ie

Nancy Blakes Limerick, Ireland: nancyblakes.ie

Multitalented and generous come to mind when I think of Sharon Thormahlen. Sharon is a sought after multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, arranger, and is part of the duo that heads up Thormahlen Harps.   Many folks in the harp world may recognize the Thormahlen name for their outstanding line of harps, ukuleles, guitars and more made in the pacific northwest of the United States.   Maeve Gilchrist, Rhett Barnwell and Sarah Deere-Jones are just a few of the amazing artists who love their Thormahlen harps.  

I met Sharon and Dave Thormahlen at The Somerset Folk Harp Festival. As in 2020, the festival also took place online again this year this. This year Kathy DeAngelo, the festival’s director, created an online experience that allowed festival goers to meet up with friends online. There was also a “virtual vendor hall” that allowed the vendors to chat with festival goers and take us around their workshops. Here’s a video from The Thormahlen vendor booth where Dave and Sharon discuss their harps and Sharon’s sheet music that are for sale on their website.

Sharon started out playing folk music on the guitar. Later when her band needed a bass player she took up the upright bass that she played in the band, The Swing Beans, with her husband Dave. 

Sharon and I discuss how the harp came into her life and how she has used it in music therapy. Sharon also gets to be the first person to play every newly built Thormahlen harp. She strings every harp that Dave makes, helping the newly built harps find their voices.

Sharon’s compositions for the harp are available on the Thormahlen website. In the interview you can hear Sharon’s performance of her composition, “Alpenglow” from her songbook, “Moon Over the Mountain”. 

Sharon’s newest book, Melodías del Arpa, which are arrangements of Latin American Music for Lever Harp, is a collaboration with Paraguayan harpist, Nicolas Carter.

Sharon and I also spoke about how she and Dave and a Canadian harp maker are helping luthiers of the "Guayabo" sociocultural project construct harps in Cuba.

I hope this interview inspires you to create, play, and explore.

LINKS

Sharon Thormahlen: www.thorharp.com/pages/sharon

Thormahlen Harps: www.thorharp.com

International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen: folkharpsociety.org/folk-harp-journal

luthiers of the "Guayabo" sociocultural project in Cuba: reuters.screenocean.com/record/1423641

Canada Cuba Luthier Solidarity Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/Canada-Cuba-Luthier-Solidarity

Maeve Gilchrist: www.maevegilchristmusic.com

HarpSong™️ Podcast interview with Maeve Gilchrist: www.moonoverthetrees.com/podcast/creating-a-pool-of-beauty-that-we-can-draw-on-an-interview-with-harpistcomposer-maeve-gilchrist

Nicolas Carter: www.nicolascarter.com

HarpSong™️ Podcast interview with Nicolas Carter: www.moonoverthetrees.com/podcast/interview-with-nicolas-carter-paraguayan-harpist

Rhett Barnwell: www.seraphimmusic.com

Sarah Deere-Jones: www.sarahdeere-jones.co.uk

The Somerset Folk Harp Festival: www.somersetharpfest.com

Welcome to Part 2 of my interview with harpist, teacher, composer, and historian, Ann Heymann. In Part 2 of our interview Ann and I are joined by Kathy DeAngelo, the director of The Somerset Folk Harp Festival, who like Siobhán Armstrong of The Historical Harp Society of Ireland, are each giving Ann lifetime achievement awards this summer. 

This chat is really where Ann and I talk about how the harp is an icon.  We discuss the mythology of the harp, The Dadga, The Tuatha Dé Danann, and legends and metaphors embedded in the harp.  As Ann says, “..I realized that encoded within the legends are all of these metaphors which connect.  It makes it magic, it makes it true, it makes it real.  It’s like a formula embedded...trying to connect the whole world and life…Music was magic.”

On Teaching and Learning

Ann talks about being, “addicted to ‘ah-ha’ moments” and how she loves teaching and learns so much from her students and finds that the feedback she gets in lessons is really nice.

Ann is always learning and wanting to gain more insight into her own playing which has prompted Ann to release a new verion of her first tutorial on the harp, “Secrets of the Gaelic Harp”.  The second book will be entitled, “Secrets of the Gaelic Harp in the Second Manor.”

Some Highlights of Ann’s Career:

We discuss highlights of her career including:

Her time at Granard and her first harp competition there.

After doing the Pibroch Ann got drawn into other things.  She was involved in other aspects of the harp and after doing that Ann got involved with doing the Telyn Rawn, the horsehair harp. Ann says that she a learned so much from doing the Telyn Rawn project. She hasn’t released the recordings yet of her performance on The Telyn Rawn at Brecon Cathedral and at Tewkesbury Abbey.

Visit Ann’s website to purchase her music, schedule a lesson, read up on her amazing research, and more. Ann will be teaching online this summer at The Somerset Folk Harp Festival and will be receiving lifetime achievement awards from Somerset and The Historical Harp Society of Ireland at their Scoil na gCláirseach, Festival of Irish Harp Festival both happening this July.

A big thank you to the folks at Temple Records in Scotland for giving me permission to use some of Ann’s recordings on this podcast.  Check out their website https://www.templerecords.co.uk/

LINKS

Ann Heymann: annheymann.com

Temple Records: https://www.templerecords.co.uk/

Brecon Cathedral: visitwales.com/en-us/attraction/historic-site/brecon-cathedral-911451

Tewkesbury Abbey: tewkesburyabbey.org.uk

The Robert ap Huw manuscript: pbm.com/~lindahl/ap_huw

Granard Harp Festival: facebook.com/GranardHarpFestival

The Historical Harp Society of Ireland: irishharp.org/

My dad was a scientist and a genius, and I don’t use that term lightly.  He always said that when it comes to truly intelligent people the more they learn, the more they realize how much they don’t know.  It takes curiosity, humility, and a sense of awe to realize there is so much more to learn.  When I think of Ann Heymann all of these ideals come to mind.  

Even after her 50+ year career she is still finding new and exciting avenues of discovery and even rediscovering works that she has previously recorded. 

While she was training horses a friend gave her a copy of The Bunting Manuscripts and she became enamored with how Bunting described the harp tradition as he witnessed it in the 18th century. 

She studied dressage in horses and had a great respect for tradition and understood there were reasons for doing things a certain way that we might not be able to speculate on. And so, she  thought, ok, they played on the left shoulder, I’ll do it that way.

Ann is extremely generous with her research and music.  She is a firm believer that the center of research for the Early Irish Harp needed to be in Ireland so she inspired Siobhan Armstrong to start The Historical Harp Society of Ireland. 

This interview is being split into two parts.  There is just so much extraordinary information being shared that I want to make sure you get to hear it all and become inspired.

In editing this podcast I have listened to it many times and each time I glean something new.  Check out the podcast notes for quotes from Ann and links to some of the books, albums, people and places mentioned.

A big thank you to the folks at Temple Records in Scotland for giving me permission to use some of Ann’s recordings on this podcast.  Check out their website https://www.templerecords.co.uk/

 LINKS:

Ann’s website: http://www.annheymann.com/

Ann and Charlie Heymann’s band Clairseach: http://www.clairseach.com/ 

https://festival.irishharp.org/coaching/ann-heymann

The Bunting Collection at Queen’s University Belfast: http://digital-library.qub.ac.uk/digital/collection/p15979coll9 

The Robert Ap Huw Manuscript: https://www.jstor.org/stable/841428?seq=1 

St. Mogue Harp: http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/mogue/ 

Temple Records: https://www.templerecords.co.uk/

My guest today is Siobhán Armstrong. Siobhán is Ireland’s foremost performer of historical harp music, playing 16th-to 18th-century chamber music and opera with many of Europe's most prestigious historical and traditional performers. Siobhán founded The Historical Harp Society of Ireland and is passionate about encouraging the revival of The Ancient Irish Harp. She is also director of Scoil na gCláirseach—Festival of Early Irish Harp, which takes place this year on July 25th-29th online. The Festival of Early Irish Harp exists to help fill the enormous cultural gap left by the disappearance of the early Irish harp two centuries ago. This year the Festival has teamed up with The Somerset Folk Harp Festival. You can purchase tickets to the Festival of Early Irish Harp as an add on to Somerset or as a stand alone festival. Many of my upcoming guests, including Siobhan, of course, are presenters at the festival. Síobhan is dedicated to reviving and expanding understanding of how the voice and the harp worked together in the past. Síobhan’s particular focus is on figuring out what the harpers played in the lower hand.

With eclectic interests, she plays seventeenth-century opera and chamber music with the main baroque directors in Europe; has performed as a soloist on Hollywood film soundtracks and gigs at the world's biggest traditional music festivals.

Among her many historical harp copies, she plays a replica of the medieval Trinity College or Brian Boru harp — the national emblem of Ireland — strung in brass and 18-carat gold. Her solo recording on this instrument, Cláirseach na hÉireann: The Harp of Ireland, was released in 2004.

She also performs and records with the leading early music soloists, ensembles, and directors, mainly in Europe but also in North America and Japan.

http://www.siobhanarmstrong.com/
https://irishharp.org/
https://www.somersetharpfest.com/index.shtml
https://festival.irishharp.org/