Dave Thormahlen first became interested in instrument making as a mandolin playing teenager in Palo Alto, CA. Dave regularly attended jam sessions at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto. One night the owner, Frank Ford, let him play a mandolin he had just finished building. The light bulb went on and Dave thought, "Wow, people actually make these things. I would like to do that." With great encouragement from his parents, he went to college, eventually earning a master's degree in geology. It was while Dave was a graduate student at Oregon State University that he happened upon the Memorial Union Craft Center. There, Dave found his second home, and with his childhood background of building boats with his dad and junior high woodshop, he was able to pursue his dream of learning the craft of making musical instruments. The creative freedom to work out his own harp design led him to focus on harp making. Over the last 20 years, Dave has refined his skills and designs while making over 1400 instruments, specializing in his 36 string Swan, Cygnet and Serenade harps along with the 34 string Clare and Ceili.
Sharon Thormahlen's musical career began at the age of 12 when she saw her cousin's husband playing the guitar. Sharon said to her mom, "I want to learn how to do that." So her mother got her a guitar and Sharon took lessons. Sharon was most interested in folk music and soon learned to figure out chords to the songs that she wanted to sing. In 1981, Sharon played in a duo called Sweet Harmony. Later in 1987, She played bass in a band called The Swing Beans with Dave on mandolin, another Dave on violin, and "Lentil Bean" on guitar. They all sang, traveling all over the Northwest as part of the Oregon Arts Commission, and they had a blast. In 1992, Dave and Sharon's daughter Rosiee was born. Dave and Sharon weren't ready to end their Swing Bean career yet, so they took a nanny with them, and for 2 years continued to play gigs all over Oregon, California, and Washington.
Dave and Sharon put out 2 albums: Groovin' in the Garden, available only on tape, and Dessert First, available on tape and CD. Sharon wrote about half of the songs on both recordings. Also in 1992, Dave and Sharon began attending the International Society of Folkharpers and Craftsman (ISFHC) harp conferences. By 1996, in Tacoma, Sharon was inspired to learn to play. Rosiee had just started going to school full time and it opened up the time for her to start taking lessons with Laura Zaerr. In September of 2002, Sharon completed the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP). Sharon began working in hospitals, nursing homes, and for hospice and it has opened up a whole new world for her. Sharon has published 19 music books, some of which are of her original compositions written on the harp and some are of arrangements of traditional tunes. https://www.thorharp.com/index.htm
Find out more about Andrea and her services here: https://www.andreafirpo.com/
All video production and editing by Cody Maxwell. https://sharkfyn.com/maxwells-kitchen... Artwork by Heather Grace Gordy. https://solumient.com/
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