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THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL CONCERT
by Nancy Hurrell
Published in the Folk Harp
Journal, Spring 1999
Click for a larger view
Imagine standing in front of 40 harps, waving your arms
about, & hearing them all actually play together!! The harp ensemble was
playing together for the first time in this, the only rehearsal before a
concert, scheduled to take place immediately following the rehearsal! The
"magic" that made it possible was hard work & community spirit by the
teachers who participated: Patricia Diers, Denise Holland, Sydney Howell, &
Jill Levy. The Thanksgiving Festival Concert was sponsored by the Dallas
Chapter of the American Harp Society. Held the Sunday before Thanksgiving, it
was a feast for eyes & ears! Harps came in every size & style, from
small hand held folk harps to full-sized gold pedal harps. Players were young
& old, female & male, beginners to professionals.
Our first attempt at such a program, took place two years
ago. We had 25 harps then! Anyone who has been an officer of a harp
society-either the ISFHC, or the AHS, has experienced the frustration of a low
turn-out at meetings & recitals. Organizing a concert in which all members
are invited to play- in an ensemble - is guaranteed to be a success. The
concert began with teachers each presenting a short program by their studio
ensembles. This was a wonderful opportunity to hear different arrangements and
to showcase local talent for ensemble arranging by teachers & players.
The challenge in any harp ensemble is to accommodate the
various levels of playing within the group. It is important to include
beginners while still satisfying the more advanced students. In selecting the
program for the large ensemble, I picked some Scottish and Irish arrangements
with strong melodies and simple chord progressions, so everyone could play
something. Our performance of the Celtic tunes was enhanced by the addition of
bodhran & tabor drums.
Stephanie Curcio's "Mini Baroque Suite" worked well for our
program, in that it has 3 harp parts in each movement. This allows flexibility
for more advanced players to combine 2 parts, or parts can be doubled, or
students can decide to play on just one movement, etc. One teacher had her
students play one note only on the 1st beat of each measure, as a pedal-point,
on a movement. It was a very effective way for students to be able to
participate & added a nice dance-feel to the movement.
In putting together such a program, it's a good idea to give
teachers realistic metronome markings for each piece! Teachers also need music
ordering information. (Please don't send out photocopies of music!!) For my own
students, I made a practice tape. I taped the older girls playing the entire
program & gave copies to the "newbies" ensemble members. Having a tape to
play along with is invaluable for new students. It gets them started in the
learning process of listening to others & playing at the same time.
The positives of doing such a program are many-fold. It is
nice for harp teachers to work together towards a group performance. We can
learn a lot from each other. For the students, the ensemble experience can
improve their playing skills by leaps & bounds in just a short time! And
the social benefits are obvious: it's fun! Most of the ensembles planned to
play their programs again at nursing homes & other community music
festivals.
Many volunteer hours go into such a venture, but it's worth
it. As one of the teachers, Patricia Diers, said to me, "I really believe the
volunteer experiences are the most worthwhile things we do in life!"
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