Winter Harp

Thank You from Winter Harp

2011-12-23T10:48:00.001-08:00

At one of our concerts a woman remarked to her friend: “When we go to sleep tonight, we’ll have Winter Harp’s magical music dancing in our dreams.”

And so it should be. Magical music should dance in our dreams and in our lives day and night. And ‘magical music’ can be a smile passed to a stranger, a hearty laugh with a friend, a kind act to one in need.

2011 is almost over. It is poised to be swept into the past. And it takes with it the joys and sorrows that it brought. What heart has no cares? What soul no sorrows? Life has its ups and downs and through it all time ticks on. Adorable babies are born into our families. Loved ones pass away. Friends come and go.

Today the sun shines and the mountains are draped in snow. As I gaze upon them I wonder at the beauty of our world -- such a precious home in which we live.

Yes, life ticks on, but know that around you, in the crisp winter air, in the snow-covered trees, in the smiles and laughter of others -- there is magical music. Hold it in your heart. Let it dance in your dreams.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for inspiring us. Without you, Winter Harp and its music would not exist. We thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.

And now, may the beauty and holiness of the season rest with peace upon your soul.

And may the New Year bring you much health, joy and contentment.

Lori Pappajohn

Winter Harp Director

Dwayne

2011-12-17T09:15:00.001-08:00

Here is a photo of Dwayne Harder -- he's the man who makes Winter Harp sound so good. Dwayne is our sound man for our Lower Mainland concerts. He is the world's best sound man -- believe us!! Calm, cool, collect, knows exactly what we need in our monitors, and he has a great sense of humor.
Here he is at the Capilano University theatre just after our concert. Don't ask me how he knows what to do with all those buttons -- never mind the stack of electronic gear behind him.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Esther

2011-12-17T09:12:00.001-08:00

Our classical harpist Esther Cannon is a smart cookie. When she's waiting to go on stage she's doing this Rubic's Cube which is some 15 times harder than the usual one -- note how many squares it has! And yes, she completes it pretty quickly.

Esther recently won the concerto competition at Trinity College. That means a harp concerto will be written specifically for her. Now that's cool.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Tour of the Island

2011-12-13T16:20:00.001-08:00

The tour of Vancouver Island went phenomenally well this year, thanks to a bit of help from Mother Nature; I recall having to drive the three hours from Courtney to Victoria during a blizzard a few years ago. The flakes were as big as oranges, and I passed many spun-out vehicles along the highway.

How to pack a van for a tour.

The ferry ride was a pleasure, and coming into Nanaimo is always a bit exciting for me, since I know the local waters around Departure Bay very well from having raced in Nanaimo's famous Bathtub Race for three years, and escorted tubers for many more years before that. The view up to the Winchelsea group of islands, the outer limit of the race, was spectacular and they stood out in the distance across the shimmering silvery waves.

This year’s first stop was Courtenay, where we play at the Sid Williams Theatre. As the driver of the van with the largest amount of gear, it felt great pulling up to a venue where there were lots of eager theatre techs keen on giving me a hand to load in. The techs at the Sid Williams Theatre are consummate professionals, and after a brief sound check and running over a couple of numbers, we had the sound we needed in the house and through the monitors on stage. It is really quite a luxury which we take for granted, but having four separate monitor mixes on stage makes it much easier to follow what’s going on at the extreme end of the stage. Having professionals that know the venue and their equipment is also a joy. Working with happy, positive people is such a treat. Our backdrops are huge theatrical stage size affairs, and putting them up and lighting them properly are always a challenge in smaller theatres, but the crew went all out and did a great job.

Janelle and Roger discuss program notes

Joining us for the Island leg of the tour was Roger Helfrick, an amazing medieval vocalist and harpist. Roger’s talent and almost-encyclopedic knowledge of early music never ceases to amaze me, and it is always a pleasure getting to share the stage with him.

After we were satisfied with the stage setup, we indulged in another Winter Harp tradition, dinner at Tita's Mexican Restaurant. Their hot and spicy tortilla soup really hits the spot on cold wintry nights.
The sold-out house treated us to a long standing ovation, which means a great deal to us. Afterwards we went up to the lobby where they had set up tables for us to autograph our CD’s. As usual, the bar in the lobby puts together wonderful concoctions which they brand with our name. This year’s Winter Harp beverage was hot mulled cider with a shot of schnapps.

Afterwards, as is also our tradition, we unwound at the English style pub back at the hotel. The fireplace, dark panelling, and enormous high-back leather wing chairs you can disappear into, are the perfect place to unwind after the frenetic intensity of a stage performance. Tragically, their blender was broken, so my annual habit of drinking piña coladas (the official drink of Puerto Rico since 1978 and Ernest Hemingway’s favourite beverage) while wearing a tropical shirt and sun glasses was interrupted. In any case, unlike other snow and ice bound years, it was almost warm outside, so the rejuvenating quality of tropical drinks was not as essential: imbibing is strictly for medicinal reasons you understand.

The next day, Friday, I awoke early, wolfed down some breakfast, and made my way to the theatre where the rest of the ensemble gave me a much appreciated hand loading up the van, and I made my way to the Port Theatre in Nanaimo to leave the back-drops so they could get them installed and lit for our shows on Saturday. After that I drove to Victoria just in time to bring the folding percussion riser so Lauri Lyster could get her space organized on stage. Our promoter in Victoria, Colin, had everything ready, and our sound man almost immediately started patching us into his system. The Alex Goolden Performance Hall is a fantastic late Victorian space, something almost out of Harry Potter.

The interior of this former church is mostly sonically bright surfaces, stone, lath and plaster, wood, stained glass, thus extremely acoustically alive, with the enormous natural reverb these old Victorian halls are famous for, so setting up the sound levels is always a challenge. Too much amplification and the entire show becomes one enormous muddy mess. Too little boost and some instruments, such as the drums, block out the softer instruments, such as the harps, and an unplugged show becomes a rock concert. After some trial and error, we arrived at a happy medium, which is always at best an educated guess because a hall will always be acoustically very different once 600 people are seated.
After a quick bite to eat, we put on our costumes and hit the stage. There is a ritual in getting dressed too as this picture demonstrates.

The show went really well, and the sound was crystal clear. As much as I like performing in theatres with mist effects, dramatic lighting, and mobile scenery, playing in a beautiful old Victorian church has a different feeling, almost making it all about the material, and the words, rather like an orchestral recital of an opera. There is an almost Baroque quality to it. We received a warm heart-felt standing ovation from the near capacity audience, the whole evening being deeply magical.

Victoria has always been one of my favourite places to play, and I always feel that I never have enough time to walk around familiar haunts during the tour. During the year, there is always an excuse not to visit the provincial capital, and it’s one of those things that may require an addendum to the list of yearly resolutions: visit Victoria more often.

The next day, we repacked our gear and drove up to Nanaimo. It was a pleasant day, and again, almost perfect driving weather. Compared to Victoria, our show in Nanaimo is a theatrical production with big sound and elaborate lighting. The Port Theatre is one of the most technologically up-to-date venues we play, and the sound and light technicians always do an outstanding job. The enormous stage also allows us lots of room to spread out and not feel like we're playing on top of each other. As time is tight, we have out meals catered by the always excellent Modern Cafe. Extra, extra points and special mention of their Bengal Curry pasta dish. Wow! As is my custom, I do a pre-concert talk about the instruments and the ensemble in general, and this year I had the good fortune of having Patrick Ball explain the origins of the metal strung harp, and Jeff Pelletier talked about his flutes. Afterwards someone from the audience asked about the cost of our instruments, which is something I’d never really considered: it turns out that the combined value of our gear is about the same as the price of a house almost anywhere in British Columbia (except the Lower Mainland).

As is also another of our traditions, we had an after-concert night-cap at the elegant Minnows bar and lounge at the Coast Bastion, one of our favourite hotels of the whole tour. Breaking yet another annual tradition, they had run out of piña colada mix, a disaster for me, but the resourceful bar tender whipped up some fruity concoction with bananas and tropical fruit, so I managed to get my fix of essential cold-dispelling vitamins: strictly for medicine reasons you understand. Apparently having a night-cap at the hotel is also an annual tradition of many audience members, because we almost received a second standing ovation when we entered the lounge, despite being out of costume.

The rooms at the Coast Bastion are spa-like and very relaxing, and I always look forward to coming back for Bathtub Racing weekend, when the whole town is in a great celebratory mood. Nanaimo is a city with heart.

After a high quality sleep, I had a great breakfast nearby, and proceeded to load up the van for the final Island concert in Duncan. The lighting in Winter Harp shows is critical, and it takes almost as much careful seeing as careful listening to appreciate the subtlety of some of the effects. This takes quite some time to set up and it is a testament to lighting technicians who “get it” and set up the appropriate mood to match the music.

Special thanks to all the technicians, volunteers and friends of Winter Harp for making this part of the tour so enjoyable. It’s a pleasure to come back year after year.

Concert with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir

2011-12-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here we are warming up --up can see the risers where the choir will stand

Concert with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir

by Lori Pappajohn

If you’d visited the dressing rooms prior to our concert with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir in New Westminster Dec. 4, you would have seen something a bit different -- a massage table.

Our harpist Janelle needed some delicate neck work, so our registered massage therapist Annette Johnston was working her magic. Annette is an amazing healer and over the years has helped many a Winter Harp performer who has been ill. A number of years ago one performer was so ill she almost fainted. But after Annette worked on her for 20 minutes she was energized enough to play the concert.

Annette was the official masseuse of a famous American rock band. She toured with them on their bus through the US. And once, when they were in Europe, they were so desperate for her that they gave her one day’s notice to get on a plane -- and they flew her first class all the way to Germany.

Annette Johnston works out of the Sixth Street Wellness Clinic in Burnaby. So if you are looking for an excellent registered massage therapist -- she’s your gal. (By the way, the two chiropractors she shares the clinic with work on some of North America’s top hockey players and Olympic athletes.)

But back to the concert. We had so much fun performing with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir. There’s nothing like playing your harp right in front of 80 men singing their hearts out. And such power. You should have heard them on our fun song Christmas Comes But Once a Year. The Irish song urges one to put their cares aside on Christmas and eat, drink and be merry -- for Christmas comes but once a year.

I must say that song was particularly jolly with all those men singing the fun verses such as: “Pass the goose around the table; now is the time to spread good cheer. Put all cares for tomorrow; Christmas comes but once a year.”

The concert with the choir always seems to fly by. Before we knew it, it was over and we were saying our good-byes to the 80 men -- that takes a while! Every singer deserves a hug!

About 1/2 the choir is in this photo.

There were close to 1,000 people at the concert, which pretty much packed the theatre out. There was even a couple of people who came over from Vancouver Island especially for this concert. And they plan to see Winter Harp again when it goes to Nanaimo!

Winnipeg

2011-12-06T00:39:00.001-08:00

Winnipeg is always a fabulous event, and much of this is thanks to the tireless work of Janelle's wonderful parents who treat us like rock stars. We are shuttled from the airport in a limousine, have an amazing relaxing stay at the Inn at the Forks, a world class resort/spa hotel, and the group dinner this year was incredible.

We had a limousine ride to Hermanos, a Uruguayan restaurant which is over-the-top wonderful. There is definitely a Latin-American vibe to the place, and Janelle's parents Brian and Rachelle had made special arrangements with the owner to have an elaborate all-you-can-snarf barbecue, with amazing creamy mash potatoes, three different types of salad, wonderfully moist and strong garlic bread, and heaps of sausage, pork, chicken, and beef, done on a coal grill by an expert in the art of the barbecue from Brazil. All of this was washed down with brilliant Chilean reds, and finished with outrageous chocolate and cheesecake desserts.

Janelle met up with an old friend:

Back at the hotel we all turned in for the evening, it having been a day of some energy expenditure. To paraphrase a line from one of our past readings, "we slept like slumbering wintering bears. Twas noon before we came downstairs." This was literally true in almost every case.

As for me, I had a leisurely morning, consolidating some luggage, having a very late lunch, and writing heaps of emails.

We arrived at the theatre at 3:30 p.m., and fortunately Brian had the foresight to have our instruments brought to the stage the day before, so everything was well acclimatized at this point, and tuning issues were minimized. I can't speak highly enough about the crew at The Pantages Theatre, a stately edifice from the turn of the century which is very reminiscent of Vancouver's opulent Orpheum Theatre. There is a peculiarity to these old theaters; the acoustics are invariably excellent, and the sightlines for this near sold-out audience are also very good; there are few bad seats. Clearly something has been lost in the art of theatre design, not to mention decoration. The gilded columns, painted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and elegant lobby belies the fact that this is a very state-of-the-art theatre, with excellent sound, lighting, and fly technology.

Special thanks to our sound and light men, Gary and Bernie, who make us shine and sing on stage, literally. The boisterous standing ovation we received at the end of the concert also belongs to the masters of sound and light at this majestic theatre!

The flight home the next day was by way of Calgary, where we had a two hour stop over. With the expert tutelage of Jeff, Laurie and Janelle I learned a new skill; the art of playing cribbage! This may well become the official pass time of Winter Harp lay-overs and pre-concert Green Room waits. There is a bit of irony in playing with a deck of cards that includes images of people in costumes similar to what we wear on stage.

- Posted from my iPad

Spruce Grove

2011-12-05T20:40:00.001-08:00

Alberta

The prairie leg of our tour started off with a quick flight to Edmonton. Flying with heaps of baggage is always challenging, but kudos to the friendly people at WestJet Airlines who put up with our wild eccentricities. The odd shape of our instrument travel cases always causes raised eyebrows and much curiosity from both fellow passengers and baggage handlers. The fact that everything is oversized leads to many conversations about flying with harps and medieval instruments. As they are passed through the large format X-ray machines, the checkers often comment on the ornate shapes and geometry of the instruments: it's not everyday that they see an X-ray of a harp, much less a nyckelharpa, or a psaltery.

The second obstacle in traveling with such a bewildering arsenal of instruments is getting them back at the other end once we land. This year, just for variety, the roll-up door of the over-size baggage area clamped down on the psaltery case, and no amount of pushing or shoving allowed us to free it.

Arranging the two rental vans onto which we loaded our luggage was also an event. The rental company had only set up two days before, and their software had just been installed, so naturally our reservations were not in the system (why would they be!) despite my having reservation reference numbers, etc. Nevertheless, we always try to leave extra time for just such an occasion, so we eventually sorted it out and made it to the theatre in good time.

The Royal Inn Hotel in Spruce Grove, Alberta still has an autographed concert poster from when we played and stayed here in 2007, and despite the fact that four years had passed, the neighborhood and shops around the hotel felt familiar, and we quickly settled in.

Both shows at Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove were sold out, or very nearly so, and again, the excellent technical support of both the sound and lighting techs was very much appreciated. The managers looked after us well, with all sorts of treats in the green room, and the theatre let us pack in early. Our sound people had us set up and sound checked quickly and efficiently. Horizon Stage is an intimate setting of just 318 seats (which is why we play two shows), and the semi-circular arrangement of the seats makes it almost feel like playing in someone's living room.

As is always the case when traveling between Vancouver and the Prairies, the fact that humidity in the Lower Mainland is typically somewhere between 90 and 100% (essentially we live underwater) compared to the 10-20% of the Prairies wreaks havoc with the stability of the tuning of our instruments. Wooden instruments shrink, pads on flutes dry out, and gut strings tighten. We always spend a great deal of time tuning before the show, and we like to acclimatize the instruments for as long as possible, with many tunings in between. The shows went well, and we had standing ovations both evenings. It's really a great venue, and we enjoy playing here tremendously.

- Posted from my iPad

Sechelt

2011-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

The Winter Harp touring season started out peacefully this year, saved as we were from the customary snow storm which often greets our first concert, and the extra last minute change in plans which this often entails. Patrick Ball, our harper/narrator and I spent a wonderful evening at our good friend Maureen's, who had her granddaughter April visiting. April, like Maureen, is also a harpist -- so we had 3 harpists all under one roof. One of the highlights of our trip to the Sunshine Coast is a visit to Maureen's wonderful home and visiting with her Cairn terriers. This year a triumvirate of furry faces greeted us as we settled in for the night, and as always we were left completely dogged out. Cairns are remarkable dogs, and rate very high in cuddliness on the doggy affection index.

The drive to the theatre was unremarkable this year; we have battled through snow drifts in the past. The marquee at the venue, which doubles as a movie theatre, paired us up with the latest installment of the Twilight franchise; stranger combinations have occured in our past: sharing a theatre with the rapper Snoop-Dogg comes to mind. The theatre let us pack in early and our sound people had us set up and checked quickly and efficiently. It always feels reassuring getting back into the swing of concerts, the entire ritual of the green rooms, changing, pulling pranks, and the friendly banter before a show.

Aside from some initial technical problems with the stage monitors, the sold out capacity show went very well. We had our first standing ovation of the season, which is always warmly received. Also when we were headed back to Vancouver on the ferry, seated in the cafeteria eating, several fans came up to us and thanked us for the great concert. One couple had come from Vancouver specifically to see us in Sechelt. They'd seen Winter Harp each year in a different venue, but they'd never seen Winter Harp in Sechelt before -- so they made the journey by ferry across Howe Sound to the Sunshine Coast.
A great start!

- Posted using BlogPress on my iPad

Emails From Fans

2010-12-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

We love getting emails from you -- and here's a real keeper:

"Being the rock & roll kind of guy that I am, my girlfriend had to drag me kicking and screaming to your troupe's recent performance here in Winnipeg. At the time, I could have named a half dozen things (shovelling the sidewalk, clipping my dog's toenails, etc) I would rather be doing than being locked in a downtown theatre for two hours listening to fairy music. Three days later it would be impossible for me to shower you and your Winter Harp troupe with any more deserving accolades than you've already received. Suffice to say your harp playing left my knees weak and my mind spell-bound. Never have I experienced such visual grace coupled with such strength and finesse."

-- Ken in Winnipeg

A Time of Dreaming

2009-12-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

They say Christmas is a time for dreaming -- a time when hope meets disappointment, when laughter meets tears, when all that we have done in the year is behind us, and our path for the New Year lies open and untrodden before us. Yes, Christmas is a time for dreaming.

We want to take this opportunity to thank you -- all of you whom we have seen during our winter concert tour. Thank you for coming to our concerts, for dreaming with us, for laughing with us, for celebrating, for being part of Winter Harp and the memories and joys of stories and music.

Christmas is a time for dreaming -- may all your dreams come true.

Lori Pappajohn
Winter Harp Director

Behind the Scenes @ Winter Harp

2009-12-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

The shows in Nanaimo, North Vancouver and Maple Ridge this year were overseen by our lighting and effects tech Roger. Our sound engineer Dwayne manages every aspect of our sound in New Westminster, North Vancouver, Vancouver and Maple Ridge. Having consistent sound and lighting is such a great relief, and these unsung members of the Winter Harp ensemble deserve a great deal of credit for the look, feel and sound of our shows.

During the set up for the North Vancouver show we discovered that there was a loose connection somewhere in the transducer built into the harp. Dwayne and the other sound techs and I quickly did some "open harp surgery" to remedy the problem, but just in case we also set up an acoustic microphone nearby. As it turned out, it was likely a patch cord issue and the problem never reoccurred after that sound check.

Many years ago when we played to audiences of 100 or less, we would often play entirely acoustically. While historically correct, it also limited the venues which we could play in. As the show grew in size and scope, amplification become essential, though we always strive for a very natural acoustic sound. Having lots of microphones on stage is not ideal since they are too susceptible to being bumped and getting tripped over, and as the distance between a microphone and an instrument is critical, it limits movement on stage. Consequently, as much as possible the instruments have transducers built into them which transfers the vibrations of the sound into the mixing board and produces a very clean and consistent signal.

Long before we setup, Dwayne is busy checking connections and making sure everything works properly before we get a chance to play a single note or run a single song. Often we just show up, plug in, and play.

Amplification requires monitors onstage, otherwise we can't hear ourselves as the sound is moving outwards into the audience and away from us, and that slight delay, though tiny, is enough to make it difficult for the musicians to actually hear their own instruments.

Consequently, we need to adjust the monitors on stage so that we can hear ourselves, yet not influence the sound which is being broadcast into the house. Usually it's a matter of compromise, we don't want any drums in our mix - they are loud enough, but we do need the bass of the harps, since that is a much softer sound and gets quickly buried under vocals and other instruments. This all goes fairly quickly because we all know what we want and where, though minor tweaking is always required depending on the acoustics of the room itself.

During sound check we often play musical pranks. Mark is famous for playing the melody line of a song which we are about to play, but transposing it exactly a 1/2 tone up or down, which drives people with perfect pitch crazy but is hilarious nevertheless. Here he is with a couple of blobs of wax behind his glasses.

Vocal microphones are the last thing which are set up once we have the instruments and monitors up to level, since we like to establish where the music is going to be first before we layer that on top. Setting up for the loudest vocal and instrumental sections is quite often hilarious since we don't run an entire number. Here is Caroline giving Dwayne an impromptu max level.

This year I had a rare opportunity to actually go into the audience in one number where I play the symphonie to imitate a distant set of bagpipes from the back of the theatre. This little excursion is not without the possibility of amusing, if not disastrous consequences. Once when I disappeared backstage and made my way down an outside corridor to the front of the house, it never occurred to me to check whether all the doors I walked through could actually be opened on my return. As it turned out, one of them was a one way door- it locked behind me. After playing my number I quickly retraced my steps to discover, much to my horror, the locked door. There is only a very brief instrumental and narrative number before I play the opening chords for the next song on the psaltery. This was a disaster! I had to get back on stage now or else there would be an awkward silence. It occurred to me that the loading door in the back was likely still open. So I dashed outside from the front of the house, with ushers no doubt thinking I was quite mad, ran down the street in the pouring rain. Anyone walking or driving down the street that night probably wondered where someone carrying a symphonie and wearing a medieval outfit and a look of terror on his face was going in such a mad panic. I made it just in time and quite out of breath to slowly walk towards the psaltery as the last notes of the harp slowly rang off into space. Those people in the very front rows might have noticed that the shoulders of my tunic and my hair were wet, and the occasional drop of water fell off my hands.

The rest of the times this little trip mid-show went very smoothly and I even had the rare opportunity to take a photograph backstage during a song.

Another behind the scenes tradition which the members of Winter Harp enjoy at the end of the season is a celebratory dance. It never ceases to amaze me the other gigs which Winter Harp members have done - Janelle has played with Kanye West, Bruce has played traditional Chinese music, and Mark has played in a Mariachi band. It is the latter skill which we call upon to do our end of season happy dance.

The Tour to Date

2009-12-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

This year's new line up of players in the Winter Harp ensemble received a crash course in touring. After an afternoon show in Gibsons Nov. 27, we flew to Winnipeg and played at the Pantages Theatre. Amazingly this year, the temperature was actually above freezing and there was not a trace of snow to be seen. After checking into our rooms, we loaded into the theatre for the concert the next day and had a brief rehearsal. As we ran over the show, snowflakes started to fall, and by the time we were done, the ground had a beautiful light dusting of snow.

Later, we drove to Janelle's parent's grain farm just outside Winnipeg where Janelle had the opportunity to reunite with her pet cat.

We all had a fabulous dinner of light curry with rice and broccoli. Of particular interest was a new grain which is grown in the prairies and which blended wonderfully with the basmati rice. It's little discoveries such as this which make touring so much fun. After dinner, we gathered round the fire and Winter Harp's narrator Ron Halder did a dramatic recitation of a heart warming and very funny piece of fiction which he had written. Afterwards we had a decadent chocolate cake for dessert, and Bruce and I entered into a joke competition; we each alternated telling jokes, and amidst all the laughter we quickly lost track of how late it was, so bidding everyone a fond goodnight we retraced our tracks back to Winnipeg and enjoyed the amenities of the first rate hotel.

The next day we arrived at the theatre early to get the sound and lights set up, and as always, the crew at the Pantages Theatre and Janelle's parents did a fabulous job creating a magical back drop for us to play against.

We flew back to Vancouver and the next day Lori, Janelle and I rehearsed with the Vancouver Welshman's Choir in preparation for our show in New Westminster's Massey Theatre. Playing with the choir is always a treat -- 90 enthusiastic voices really adds a spectacular dimension to the show. In some cases just the humming of so many voices adds a beautiful rich depth to a piece which is transcendent.

A few days later was the start of the Vancouver Island tour. Packing all the gear for our shows is often a challenge, as well as doing the logistics of what goes in which van, and maintaining temperature and humidity control for the various instruments. Hats off to the Mazda corporation for their design of the Mazda 5, which is a hybrid of a passenger car/mini van, but amazingly will seat three people and carry a full sized concert harp, a Celtic harp, a harp dolly, and all the luggage for the three passengers. Here is a picture of how it all fits!

We sailed to Nanaimo where I did a quick television interview, and off we went to Courtenay for two concerts. Courtenay is a really lovely town and the staff at the Sid Williams Theatre is very professional and always makes us feel welcome.

A special highlight of playing in Courtenay is that they always set up a table in the lobby after the show where we can autograph CDs and meet audience members.

After Courtenay we had a long drive ahead of us to Victoria so we started out early and made excellent time without a trace of snow. All along the way there were beautiful displays of thousands of icicles coming of the rock cliffs and embankments on the highway. After setup and sound check we walked across the street for a Japanese dinner, and our percussionist Bruce did a quick rhythm tutorial while we waited for our food. This is how percussionists pass the time.
Here he demonstrates playing 11 against 4.

And here is a demonstration of a Brazilian rhythm.

The Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria is particularly lively, and very little amplification is required.

The two shows in Nanaimo are always a real pleasure to play. Bruce and I did a preconcert lecture before the afternoon show as is the long-standing tradition. The technicians at the Port Theatre are some of the best I have ever met, and kudos to them for making this venue so fantastic and ideal for our performances. Add to this the catering from Modern Cafe for lunch and dinner and it makes playing there a real treat.

Because we play two concerts back to back, the couches backstage are very much appreciated, since after driving up from Victoria, setting up and sound check, and doing a lecture and show, it's easy to feel a bit drained. A short rest revives everyone and we're quickly energized for the second show.

We often get into interesting discussions while back stage in the change rooms, and it turns out that both Bruce and Mark have a keen interest in Chinese music. Here is Mark demonstrating how he imitates the traditional Chinese violin on his classical Western violin.

Afterwards, we all relaxed at the Minnows Lounge at the Coast Bastion where we stayed and had a celebratory gathering where many of the people who had been to our concert also met up with us. Nanaimo is a friendly town and I look forward to returning soon for bathtub racing season. After a good night's sleep at the Bastion we took a morning ferry back to the mainland and are looking forward to the rest of the tour.

Tub Racing 2009. Team Winter Harp

2009-07-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Of a tub and a gale is my briny tale,
Of things that splash on the main,
Of trials and terrors, and minor errors,
That make up the tubbing refrain.

The waters of the Port, have seen many a sort,
But the strangest they ever did see,
Was a tubber of mirth, of Catalan birth,
(where soft watches melt just like Brie).

Now tub 415, had much to contrive,
With unique features and gear.
The Winter Harp troupe, which sponsored this group,
Plays the Port Theatre each year.

The crew left town, and booted on down,
To Horseshoe Bay in the dark,
It had been a long day, and getting away,
Was not exactly a lark.

At the crack of dawn, the crew straggled on,
And breakfasted at Café Modern.
Then getting the tub, threw a prop on the hub,
And gave local waters a churn.

The Master of the Sea, Gus, did decree
That the tub must make 30 an hour.
"To run that low, will certainly slow,
And the chances of winning will sour."

With various heights tried, and all certified,
To change speed a bit each time,
Pace was gained, but wave handling strained,
Though the tub still turned on a dime.

With the motor set, lunch was 'et,
And the tub was taken for teching.
"The numbers a bit small, so felt pen them all,
And we'll sign you up with our blessing."

Now the old Port town , like an old wedding gown,
Has history to rival the East.
With timeless grace, it hosts The Great Race,
In the spirit of Hemingway's feast.

The events that night, were jocund and light,
With friends witty and wry.
Fireworks of all sort, lit up the whole Port,
And lightning filled much of the sky.

The dawn that came, was remarkably tame,
And the meeting succinct and quick,
But the winds soon came out, and sloshed waves about,
So the seas were no longer slick.

The crew did their best, the tub to wrest
And start it on its fateful way.
Numbers applied, large on each side,
Thanks to Ben, Jan, Fred and Jay.

"I love the smell of two-stroke in the morning,"
Yelled the skipper of 415.
The white ship was launched, the drain holes staunched,
And the tub engine came alive.

The tubs milled about, and all gave a shout,
When the last cannon signaled the start.
The commotion in the ocean filled all with emotion
Like an opera by Amadeus Mozart.

The start of the race, had a frantic pace,
With tracks where boats have just roamed.
The small engines howled, the big engines growled,
And the seas were churned cloudy and foamed.

In this turbulent mix, the tubbers tried tricks,
To get ahead of the deafening maelstrom.
The fastest roared past, with the slower aghast,
At the acres of jetsam and flotsam.

The harp tub surged on, and past many along,
Till it hit a large snag of sea kelp,
Finding reverse, (the crew feared the worse),
The tubber freed it up with no help.

Around the bottom isle, in a single file
The tubbers past the first post.
Now all were exposed, and often bulldozed,
By waves surging off the far coast.

The tub surged forth, aiming to North
Till they neared the Isle of Winchelsea.
The tub ran well, pounding into the swell,
And the engine screamed like a banshee.

But near sight of the top, the engine did stop!
To the great consternation of all.
The skipper was zapped, cresting waves lapped,
Into the little white hull.

With the bilge pumping out, the crew gave a shout,
And brought the tub in at the side.
The engine did start, but without much heart,
And off it raced on the tide.

The tub went anew, but in yards just a few,
The engine sputtered and died.
"Gentlemen please" said Joaquin with unease,
And the chase boat gurgled aside.

The following seas, threw waves with the breeze,
And churned the waters like Charybdis.
Ben grabbed the front, and the tub was buoyant,
But much on this ship was amiss.

"I'm getting fried" the skipper cried,
"And the engine dies at speed!"
The switch at the wheel, had ruptured a seal,
A quick cut, now the back had the feed.

He started again, though he thought of the strain,
Of this trouble now hopefully past.
But quick as a wink, the bathtub did sink,
And the engine gave its last blast.

They gave it a turn, and tied to the stern,
The tub was safely aboard.
The crew returned, a hard lesson learned,
At the end of a crimson kill cord.

"Bathtub control," said Jay to console,
"We failed to carpe diem."

"We're out of this race, and stopped giving chase.

We've simply run out of helium."

With natchos and brew, and coladas too,

The soggy crew was soon drying.

With resolve anew, and much laughter too,

Joaquin promised to "never stop trying."

The team will return, much glory to earn,
And race through gales and a storm.

For so long as we try, and the odds we defy,

We shall live a life less like the norm.

Thank You

2008-12-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

A Year End Thank You

from Winter Harp Director

Lori Pappajohn

As I write this, the snow that fills my garden is turning twilight blue and the pale winter sun is setting into the western sea. The darkest night, the solstice, is behind us and now the days are getting longer. Each day there is more light, more light, more light. The year’s timekeeper has finally turned her face towards far-off spring. Last week, walking over the snow-covered land, I found pussy willows -- the early promise that yes, warmth will return.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the coming year. And to thank you for being part of Winter Harp.

Each year one or two concerts stand out in my memory. And this year it was the Vancouver concert at St. Andrews Wesley Church. This magnificent structure was built in the style of a medieval cathedral with stained glass windows, soaring stone arches and room for close to 1,000 people. The night was cold, the old church drafty -- and it was as if the audience and Winter Harp were huddling together for warmth.

Inside that beautiful space, Winter Harp told the stories of Christmas and winter -- we wove the magic, the music drifting high into the dark arches of the ceiling. And then it was over. The stage lights were turned off, and the large, heavy wooden doors opened so the audience could leave. And as the doors swung open, it was as if something mystical had occurred -- the wintery scenes we had created inside with stories and songs were happening outside. Snowflakes filled the air, somersaulting down the sky. It was as if we were walking into Narnia -- a breathtakingly beautiful world of snow.

There were magical moments at the other concerts, too -- far too many to recount. But in short, the magic occurs because you, the audience, come to see us. You may not know it, but you bring the magic in with you -- with your memories, your joyous faces, your tears, your sighs and your applause. What you give us, we give back to you.

We can’t thank you enough. 2008 has been a tumultuous year for many of us -- a year of ups and downs. But through it we persist, strengthened by your presence around us at these concerts. It is the time of year to be thankful for all we have -- and to search our hearts for how we may help those less fortunate now and throughout the year. And it is a time of rejoicing -- through stories and songs we danced through the darkest nights of the year. And now, the light is returning.

To all of you a very Merry Christmas and the very best in all you do in the coming year.
See you in 2009.

Lori Pappajohn
Winter Harp Director

The Wrap

2008-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

The last few concerts in this year's series really emphasized the winter in Winter Harp, both on stage and off. The West Coast was hit by a powerful storm that dumped a couple of feet of snow in some parts. Things quickly returned to normal, however, and everything went off without a hitch.

Scott illustrates the proper technique (borrowed from subway pushers in Tokyo) of loading two harps and assorted gear into a mini-van.

Conditions are always challenging in Vancouver, because of the size and age of the venue, it does suffer from cross currents and drafts. Besides making the candles flicker dramatically and thus necessitating a change-out at intermission, it makes tuning continuously (sometimes even between numbers) a necessity.

During sound check, we also are always looking for sight lines. Here is typically what I would be seeing: Janelle and Lauri through a forest of harp strings.

It is always such a pleasure to perform in Vancouver at St. Andrew's Wesley Church, as the setting is so beautiful with the stained glass, and massive stone arches. It always makes us feel as if were are in Medieval Europe. And the snow falling outside after the concert, as people left, made it especially magical this year.

Our final concert of the tour was in Maple Ridge at The ACT with its beautiful setting.

Winter Harp co-founder and former narrator Alan Woodland was at the Maple Ridge concert. He joined Lori Pappajohn on stage for a brief, but wonderful reunion as they did the free CD draw. Alan is a well-known figure in Maple Ridge, not only for perfoming with Winter Harp, but also for his popular column in the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times newspaper. The audience loved seeing Alan back on stage -- even if only for a brief moment.

During intermission, we all usually have to go back on stage to tune and I have noticed that the bass psaltery always draws a great deal of attention. It is a very unique instrument due both to its Gothic appearance as well as to it's ethereal sound.

***********************

After all is said and done, this year was unique in many respects. Beside the many sublime moments that I am grateful to have shared with my fellow musicians on stage, there were other really quite special memories off the stage. Though I am sure I will miss out something important, here is my list of memorable experiences in no particular order:

-Getting to meet Queen Isabella:

Queen Isabella is a Cairn Terrier who spent the first few years of her life in a puppy mill and was horribly abused and likely kept in unspeakably nasty conditions. Somewhere along the way she lost her entire left ear. Fortunately, our friend Maureen is a very active member of the Cairn Terrier rescue network, and after the puppy mill was shut down, they sent her Queen Isabella to nurse back to health. The curious name stems from the fact that the dogs were apprehended on October 12th, Columbus day, so the dogs were named after key historical figures of the Spanish court in the 15th century. As well as Christopher Columbus, there is King Ferdinand, Bartolomé de las Casas , Américo Vespucio , and Columbus' three ships, Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria.

The amazing thing about Queen Isabella is that despite having had a very hard life to date, she has an amazing personality and is really very trusting of people, despite how people have treated her. It could be argued that this sort of altruism is simply a sign of lack of intelligence, but that is not the case. Queen Isabella is a very smart dog, and it quickly becomes apparent that she simply enjoys every second of her new life. She is curious about everything, as soon as I took my nykleharpa out of its case she examined every square inch of it very carefully. As soon as I started to play she sat quietly and listened. Then she jumped up on the couch next to me to get a better view. She obviously loves music.

She is being very well treated and will soon make a complete recovery. I have no doubt that she will soon be adopted by very lucky new owners. When confronted by such optimistic joy after having gone through so much horror, it really underlines the shallowness of much of what preoccupies most of our days. Other dogs might have been scared of humans, or been aggressive or emotionally disturbed. Here is a being who has embraced life and decided to make the best of it no matter what.

- Getting to meet James Ham and having a brief talk about the future of musical instruments.

After our Victoria concert at the Alix Goolden Hall, we were thrilled to meet James Ham who brought along a violin made by Douglas Martin and built out of balsa wood, carbon fibre, and steel. It is really quite remarkable what is possible if we ignore our preconceptions of what a violin should look like, or what it should be made of, or even how it should be played. Mark Ferris, our violinist, took the instrument out for a test drive and was blown away. Here is a short sequence of what it sounds like.

I think as more and more luthiers realize the potential of 21st century materials, we will start seeing traditional instruments of such an amazing quality that they will rival the best that has ever existed. In the past these would only have been available to the best performers in the world. Imagine a world where every violin, even student models, is as good as a Stradivarius, and the best are even better.

-Dinner with Janelle's parents' and the members of Winter Harp.

The prairies are a remarkable place, and even though I have cycled through some parts of it in Summer, the great expanse of the land is something which really has to be felt to be appreciated. Having lived my entire life surrounded by mountains and the sea, it feels a bit uncomfortable at first being in a place where there are no boundaries or natural landmarks. This effect is amplified in Winter because even the palette of colours is reduced to just muted shades of light grey, light blue and a million shades of white. In Vancouver, going towards the mountains is North, South is Richmond and flat, West is the ocean, and East is the Fraser Valley. It's impossible to get lost. Outside of Winnipeg, there are no obvious references. One could drive for hours on highways that look exactly the same through out the province and be heading 180 degrees in the wrong direction. On a uniformly overcast day, even the sun doesn't give any hints of the cardinal points. Amidst this almost surrealistic landscape, Janelle's parent's home is an oasis of culture, warmth, colour and mirth. Rachelle and Brian Nadeau treated us like royalty, and we are forever grateful for a wonderful evening.

String players are naturally very cool dudes. But being chauffeured around in a limo in -25C temperatures in Winnipeg in December makes it über cool.

-All the amazing meals at restaurants on the tour.

Leo's Tapa's and Grill in Gibsons is typical Greek fare, exactly what you would expect in BC where we are spoiled for almost everything. What is unique about Leo's is that the waiters, and I really hope they are also the owners, have a great quirky, almost edgy, sense of humor.

Special mention goes to the restaurant at the Inn at the Forks, The Current. I had the pleasure of having breakfast and a wonderful lunch there. The food is stupendous and meticulously prepared. The staff is very attentive and polite, as well as transparently efficient. Every meal was a treat.

In Courtney, Titas never ceases to please. Great portions, and can Mexican food ever be anything but festive? The tortilla chicken soup especially hit the spot. Just the ticket before playing a concert in winter.

In Victoria, Futaba Japanese Restaurant was exactly what was needed to satisfy our troupe's cravings for all things Japanese and "get us to the church on time" - it is across the street from the Alix Goolden Concert Hall.

The veggie burgers on B.C. Ferries are quite nice. The French Fries are made by White Spot, and are delicious, but Janelle, Lauri and I once spent an afternoon feeding these to the sea gulls by hand who I'm sure thought they were doubly delicious.

-All the great volunteers who help us put on these shows.

There are many ways to patronize the arts, but in the case of Winter Harp, we have a dedicated and loyal core group of volunteers --everyone from ticket sellers to people who light the candles at intermission.

Winter Harp is lucky to have its own professional harp tuner. Dr. Bess Lu has a wicked ear when it comes to tuning. Here she is working on Lori Pappajohn's harp with Lori checking up on her.

-The Amazing Disappearing Harp Dolly.
After we played our last concert in Maple Ridge, we were packing up and Janelle discovered, much to her horror, that her harp dolly was missing. It had been left back stage right next to Scott's almost identical harp dolly. A quick inspection of the stage did not uncover anything. So a search was made in all the offices, cars, and even the front of the house. Still nothing. The entire stage was now packed up and there was absolutely nothing on the floor, yet still no harp dolly. My first thought was that it had been stolen, but that didn't make a great deal of sense either; there were far more valuable things back stage to steal. Everyone was rather annoyed at this disappearance because it would be a huge inconvenience to Janelle plus a lot of money to replace. The theatre staff were equally annoyed at something this strange. As I searched the snow drifts outside for tracks (and finding none) it occurred to me that I was only thinking in two dimensions. Perhaps the missing dolly had not in fact rolled away. Sure enough, I looked up and there it was hanging from the ceiling. The long horizontal bar that raises and lowers the sets had caught the strap on the cart when the curtain was down. At the end of the show, when the bar was raised up to the ceiling, the dolly cart went sailing up in the air with it. There it was, dangling precariously 30 feet above us (click pictures for greater detail).

The only thing more endearing than a happy ending story of a boy reuniting with his lost doggy is a story of a girl reuniting with her lost harp dolly.

The End

The Tour So Far

2008-12-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

The Winter Harp tour to date has been very well received, and we have all had a wonderful time playing for so many different audiences.

Playing at the Pantages Theatre in Winnipeg is always a treat, and combined with the warm hospitality and wonderful friendship of Janelle's amazing parents, the trip goes off without a hitch. The flight was wonderful and WestJet was as always reasonable and accommodating to our merry gang of musicians. Transporting gear by air is always a challenge, but the happy team at WestJet made the whole experience very low stress. We were met at the airport by Janelle and her family, and we were all whisked away by stretch limo to the delightful hotel, (Inn at the Forks)which is more of a resort/spa than merely accommodation.

After checking in and depositing our luggage, we were invited to dinner at Janelle's parent's farm, a short drive outside of Winnipeg. Janelle's father Brian gave us a quick tour of the whole operation which was really fascinating and informative. We saw first hand how seeds are cleaned, packaged and warehoused.

The whole operation is really very interesting and I always feel like I would love to come back in the fall during harvest and see the whole thing actively working.

Janelle had a chance to show Lauri one of the machines she drives around during harvest.

The next day we set up the show at the theatre. The Pantages Theatre is a magnificent ornate Edwardian theatre, and the staff and technicians are very professional and first rate. The sound check went well and the concert was well attended.

Afterwards, Janelle's mother Rachelle had arranged for a reception with drinks and cookies, and we all had the opportunity to mingle with the audience and get their feedback.

The second concert on Saturday was very well attended, virtually sold out, and we had another Winter Harp first, a very brave gentleman proposed on stage during intermission, accompanied by the strains of Pachebel's Cannon played by Janelle.

Though it was intermission, enough people caught the proposal that after they hugged, the whole audience broke into spontaneous applause.

The reception the second night was wonderful as well. Here we are in a slightly silly mood showing off our socks!

Back at the hotel, Lori had asked me to stock up on the toiletries in the room. Last time she was here she was so pleased with the quality of the soaps and lotions that she longed to come back just for that reason. As it turns out, the products which the Inn at the Forks uses are made by a local BC company, Deserving Thyme, so you don't have to go to Winnipeg and save up your hotel soaps - the company has a great mail order website.

The next day after the final concert in Winnipeg, we had to get up early to catch the first flight home because we had a concert at the Massey Theatre with the Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir. The choir is a very friendly and jovial crew directed by the very talented Jonathan Quick, and everyone in Winter Harp looks forward to playing together with them every year. After rehearsing and playing the same pieces in concert, it is really quite a treat to play the exact same piece accompanied by a 100 male voices in harmony. On the quieter pieces, the lovely multi part harmony blends beautifully with the harps and ancient instruments. On the more lively melodies, having that much power behind us really blows our hair forward. It is amazing how loud the human voice can get.

The next two concerts at Courtney started our five concert tour of Vancouver Island. The staff at the Sid Williams Theatre always does a bang-up job of set decoration, and this year was no exception. The lighting was magical, and the effects on the back drop behind us as we played were enchanting.

After the sound check, we went out for dinner. We decided on a very nice restaurant called "Fluid Bar and Grill." We told Janelle to save us a table. She took this job very seriously.

The concert went very well, the sound and lights were spot on, and a good time was had by all. Since we were already set up from the day before, the concert the next day was very easy, and we had the luxury of the whole morning and afternoon to do relax and enjoy the sights of Courtney. For dinner that night we went to a very fine Mexican restaurant called Tita's, which served us up a great dinner including a lovely corn tortilla chicken soup, very welcome on this frosty evening, and enormous portions.

We played the second concert and were very pleased to discover that the bar at theatre had created and named a drink after us: hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, whipped cream and multi-coloured chocolate sprinkles. I think that is a fair representation of the Winter Harp experience if it were distilled into a festive beverage.

The next day we drove to Victoria which was a bit challenging since it started to snow, quite heavily at times, and made driving pretty challenging. At times there were snowflakes the size of baseballs and it was building up quite impressively on the roads. Despite this, we arrived in town in good time and Colin, our manager for Victoria did a bang up job as always of getting everything set up. Also wonderful is the growing trend in Victoria of having audience members dress up in Medieval garb. Needless to say, we encourage this whole-heartedly.

The next day we drove to Nanaimo to do the last of the two Island concerts. The Port Theatre in Nanaimo is such an amazing facility and the staff, as always, are wonderfully professional and helpful. We did our sound check, I did the pre-concert talk which I do every year, though this year Scott helped me out with a short talk about the pedal harp.

Because we do two shows back to back on the same day at the Port Theatre, our meals are brought to us back stage, and this gives us a bit more time to play around on stage. We were in a funny mood that day, and we toyed with the idea of doing a Bizarro-world Winter Harp, where every member would switch around and do another job. Janelle tried out what it would be like to be the percussionist, Lauri checked out the pedal harp, and Mark thought he'd take a stab at narration.

Just as we were leaving the theatre, the first flakes of snow began to fall, and when we woke up the next day we found Nanaimo covered in a fluffy white blanket of Winter Wonderland snow.

It was magical and the perfect end to an enchanting tour.

Gypsy and the Princess

2008-12-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

A fairy tale for children of all ages

Not that long ago, and not that far away, lived a beautiful black horse named Gypsy. She was as sweet as sugar and had lived a long and good life, taking many a girl on swift canters through the sun-dappled woods as well as on high-stepped prances in colourful pageants.

The years had passed by, as years do, and Gypsy grew old. No longer did she yearn to gallop through the meadows or trot in the arenas as she had in the days of her youth.
Her owners had no more use for her, so they took her to auction. Not many people want an old horse. And so Gypsy stood, head a bit low, back a bit drooping, awaiting her fate.

Little did Gypsy suspect that a princess would fall in love with her and lead her home. The eight-year-old child, who lives in the foothills of BC’s wild Monashee Mountains, was looking for a gentle, sweet horse. And Gypsy was just that. And, as the princess weighed a mere 50 pounds, Gypsy would hardly notice the extra weight on her old back.

Gypsy’s new home was a small slice of paradise. The black mare had her own little barn, her own paddock, and a princess who fed, watered and brushed her. And she soon came to discover that every day she was allowed to roam wherever she pleased. No fences stopped her. The grass in the wild meadows was hers, the grass in the open fields was hers, the grass along the shaded pathways was hers -- as was the grass of the broad and wide castle lawn. (Okay, a little exaggeration here. It’s not actually a castle -- it’s a gorgeous 5-star health spa. But when you stay there you are treated like royalty -- so it must be a castle. But back to the story . . . )
Now and then Princess Brittany and her sister Princess Kelsi took Gypsy on rides -- small rides that were perfect for a young girl and an old horse.

And so it was, that every morning during the hot summer and warm fall, Gypsy would walk up the long hill from her barn to the castle lawn. There she would graze for an hour or two, taking naps on the shady castle porch and standing at the kitchen door, hoping for a carrot or apple to come her way.

And every day she would lower herself down onto the soft grass, lie quietly or roll. And often she would share the lawn with the castle’s resident hound Sir Chancelot, commonly known as Chance.

And when the princess and her harpist friend Countessa Lori Pappajohn dressed Gypsy in colourful attire, she stood quietly and respectfully. After all, she too, was a princess -- a horse princess who was fortunate to find a paradise kingdom to call her own.

The moral of this tale is simple: sometimes when you feel as if you are at the end of your road, hold on to hope. The next bend may take you to a hidden paradise.

For more information on Gypsy’s home, visit http://www.silverhills.ca/

Winter Harp tour dedicated to the memory of Florence Weekes

2008-12-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

Florence dressed in a boiler suit and standing in the doorway of a train caboose while on a writing assignment in the 1940's.

It was with great sadness that we learned that writer Florence Weekes passed away. She was 86, and she left this world on Nov. 29.You, our audience, will recall her work Come Share the Bird -- the hilarious tale of eating far too much turkey at Christmas.Winter Harp narrator Alan Woodland discovered the poem years ago when he was researching Christmas writings.

In 1999, Alan and Lori Pappajohn decided to record the poem and so went on a search for its author Florence Weekes. Was she still alive? Did she live in Britain? Perhaps she was American. We were curious whether we’d find her and where she’d be living.It turned out that, much to our surprise, she was close at hand in Victoria. Florence was taken aback by our request -- mainly because no one had ever asked her permission before even though many had used her poem. Florence was quite correct in her frustration.

More often than not, artists’ works are taken for granted. How many times have people copied CDs for their friends, or downloaded them for free off the Internet? The numbers of free downloads are in the trillions. An artists’ work is how they pay for their groceries, their rent, their gas, and the many other bills that assail us all. Florence, rightly so, was asking for respect for her creation. And we were happy to give her that. We came to an agreement, and her poem became an integral part of Winter Harp.

A number of years ago, Florence was in the audience when her poem was read at our Victoria concert. It was a high point in her life -- and a great honor for us.

Florence was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Ontario. During the war, when there was a shortage of men for local jobs, she became a reporter. She was in her early 20s, young and adventurous. She recalled being taken up in a bomber over the Great Lakes to do a story. She also recalls the challenge of a young woman entering what was then a man’s world -- journalism.

Photo of Florence taken by the London Free Press and ran with an article Florence wrote in 1944.

In her later years Florence moved to Victoria because of the mild winters. She loved nature and she loved to walk -- year ’round no matter the weather. Even in her later years, she would don her rain gear, take her walker and head out into the misty west coast weather. During the course of her life Florence wrote numerous poems, essays and articles which were published in newspapers and magazines. Even up until 10 years ago, she was still being published in newspapers. And when the Internet came along, she found a whole new way to write and communicate her works, right up until her death. Florence and Lori Pappajohn identified with each other as both started as reporters at a young age and both had a great passion for writing.Upon her death, Florence willed the copyright of her poem Come Share the Bird to Lori Pappajohn. “I can’t say how honored I am,” said Lori. “When you think about it -- it is so Victorian, pre-Raphaelite -- writers willing poems to each other. Other people are willed money, diamonds and estates -- but who do you know who is willed a poem? How wonderfully unique. I am truly humbled.”This Winter Harp tour is dedicated to the memory of Florence Weekes and her dedication to writing and art. Thank you Florence for a poem that has brought so much joy and mirth to so many.

The Symphonie

2008-12-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

Are there pipes in that thing?

That's the question audiences are asking about Winter Harp's latest acquisition. This year I added another rare and unusual instrument to the collection: a symphonie. It is best described as an early hurdy-gurdy and it dates back to the 12th century where it was popular in Southern France and Northern Spain. The instrument has a distinctive sound -- almost bagpipe-like. It is about two-feet long and has a crank handle at one end which the player turns with the right hand. A rosin covered wheel rubs against the strings, very much like a violin bow rubs across strings, causing them to sound. The keys, when pressed by the fingers of the left hand shorten the strings and thus create the different notes. The symphonie also includes drone strings which is what gives it its characteristic bagpipe-like sound.

The symphonie is related to the organistrum that you see at our Winter Harp concerts. The organistrum, first described by Odo of Cluny (c. 878-942), dates to the 10th century. It could be considered the father of the symphonie which dates to the 12th and 13th centuries.

One of the best depictions of the instrument is contained in the Cantigas de Santa Maria collected during the reign of Alfonso X El Sabio (1221-1284). Some of these songs are in Winter Harp's repertoire. It’s one of the largest collections of monophonic (solo) songs from the Middle Ages. All of the songs at least mention the Virgin Mary, and every 10th is a religious hymn. Some of the manuscripts containing this music also contain colored miniatures showing pairs of musicians playing a wide variety of instruments.

I had been looking for a symphonie for several years, and there were certain things which I wanted on an instrument that were not exactly “common” or even entirely historically correct. However, I wanted to have something which could be made to look and sound historically accurate, but which would secretly have the capability of playing a much wider repertoire. In my case, I specifically wanted a chromatic keyboard – the originals would have only been able to play in one key. The other thing which I wanted was a trompette, also likely not original, but very useful and characteristic of later hurdy-gurdies. Another useful feature which having a box-like instrument allows is extra keys disguised as normal playing keys. In my case, my instrument has five keys which don’t actually play notes, but are designed to engage and disengage strings without having to open the lid and disengage a string. Finally, a cleverly concealed internal electronic tuner and pickup allows the instrument to be played in concert and compete with all the other amplified instruments.

If any of you are interested in acquiring a symphonie, or any other type of hurdy-gurdy for that matter, I can’t recommend Neil Brook highly enough. He is an excellent craftsman and his instruments are as innovative as they are practical. As well, he is willing to experiment and do custom work (within reason) so a unique instrument is definitely possible.

Winter Harp's other unique medieval-styled instruments include the nyckelharpa, the cello-nyckelharpa and the bass psaltery. Learn more about the instruments on the instrument page at http://www.winterharp.com/

I'm too Jung to be a Freud:

2008-10-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Candles as an "enlightening" psychoanalytic tool

At first, the job seems simple: go to a major box store and purchase all the candles required to put on a series of Winter Harp concerts. The math is simple: 2 candelabras times 25 candles each times the number of shows and about half as many in case there is a draft and we have to replace candles at intermission. This year that amounts to some 900 candles.

The logistics are a consideration. What does that much wax look like? The answer, once I had it loaded up, was essentially a complete shopping cart level full. "That's a lot of candles" said a young woman shopper buying a single package. "I'm not into the whole electricity thing" I reply. She seems satisfied by this explanation.

Pushing something this heavy through a store filled with shoppers is also an exercise in harrowing near-misses. Finally I reach the long lineup at the cashier and breath a sigh of relief.

"You into some sort of ritual?" asks the gentleman in front of me in the lineup.
"Umm, you could say that," I say trying to be as vague as possible.
The worried look on his face betrays that he is thinking about large Victorian mansions on moonless nights filled with cloaked figures. He moves forward in the line.

A middle aged woman joins behind me in the lineup.
"You're quite the romantic guy I see" she says, looking at my cart.
"Umm, we actually use these on stage" I reply.
"On stage? You mean in public?"
"Yes, for the act."
"The... 'act'?"
"Yes, there's several. It's quite popular."
"I'm sure it is" she says, looking astonished.

I'm at the cashier. "You always buy this many candles?" she asks, not looking forward to scanning an entire shopping cart of one item.
"It's not what you think..."
"How many?"
"One hundred and twelve packages of eight."
"You look honest"

I pay and wheel my purchase to the parking lot and neatly pile everything into the trunk.
It's not everyday that I get mistaken for an anarchistic ritualist with a suspect side act: buying candles as an exercise in the projection of inner personality conflicts.

Truth is not always stranger than fiction.
In my case it is far more wonderful than the most feverish imaginations.

Alfredo Ortiz

2008-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

South American harpist visits Vancouver

The famed South American-style harpist Alfredo Ortiz was in Vancouver in September where he gave a workshop for some 20 harpists. This was Ortiz’s first visit to Vancouver -- and we were thrilled to have him. Ortiz plays the Paraguayan harp and specializes in performing the lively music of South America. He has numerous CDs, DVDs and music books about how to play this music with its intricate and fascinating rhythms.

After the workshop, Ortiz gave some special one-on-one coaching to Winter Harp harpists Lori Pappajohn and Janelle Nadeau.

Ortiz is one of the top-performing South American harpists in the world. Besides having a medical degree, Dr. Ortiz’s background includes studies and work in the fields of music therapy and sensory motor learning in South America and at California State University-Long Beach and UCLA (University of California-Los Angeles).

His workshops have been presented internationally at universities as well as harp events including the World Harp Congress, the National Conference of the American Harp Society and the International Folk Harp Conference.

If you have not heard Paraguayan or South American harp you may be
surprised at the difference from classical and Celtic harp. It is lively music you'll want to dance to.

For more information visit http://www.alfredo-rolando-ortiz.com/

The Ashcroft Opera House

2008-10-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Visit the Ashcroft Opera House

If you are going anywhere near the Ashcroft or Cache Creek area, plan your trip so you can take in a concert and a meal at the famous Ashcroft Opera House. This is probably the most unique venue in all of B.C. -- for a number of reasons. First, it is in the middle of nowhere. It brings in top acts, it serves the world’s best vegetarian food, and the owner is one of those fascinating people who you could spend hours talking to because his life is so amazing. And you need to go this fall, as its season ends in November.

The Ashcroft Opera House, as its name implies, was indeed an opera house. Built in 1889, it was THE place to be for miles around. Dances would start at 8 p.m., with a full course meal served at midnight, followed by more dancing which often continued until dawn. Those were the good old days.

For years the old opera house has sat neglected and empty. But a couple of years ago, entrepreneur and five-star chef Martin Comtois bought it and is returning it to its former glory.

Martin loves great music, so he brings in some of B.C.’s top bands and acts to perform on his stage. And every concert is preceded by a meal lovingly cooked by Martin. And this guy can cook. We’ve eaten many exquisite vegetarian meals -- and his are by far the best. The guy knows all those secret ingredients that makes every dish so good you actually dream about them later.

If it’s a hot sunny day, Martin may even take you swimming in the local swim hole in the Thompson River. Okay, this isn’t actually swimming. This is jumping into a semi-dangerous, fast-moving river and having it sweep you along at a brisk 30 kph. You have to keep your wits about you to swim into shore at the right moment to avoid being tossed and hammered through the rapids further down stream. It’s a real thrill to float on the water and watch the shore, 10 feet away, whipping by at 30 kph. Makes you feel like an Olympian -- if you survive.

But back to the Opera House. You can catch Winter Harp’s Joaquin Ayala, Lori Pappajohn and Janelle Nadeau performing there on Sunday, October 19.

Learn more about this great venue and what acts are scheduled by visiting http://www.ashcroftoperahouse.com/.

Tribute to Jurgen Gothe

2008-10-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

Jurgen Gothe tries his hand at playing the harp with a little encouragement from Winter Harp members (right) and Detroit jazz harpist Christa Grix (left).

Harp Tribute Concert Thanks Jurgen Gothe of CBC Radio

Winter Harp had the honour of playing in a multi-harp concert in September that was a tribute to CBC Radio’s Jurgen Gothe. Over the years, Jurgen has played a generous amount of harp music on his show -- and harpists wanted to thank him for it. When you think about it, other than CBC, there aren’t a lot of stations that play harp music. By playing harp music, Jurgen helped raise awareness of the instrument and he also helped further the careers of the harpists he played.

Jurgen played Winter Harp frequently -- and for that we are forever grateful. Thanks to him, people nationwide learned about our ensemble.One Christmas Jurgen played our entire CD -- Child’s Christmas in Wales. And that was a real honour for us. Jurgen also played a lot of music by Detroit jazz harpist Christa Grix. And she was so thankful to him that she flew out from Detroit to be in the tribute concert held in North Vancouver.

The concert brought some tears, for as we know, Jurgen’s famous Disc Drive show is no longer on CBC Radio. The concert closed with a jazz version of Disc Drive’s theme song featuring harps, drums and bass. It was a nostalgic moment. And as harpist Alys Howe said before she played: “Jurgen -- we miss you!”The concert was a fundraiser for the World Harp Congress which will be held in Vancouver in 2011. The congress will showcase the world’s greatest harpists in a week-long harp extravaganza. Performers at the tribute concert included: Elizabeth Volpe-Bligh, Lani Kranz, Josh Layne, Kaori Otaki, Alys Howe, Christa Grix, Blanche Olivar, Lauri Lyster, William Fawcett, Rong Jun and Winter Harp with Lori Pappajohn, Janelle Nadeau, Joaquin Ayala and Lauri Lyster.

Racing Tub Part II

2008-09-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Racing Tub!

Team Winter Harp

Part II

I've had so many emails regarding bathtub racing that I am adding a few more pictures and videos of the event. To answer the most frequent question, yes I am crazy. To answer the second most frequent question, yes it does hurt. Sometimes a lot. Here is some sage advice about what the trick is from T.E.Lawrence:

Finally, I was asked what the view of the ocean looks like when running something as low to the water as a racing tub. Here is a picture of what the driver of a tub is normally seeing:

The following picture is taken shortly after the start. It gives some idea of how lumpy water can get when it's churned up by 40+ boats.

Notice that despite all this, I'm landing quite flat. This is considered good form.

Here is what the tub looks like at full speed in calm water. Yes, this would be considered calm water in this race:

Here is the tub in slightly rougher water. Of great importance in this sequence is that despite the fact that I'm getting lots of quality air time, I'm still managing to land reasonably flat and not losing much plane and thus speed. There is room for improvement in this respect and we'll have some innovations next year which will definately help. In tub racing, flat = fast.

This final video is what the tub looks like in reasonably lumpy water. The trick in this sort of thing is to try to steer around waves and try to flatten the course out as much as possible. Jumping off the top of each wave is pretty counter-productive and it's too easy to get off plane. Even worse, getting lots of air wastes time slows things down since the prop is spinning freely in the air like an airplane and not producing any thrust. When it lands back in the water its bringing along lots of air, and it has to hook up again. This all takes time and costs speed.

The final picture is a close up of the tub after the race. It was literally "harp breaking."

All is well in the land of tubbing and the fiberglass gods have smiled upon me. The tub has been repaired and beefed up, and we'll do a lot more testing before the next race to figure out what works and what doesn't. Stay tuned sports fans!

Tub Racing!!!

2008-09-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

When Winter Harp's medieval instrument player Joaquin Ayala isn't playing his rare instruments, he's often up to all sorts of crazy and fun adventures. This past summer he decided to enter the famous Nanaimo Bath Tub race. And his sponsor was Winter Harp. Heck, why not have a Christmas harp ensemble sponsor a summer bath tub racer?! Nanaimo is one of our favourite places to play -- so it seemed a natural fit. So, with Winter Harp emblazoned on the side of his tub, Joaquin took to the salt chuck. Here is his story:

The City of Nanaimo has been holding a very peculiar and arcane race since the late 1960's which involves a flotilla of 50 to 100 small high speed boats each of which, according to the rules, must contain "a component that conforms to the general shape and design of an old style roll edge bathtub". The boats are powered by a small outboard motor of 8 horse power, but certain modifications are permitted which significantly increases their efficiency. The course leaves Nanaimo harbor, goes up the coast around the Winchelsea group of islands and back for a total run of 36 miles. Most of the race, certainly the hardest stretch, is the climb up the coast, since there are always severe head winds and waves of 3 to 5 feet, or more, are not uncommon. The sport should probably be considered "extreme" in as much as it is a race and it does involve pounding very heavily in very tiny boats through very rough water. Tactics, strategies, technology, and the tenacity of the pilot all combine to make this a very real, if not altogether serious, test of the ingenuity and fortitude of the contestants. Certainly after competing in this race I can say with utter confidence that after racing tub, everything else has the volume turned waaaay down.

For my part, I have never really had much of an interest in spectator sports or athletic competition, but having said that, I would be the first to say that running the bulls in Pamplona is far better than being an armchair Hemingway. In this spirit, I commissioned a bathtub and acquired a motor complete with surface piercing propeller and with the help of a very talented rigger, Mr. Jay Willoughby, we put the thing together and did a couple of experimental runs. As usual and as is my preference everything was left to the last minute (thus allowing the maximum opportunity for spontaneity and improvisation). I only managed to get a couple of hours of "seat time" in the tub, but I learned quickly enough that these type of boats are extremely unstable at low speeds and that each wave has to be read correctly and quickly to steer through, around, or under it to avoid flipping over. Whereas in a larger boat reading every single wave is not essential, or even possible, in a craft this small and this light it is essential. The power of 8 horses is very substantial when considering that the boat weights a little over 70 pounds and even with the weight of the motor, fuel and driver, the power to weight ratio is a bit over 40 lbs per horse power - fast enough to get into lots of trouble. The tubs spend much of their time out of the water, and landing badly can have disasterous consequences.

The day of the race came, and after the initial pilot and escort boat captain meeting, we all jumped in our craft and started milling about the start line. The starting gun went off, very quickly the waters became extremely turbulent with the wake of dozens of tubs, and very shortly thereafter the more significant waves generated by dozens of escort boats. The general principle I have noted is that if one can make it out of the harbor, the chances of finishing are greatly improved. Much of the capsizes and collisions take place because too many boats in too small a space too closely grouped together can create chaos of epic proportions. The waves can develop into 7 foot monsters which can make the tubs totally disappear in the troughs until it is too late to take evasive action.

During all of this I was trying to stay out of harm's way by picking areas of least congestion, and as it turns out this was a strategic mistake because there are no areas of least congestion. The things one learns. I managed to get around Entrance Island and start the journey up the coast when I encountered some technical difficulty. The first thing that gave out was the (required) oar which was held down by Velcro straps to the bow deck . I was about to toss the whole lot into the ocean, but I thought better about polluting the environment, so I put it under my leg in the tub and continued on. After passing many tubs I saw the helicopter flying overhead following my progress and realized that this was a good sign since that usually means that I was getting pretty close to the front of the pack. I was going pretty fast at this point and I later learned I had just zipped by the tub which would eventually win in my category. In fact, at this point I was about sixth from the lead -- victory was within my grasp. I could almost taste victory - but such is the fickle nature of the tubbing gods that even thinking such thoughts is seen as hubris and is immediately punishable by another taste not so flavourful, namely brine.

A series of unfortunate incidents followed in quick succession. Racing now across calmer water, I decided it was time to throw the paddle overboard regardless of the environment because I couldn't feel my leg anymore - I'd been pounding for half an hour against this stupid oar rather than against the high density padding which lined the tub. In so doing I accidentally pulled the safety lanyard, thus stopping the engine. Normally not a big deal, just reattach the lanyard and restart, but all the pounding had made great cracks in the hull. The only thing keeping me afloat was the fact that I was moving so quickly. As soon as I slowed, the water poured in. Suddenly down I went -- tub and all. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't right myself as the tub became unstable as it sank and a wave came over the top and rolled the boat over throwing me in for a swim. Some quick rope work by my assistants on the escort boat saved the tub and motor from going to the bottom in 300 feet of water, and we managed to drag it on board. Gallons of water spilled out. She was a wreck.

The tub sits in the fiberglass shop now being rebuilt and further modified to include extra floatation as well as a whole new deck and engine mounts. Back at the pub, the winner of the Stock class came in, my fabricator having built his tub (and many others on the circuit), and we filled the trophy cup with beer and all had a drink. It was something out of Le Mans, except it was Coors rather than Champagne, bathtubs rather than race cars, and Nanaimo rather than Sarthe, France.

I had a fabulous time in Nanaimo, and I really love the town. It's a combination of the faded glory of New Westminster with the easy living high quality of life characteristic of the Gulf Islands. As always, I'm looking forward to the concerts in December, but I will definitely be back next Summer to compete in the Great Bathtub Race which I intend to finish this time.

Article in the Georgia Straight

2007-12-23T10:14:00.001-08:00

Article in the Georgia Straight
http://www.straight.com/article-125398/winter-harps-medieval-merrymaking

Hear Winter Harp on the Radio!

2007-12-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

On December 21, 2007 you can hear Winter Harp from the comfort of your own home. Light a fire, sit in your favorite chair, put your feet up and let us entertain you close up.

Winter Harp will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. (mountain time) on CKUA Radio in Alberta. For those outside of Alberta, you can catch the broadcast on your computer at http://www.ckua.com/.

The broadcast was recorded during the Winter Harp concert Dec. 10 at Horizon Stage Theatre in Spruce Grove, near Edmonton. CKUA will broadcast one hour of the two-hour concert.

CKUA can be heard on the below radio frequencies throughout the province of Alberta, or through the StarChoice satellite system on channel 828 throughout Canada, or through the station's Windows Media stream worldwide

AM Band: Province-wide, Alberta 580 AM
FM Band: Athabasca 98.3 FM
Calgary 93.7 FMDrumheller/Hanna 91.3 FMEdmonton 94.9 FM
Fort McMurray 96.7 FMGrande Prairie 100.9 FMHinton 102.5 FMLethbridge 99.3 FMLloydminster 97.5 FMMedicine Hat 97.3 FMPeace River 96.9 FMRed Deer 107.7 FM

Winter Harp and the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir

2007-12-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

This December Winter Harp once again had the honor of performing with the Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir. What an amazing concert that was.

It was such a thrill for us to be seated with our instruments right in front of 90 men singing their hearts out. These guys have so much enthusiasm, that Massey Theatre was bursting at the seams with their joy. When these guys sing -- and you are sitting 2 feet away, as we were, -- it’s the most incredible sound experience -- this wall of thundering male voices enfolding and enrapturing.

The choir conductor, Jonathan Quick, is brilliant, as is their pianist David Buchan. Both are wonderful to work with.

Massey Theatre in New Westminster was so full that extra chairs had to be brought in to accommodate the crowd. The theatre was one of the best venues Winter Harp has played in this season -- and the Royal City should be proud to have such a place.

Eleven year-old Sarah Quinn performs here
with harpists Lori Pappajohn and Janelle Nadeau in the song Away in a
Manger

A highlight of the evening was 11 year-old Sarah Quinn of New Westminster who sang a Polish lullaby with the choir. The story of this lullaby is as follows: In December 1939, 5,000 prisoners, most of them Polish, were marched by their Russian captors through the Siberian winter to labor camps. They walked 800 miles handcuffed to chains attached to trucks.
Somehow someone learned during the second week of the march that it was Christmas Eve. A prisoner started singing Holy Night. One after another, the prisoners joined in the song, the volume and intensity sweeping up the line of men. Then a few voices started the Polish carol Jesus’ Lullaby. But the bittersweet memories of Christmases past -- of family and friends -- seized the men. They broke down weeping. The singing stopped and the march along the cold, frozen road continued in a heartbreaking silence.

When little Sarah Quinn sang this song, along with the choir, harps, flute and violin, there was hardly a dry eye in the house.

We truly enjoyed our evening with the Welsh Men’s Choir -- and we hope to perform again with them next Christmas.

Sarah Quinn receives flowers after her stunning performance with Winter Harp and the Vancouver Welsh Men'sChoir.

Holly McFadden

2007-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

At our concert Dec. 12 at Capilano College, we had a special request to play a song for Holly McFadden. Here is what we said at the concert:

There was woman named Holly McFadden. She was born and raised here in North Vancouver. She loved Celtic music and loved the harp. And her birthday was today. Only she is not here -- because in June she was tragically killed. But 16 of her friends have come tonight to this concert as a way of celebrating Holly’s birthday and to celebrate her life.

Holly, as you might guess, had a holly collection, and she loved songs about Holly. So, her friends asked that we sing a carol about holly. We chose Deck the Halls -- but not the usual words -- the old, rarely sung, words.

There is an old Irish saying that right now, during the Days of Christmas, the gates of heaven are open wide.

Here is our memorial to Holly -- the carol Deck the Halls:

Soon the old year will leave us
fal la la la la
But the parting must not grieve us
fal la la la la
When the New Year comes tomorrow
fal la la la la la
Let him find no trace of sorrow
fal la la la la
At His birth he brings us gladness
fal la la la la
Ponder not on future sadness
fal la la la la
Anxious care is now but folly
fal la la la la
Strike the harp and hang the holly
fal la la la la

Happy Birthday Holly

Winter Harp in Japanese!

2007-12-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you who speak Japanese, here is an article on Winter Harp in the Minkei Newspaper

http://vancouver.keizai.biz/headline/114/index.html

Snow!

2007-12-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

Snow!

I don’t want Winter Harp to be held responsible, but . . . .

Just about every time we have done a concert this year, it has snowed.
Take for instance Whitehorse in September. The Yukon was having a glorious fall -- gorgeous fall colors, beautiful blue skies -- and then Winter Harp arrived. Within a day, it went from fall to winter. A biting wind, driving snow, fall colors buried and snow piling up.

Our next big concert was Nov. 24 in Winnipeg. Up until then, Winnipeg had been enjoying a beautiful fall -- gorgeous fall colors, beautiful blue skies -- until along came Winter Harp. Just before we arrived, autumn checked out, winter checked in and the snow arrived.

Well, certainly we’d be okay at our next concert -- Sechelt Dec. 2. Wrong. That day a wild snow storm swept in with high winds and pouring snow. And autumn fled from the lovely Sunshine Coast -- leaving winter to reign supreme.

Dec. 9 wasn’t any better. Winter Harp was schedule to perform in Edmonton. That morning it started snowing here in Vancouver and the performers barely made it to the airport because of the treacherous road conditions and the many accidents.

Then came Dec. 13 and our concert at Capilano College. Snowing again.

We have 6 concerts left -- PLEASE -- wish us luck. Really, the snow is not our fault.

Winnipeg

2007-12-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

To say that the Winnipeg concert was a smashing success would be an understatement. Besides getting a VERY enthusiastic standing ovation and playing an encore - the near capacity audience at the Pantages theatre just wouldn't let us leave the stage! The event was just so wonderful to do. It was one of the most pleasant concerts Winter Harp has ever put on, and a large part of this is thanks to Janelle's wonderful family who did all the ground work and preparation.

Upon arrival we were treated like rock stars as we were wisked away from the airport in a long stretch limousine that took us directly to the first rate hotel.

The Pantages theatre is a large old theatre similar to the Orpheum, elaborately decorated with gilded plaster and heavy velvet curtains.

The sound and light men at the theatre were first rate professionals of the highest caliber, and the entire show went off without a hitch.

We had a cute as a bug reader named Kendra do a short reading during the ethereal Gaelic Carol number.

The next day Lori and I drove out to visit Janelle's parent's farm.

Even with the blowing snow one very quickly gets a sense of the vastness of the prairies.

Janelle's mom Rachelle cooked us up a hearty lunch which couldn't be beat - a wonderful quiche and for dessert fresh fruit crepes! After lunch we took a tour of the farm. It is truly an impressive operation which offered quite a lot of insight into the components which literally make up our daily bread. It's always fascinating to see the process right from the ground up, and the machinery and equipment required to make food of the quality and low price which we are so fortunate to have is also astonishing.

Huge harvestors as tall as a house, massive tractors, and all the related machines and installations to process and sift grains and seeds and package them. It was really a very interesting and amazing tour, and Lori and I even got to sit in one of the gigantic harvestors which Janelle and her sister drive around in during harvest season. Driving these massively powerful machines is really quite a startling contrast to the delicacy of playing a harp, but the members of Winter Harp lead very interesting and sometimes quite unexpected lives outside of the performance season.

It also was reassuring to know that food which is grown in Canada is safe. It's very, very, safe.

WestJet did their usual fabulous job of getting all our gear back and forth in one piece, and they are always so pleasant to deal with, even when we show up with mountains of oversized flight cases. This is what Winter Harp looks like at the airport:

We are all looking forward to visiting Winnepeg again, it was such a great way to start the Winter Harp season. You can bet we will be back!

Fans From Afar

2007-12-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

In September, Lori Pappajohn had a call from a Barb Elco in Arizona. Barb said she had Winter Harp’s CDs and LOVED our music. Would Winter Harp consider performing in Arizona? she asked. Lori laughed: “We’d love to,” she replied. “But Arizona is pretty far way.”Then, just as an afterthought, Lori added: “Why don’t you come see Winter Harp in Canada? You could make it a Christmas holiday weekend. And there is no better place to be at Christmas than Victoria -- it is so beautifully decorated and is so magical. So why not come hear us in Victoria?”
Barb said she just might.

Lori didn’t think anything more of the conversation until the day of the Victoria concert. And then she thought: “Wow! What if Barb and her husband Jim ARE in the audience? We should do something nice for them.”

So Winter Harp bought a box of Victoria’s famous Roger’s Chocolates (established in 1885). During the show, Lori announced that two fans had come all the way from Arizona and that Winter Harp had some special chocolates for them which they could come and get after the concert. But, much to Lori’s surprise, Barb and Jim leaped to their feet (they were on the 3rd row) and came up on stage. Lori had no idea, up until this point, as to what they looked like -- or if they had even come. But there they were -- and they were dressed perfectly for the event. Both of them were in gorgeous medieval attire. They looked stunning!

Turning to the audience, Lori said: “Well, now you see how the audience should dress for Winter Harp -- we expect to see you all appropriately attired next year.” It was great to meet Barb and Jim -- and it was wonderful they chose to come all the way to Victoria to see Winter Harp.

By the way, when we do concerts in the United States, audience members quite often come in medieval attired -- especially in Mount Vernon. We love it. It’s such a gift for us to look out on the audience and see people in these outrageously gorgeous outfits.

So -- there is a challenge to you Canadians -- don’t be shy -- feel free to come to our concerts in your most beautiful medieval or renaissance frills and frocks.

Barb Elco (far left) and husband Jim (far right) pose with Winter Harp in Victoria.

The couple travelled all the way from Arizona just to hear Winter Harp in concert.

A Grueling Day

2007-12-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

When you go to a Winter Harp concert and watch the musicians walk on stage, you would never dream what they sometimes have to go through to get there.

Dec. 9 was such a day. Lori Pappajohn woke up at 7:30 a.m. to see snow falling outside. Oh no. Winter Harp was flying to Edmonton that day -- out of Abbotsford -- and as we Vancouverites know, if it is snowing in Vancouver, it is often blizzarding in Abbotsford.

Lori quickly called everyone and told them to leave early for the airport. Joaquin left first. When he was half way to Abbotsford (around 176th St.), he called Lori to say the road was a sheet of ice and everyone was spinning out. He watched in horror as several vehicles in front of him spun out of control, slid into the ditch and rolled several times. The freeway was almost at a standstill. At this rate, he’d never make the plane, and neither would the band members who were still behind him. Lori was at home manning the phones and Joaquin asked her to call the other band members and warn them of the treacherous road conditions. Lori kept calling members to get their locations and to calculate at the rate of speed they were going, if they’d make the plane. The morning quickly turned into a race against snow, ice, accidents and a plane that was about to take off. Then a radio station announced that both the east and west-bound freeway lanes were closed. Wow! That meant Winter Harp wouldn’t get to Edmonton for its concert that night. One member was already in Edmonton -- harpist Sharlene Wallace. Lori called her -- “can you do Winter Harp as a solo act tonight?” she half jested.

By now Lori had called WestJet several times and had the entire band on standby for a later flight, if necessary, which would get them into Edmonton just in time for the concert -- by the skin of their teeth.

While Joaquin was seeing people driving into the ditch, the band members who were farther behind him on the road, were seeing the ambulances -- and in one case a helicopter -- taking the injured away.

Then, miracles of miracles, a salt truck went by. And the roads got much better. Suddenly the freeway was moving. The eastbound lanes weren’t closed as the radio had reported. And before long Winter Harp members found themselves at the airport just in time for their flight.

What a relief that was. However, the fun didn’t end. Landing in Edmonton they couldn’t find one of their instruments -- the beautiful bass psaltery. It was no where. They waited and waited at the luggage claim, but no psaltery arrived.

Finally it was found hooked up on a conveyor belt in the bowels of the airport.
Then the band discovered that the 2 vans they rented weren’t working properly. One -- the seats wouldn’t go down. Joaquin and Lauri tried again and again in the freezing cold, to get the seats to go down so the instruments could fit in. No luck. The other van, the sliding door wouldn’t close all the way, so the wind howled in. And these were brand new vehicles. So, that took a while to sort out and get a new van.

Arriving at the theatre, now late, they had a grueling sound check, as it was hard to get a good sound on the harps -- it is ALWAYS hard to get a good sound check on the harps.
Then suddenly it was 20 minutes before curtain time. The performers wolfed down supper, made themselves beautiful and walked out on stage.

They had all been up since 7 a.m., had a grueling day with little rest and then walked out and played the show. But something magical happens when you walk out on stage. All the hassles and challenges of the day roll off your back -- they stay back stage. And when you walk out -- and see all those faces in the audiences, it’s like the day has begun anew, and is beautiful and full of magic.

Feature from Ladies Room

2007-11-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

Full story with images here: http://www.ladies-room.net/review/musicharp.html

Harpist attracts attention in all kinds of ways

by: Gwen Pawlikowski

When Lori Pappajohn pulls her luggage through the airports of Western Canada this Christmas season, people will notice and stare.

They always do.

Her suitcases just don’t conform to the usual standards. The custom-designed boxes are huge and oddly-shaped. Airport officials in Mexico once asked (jokingly) if she kept a husband inside. She smiled.

Actually, her boxes hold harps. The husband answer makes a better punchline, it’s true, but it takes longer to get through the airport.

Serving as the object of stares in airports is just one of the occupational hazards Pappajohn faces as a professional harpist. Add bags of thick, velvet costumes and you can see another hazard: no light travel. She gave that up when she opted to abandon playing her flute in order to perform on harp. Now, there is no ducking on the plane with a carry-on and scooting out after landing. No. Have harps. Must go to the special West Jet wicket for the fragile items.

All this heavy travel through the airport is quite a different picture from the light and airy music that flows from the mix of fingers and strings as she performs with the six-member Winter Harp group this Christmas season. The transcendent cadences created from ancient instruments flutter into an audience’s ears and then their hearts. Pappajohn says the music strikes a different chord for every person, somehow related to each person’s individual memories of Christmas. She’s received countless emails thanking her for their music. The messages often also include the words “changed my life” somewhere in the body of the text. What happens? I ask. She doesn’t know.

The rest of the story follows here:
http://www.ladies-room.net/review/musicharp.html

But will they play "On the Road Again"?

2007-11-14T07:02:00.001-08:00

Japan's melody roads play music as you drive

Bobbie Johnson,
technology correspondent
Tuesday November 13, 2007

The Guardian

Motorists used to listening to the radio or their favourite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.

A team from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of "melody roads", which use cars as tuning forks to play music as they travel.

The concept works by using grooves, which are cut at very specific intervals in the road surface. Just as travelling over small speed bumps or road markings can emit a rumbling tone throughout a vehicle, the melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes.

Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, enabling cunning designers to create a distinct tune.

Patent documents for the design describe it as notches "formed in a road surface so as to play a desired melody without producing simple sound or rhythm and reproduce melody-like tones".
There are three musical strips in central and northern Japan - one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Notice of an impending musical interlude, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is highlighted by coloured musical notes painted on to the road. According to reports, the system was the brainchild of Shizuo Shinoda, who accidentally scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer before driving over them and realising that they helped to produce a variety of tones.
The designs were refined by engineers at the institute in Sapporo. The team has previously worked on new technologies including the use of infra-red light to detect dangerous road surfaces.

But motorists expecting to create their own hard rock soundtrack could find themselves struggling to live the dream. Not only is the optimal speed for achieving melody road playback a mere 28mph, but locals say it is not always easy get the intended sound.

"You need to keep the car windows closed to hear well," wrote one Japanese blogger. "Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 12mph has a slow-motion effect, making you almost car sick."

Winter Harp goes to Winnipeg

2007-05-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

It may be more than six months until Christmas, but some people are buying tickets for Winter Harp concerts even though it is just spring.
In fact, more than 600 people have bought tickets for our concert Saturday, November 24 in Winnipeg. Yes – Winnipeg!
For the first time ever, Winter Harp will be performing in Winnipeg – and in the beautiful Pantages Playhouse.
Tickets went on sale last week, and in the first 6 days, 600 tickets sold! One man bought 100!
At this rate, the show will be sold out long before the snow flies! So, if you have friends, relatives, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins or grandmothers in Winnipeg, let them know they better buy tickets now, or they will miss out.
Tickets for Winter Harp in Winnipeg November 24 are $32 and available by calling 866-656-6838.
Call today – or you may be too late!

Music and Plants: "Our Amps Go To Zero"

2006-11-20T04:35:00.000-08:00

A quick search on the net about plants and music will quickly turn up a myriad of articles all pretty much espousing the same thing: plants shrivel and die if exposed to non-stop Rap or Heavy Metal, but blossom and bloom when exposed to Bach, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and classical Indian Sitar music. To most people, this probably sounds reasonable. One weeps for today's youth when they drive by in their lowered and amplified cars, pumping out thousands of watts of sound and making the car alternately implode and explode in time to a pulsing thud. "Our amps go to 11." Thus, the idea that nature, and plants in particular, side with what is largely perceived as civilized tastes resounds with reason and echoes our own particular wishes. "Our amps go to 0". It's a shame that it's just not the case. There is no research to prove that plants prefer baroque music. Were that it were so....

There is a huge amount of pseudoscience around this topic, but hard scientific information is, to say the least sketchy. Given the same sound levels, frequency outputs, and all other conditions being identical, plants do not seem to care what music is played. There is a catch, however. Plants do seem to grow better with music than without, the current thinking being that sound tends to excite plant tissue on a molecular level which causes the plant to regenerate and grow bigger roots and leaves which aids in nutrient and photosynthetic absorption, etc. But apparently only to a point. Loud sonic vibration can permanently damage cell membranes. This is probably the origin of much of the bad science regarding rock n' roll and plants withering.The fact of the matter is that plants have been growing for millions of years, and have been doing so surrounded by all the things they need to thrive - birds, bugs, wind, water , all of which produce sound. Growing in absolute silence is a completely unnatural environment for most plants. Sonic vibrations which most closely mimics natural sounds are likely to produce better growing results. That already narrows the taste in music to accoustic. Do sitars and baroque harpsichords sound more like birds and bugs than, say, Snoop Doggy Dogg? Probably. ( I only mention the famous Gangsta rapper as an example because, in a bizarre twist, Winter Harp played side by side with Mr. Dogg in a twin theatre complex in Calgary a few years ago. I can imagine patrons arriving at the multiplex going, "well, Winter Harp is sold out, let's go see Snoop").

Aside from corn, plants don't have ears (it's a joke, see?) so their perception of sound is already going to be very different. However, they do sense vibration very accurately. One plant that responds particularly well to sound-induced vibration is Mimosa pudica, also known as the "sensitive plant." Vibrations induce electrical signals across the leaflets of this plant, and cells at the base of the leaflets respond to these action potentials osmotically. This response results in a sharp change in the turgor pressure in the pulvinus cells, and that pressure change, in turn, results in the folding of the blade at the pulvinus. Another pulvinus at the base of the petiole may also respond if the vibration is severe enough. How would this plant respond in terms of growth if its leaves were kept closed by constant vibration? If you think very long about photosynthesis in leaves as the driving force for growth, you will realize that continuous leaflet closure would inhibit rather than stimulate the growth of the plant.

One of the first people to systematically study plant growth and the stimuli involved was also the very first person to send and receive radio waves. You're probably thinking "Marconi studied plants?" Actually, no he didn't. But he was not the inventor of the radio either, despite the fact that he usually gets credit for it. Jagadis Chandra Bose sent and received radio waves in 1895, more than two full years before Marconi. Would the fact that he was a Bengali explain his relative lack of recognition for this feat? Marconi had the best equipment and worked within the scientific community in Europe. Bose did it virtually in isolation, using equipment he invented using tools that he built himself, in Calcutta. Marconi patented everything, and became quite wealthy, marrying into nobility and eventually becoming one of the leaders of the Italian Fascist party. Bose did not believe in patents, and thought that all knowledge should be for the benefit of all humanity. It is pretty obvious which is the more significant achievement. Bose went on to write several incredible books (now out of print and very difficult to get) regarding hundreds of experiments he conducted determining the nature of plant consciousness.Bose demonstrated that plant tissues under different kinds of stimuli like mechanical, application of heat, electric shock, chemicals and drugs, produce electric response very similar to that produced by animal tissues.

For his investigations Bose invented several novel and highly sensitive instruments. Among these the most important one was the Crescograph -an instrument for measuring the growth of a plant. It could record a growth as small as 1/100,000 inch per second. Bose’s experiments on plants were mostly performed on Minosa pudica and the results were astonishing. In all his investigations Bose attempted to offer original interpretations and to devise models which were illustrative of the physical basis of memory. He claimed that plants can "feel pain, understand affection etc," from the analysis of the nature of variation of the cell membrane potential of plants, under different circumstances. According to him a plant treated with care and affection gives out a different vibration compared to a plant subjected to torture.

In short, it seems that plants do not respond well to Rap, Heavy Metal, Industrial, Thrash, Punk, Hip-Hop, and many other current musical trends at the sound levels which these styles of music are intended to be performed and played at. Plants do seem to grow better with Early Music, Baroque, and most accoustic music when it is played at sound levels which correspond to the original unamplified sound. But that's the catch. Plants probably would not like Wagner or Berlioz played at full concert volume, but probably would enjoy Led Zepplin's unplugged accoustic music. If plants could speak, likely they would not be saying "turn it up," but rather more likely they would say "turn if off!"

Ancient Computers

2006-11-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

Speaking of solstices, equinoxes and the gloom of Winter, I recently finished reading a very interesting book by Professor D. De Solla Price on ancient analogue computers, specifically: The Antikythera device. This probably should be one of the major jaw-droppers of the 21st century. As usual, fact *IS* stranger than fiction, though it rarely gets the press play that fiction does.

Basically the Antikythera device is a clockwork analogue computer built by an ancient Greek mathematician from Rhodes in the first century BC. It was on board a Roman ship that sank 2100 years ago and was discovered by sponge divers in 1901. So heavily encrusted was the machine that it laid around in the back room of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens for over half a century before X-rays revealed the nature of the intricate mechanism. The computer is designed to accurately predict the position of the earth, moon, sun and various planets visible to the naked eye for any given date by simply turning a handle to the date in question. Keep in mind that the device dates from 80 BC, or about 1600 years before Galileo was almost burned at the stake for publishing the fact that the earth revolved around the sun. That such a device existed at all before the time of Leonardo da Vinci is so mind-bogglingly amazing, and the assumptions about the knowledge of the solar system so incredibly advanced, that it only opens up the question of what else the ancients knew about which we still haven't discovered? An earlier Scientific American article by Dr. De Solla Price suggests that the beginnings of clockwork in Europe actually were as a result of the Arab's familiarity with ancient Greek writings which have subsequently been lost to us. Through the Moorish conquests in Spain and the Crusades the information may have been transmitted to Europe. He concludes by saying:

On the one hand the Islamic devices knit the whole story together, and demonstrate that it is through ancestry and not mere coincidence that the Antikythera mechanism resembles a modern clock. On the other hand they show that the Antikythera mechanism was no flash in the pan but was a part of an important current in Hellenistic civilisation. History has contrived to keep that current dark to us, and only the accidental underwater preservation of fragments that would otherwise have crumbled to dust has now brought it to light. It is a bit frightening to know that just before the fall of their great civilisation the ancient Greeks had come so close to our age, not only in their thought, but also in their scientific technology

An orrery maker in England has made a modern reconstruction of the Antikythera device based on De Solla's research. More recent research has given us an even better understanding of the device and its potential. Such companies as Hewlett Packard (makers of digital computers!) have built specific surface mapping technology especially for this project. Here is a link to a good introduction to the history and significance of this object.

The Dark of December

2006-11-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

It is such a delight to work on Winter Harp, that once the endless rains of winter start, I’m not bothered by them. In fact, I’m thankful. The rain keeps me indoors. People complain that the rain and the dark makes them depressed. But I’m so focused on the music and the beauty of the carols and the stories, that the weather is immaterial.
I sit by the fire, play the First Noel on my harp and listen to the continuous drumming of the rain on the roof. It’s cozy. It’s right. It’s winter. It is everything Winter Harp is about.
The cold, dark and damp forces us inside both physically and metaphorically. In less than two months the days will start getting longer and spring will be on its way. Time passes. Darkness turns, once again, to light.
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December:
‘We are nearer to spring than we were in November.’
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.

- Lori

Non-Human Music

2006-11-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

I found this site amusing, it surprised me that scientists were this slow to discover that other mammals besides humans were capable of reproducing musical "rhythms." I've had discussions with ethnomusicologists who insist that music is exclusive to humans. I am not convinced.

Many animals in nature sing, but we humans have arbitrarily decided that only we can produce this narrowly defined concept we refer to as music. At least, that's what scientists would have us believe. My personal experience has proven to me that this is wrong. I've always known that some animals love to sing, and I've had wonderful duets with dogs I've owned. Coyotes often get together to have a choral sing-along in the evenings. I remember hearing them while hiking in the Chilcotin. Some people find these choral fests eerie or freightening. I've always loved the sound - to quote Bram Stoker "Listen to them -the children of the night. What sad music they make." The English word "coyote" in fact, is derived from the same Spanish word, which itself was borrowed from the Aztec word "cóyotl" which means "singing dog".

I used to volunteer at the Aquarium many years ago, and I remember one morning, as I was cleaning a window with a squeegy, a whale came up to the glass and started singing. This was not all that unusual. What was different was that she started to sing in a pitch very similar to the sound of the squeegy. So I started making the squeegy pulse - skree- skree-skree. And she repeated this same pattern. Cool! I thought. So then I started playing the 1812 Overture with the squeegy. Amazingly, the whale reproduced the tune reasonably closely. We just stared at each other for a few moments after that in silence. My friend Tony and I quit volunteering shortly after that - keeping whales in captivity is wrong for so many reasons, but for me it was that one event that changed everything. Whale songs are nothing new, but this whale was singing my song.

Authenticity

2006-11-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

I went to a very interesting lecture on Saturday at UBC, part of the Vancouver Institute's always excellent lineup of speakers. Professor Robert Silverman, School of Music, UBC, talked about why he played Mozart on a "real" piano, vs. a pianoforte. He argued that Mozart would have done anything for a piano that does what modern pianos can do, and that the instruments of his day were not capable of the expression that modern piano's are capable of. As well, Professor Silverman noted that were Mozart alive now, he would most certainly be playing a modern piano. By way of example, he played the same piece of Mozart (on a modern Yamaha Conservatory grand) imitating, with only slight exaggeration, what it would have sounded like were it played on a pianoforte, and then what it would have sounded if someone played it in a 19th century Romantic style, i.e.: historically uninformed. Finally, Silverman played the same piece trying to express what Mozart really intended. There is no doubt that Professor Silverman is a great interpreter of Mozart, and is immensely talented. The differences were really very significant.

I couldn't help thinking about his comment that Mozart, were he alive now, would be playing a modern piano. I'm not so certain. He definitely would not be playing a pianoforte- that I can accept. But would he play a modern piano? Like Bach, Scarlatti, and Beethoven, (and many other famous composers) Mozart was always looking for the best - instruments that were capable of expressing every nuance of their artistic vision, instruments that did not interfere with this expression, and which were the ultimate interface between emotion and sound. I would tend to think that Mozart, were he alive today, would not be writing music that sounded anything like the Mozart that we know. Mozart would probably be a composer of mega Broadway musicals, and he would probably moonlight as a keyboardist in a punk band at night. Bach would be behind a stack of electronic keyboards hooked up to a powerful computer, carefully crafting his mathematical fugues with 144 different counterpoint lines. In his lifetime, Bach accumulated quite a good collection of keyboards, mostly harpsichords, but as well he had a number of clavichords, and interestingly enough, two lautenwerks. I think that is pretty indicative of the fact that he was after the latest and greatest, and was not necessarily married to harpsichords or pipe organs. It’s just that these were the instruments of the day, and that is what he composed for.

The “limitations” or idiomatic particulars of each instrument are critical in understanding music composed specifically for that instrument. The harpsichord is not capable of a great deal of difference in volume, no matter how hard you pound on the keys (and this does the instrument no good whatsoever). To vary the volume within a piece of music a composer simply wrote in more notes. More notes, more sound, less notes, less sound. To play Bach on the piano, no matter how beautiful played, is a bit anachronistic. To play Mozart on a modern piano is similarly out of context, but the results in both cases probably justify the transposition. Glenn Gould owned a harpsichord and played it to work through much of what he later recorded on a piano. The nuance and subtleties that the mechanics of the earlier instrument provides often gives an important insight into the mind of the composer and what he was trying to create.

The harpsichord was in general use for over 400 years until the piano reached a state of development that made it a practical instrument. The harpsichord, then, can be considered a fully developed and “finished” instrument. It has reached the zenith of its technological evolution. Modern “enhancements” the use of metal, plastic, and plywood, have not been generally regarded as improvements, and in the field of harpsichord building, authenticity is regarded as the hallmark of a fine instrument. The same cannot be said for pianos. There are several historical instances of early pianofortes being converted into harpsichords, which tells us that early pianos were probably not the best. With the advent of mass produced cast iron and factory made movements of great precision, even a person of modest means can own an instrument that would have been a technological marvel in Mozart’s time.

In my opinion, Professor Silverman is correct in his conclusions of why playing Mozart on a modern piano is justified. I’m just not convinced it’s because that’s what the original composers would have done had they been alive today. I’m also equally certain that they would not be composing the type of music that the constraints and idiosyncrasies of their instruments afforded them.

In a way, this is almost the opposite of the issues that we face in Winter Harp. Some of the instruments we play are very ancient indeed, but we are by no means early music purists. Using early instruments- Celtic harps, psalteries, clay drums, etc. is mostly a conscious decision to avoid the familiar sound of their modern counterparts. What’s curious is that many people have commented that some of our instruments have a decidedly electronic sound to them.

I guess you can only relate to what you know…