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Dear Friends and Fans, It's nearing that time of the year again. No, not just the time for raking leaves and packing mittens, but for my birthday! And where there's a birthday, a BIRTHDAY BASH is sure to follow! In order to publicly celebrate my dread of birthdays (beginning at the ripe age of 19) I started performing birthday concerts, and it's still my favorite way to celebrate a year -- and this year I have LOTS to celebrate, from the world premiere of my new One-Woman Musical "What the Hell are You Doing in the Waiting Room for Heaven??" (read fan and press reviews here and read about the past performance here) to a successful Guinness World Record attempt in Amsterdam (read my recent article about it here). This year is also a personal milestone for me. The song I wrote for my 40th birthday, "Congratulations, You Made it This Far," has a special meaning for me this year, since, as of this birthday, I will be older than my mother ever was. While that's a bittersweet achievement, it's a real celebration -- also, frankly, a relief -- this is a birthday I've always dreamed of achieving. So, come celebrate with me if you can. Last year's Birthday Bash sold out and we added a second show -- this year we've skipped the middle step and have two concerts right from the start! Like last year, this year's concerts are at the beautiful old Firehouse Center in Newburyport, MA, which has been restored as a gorgeous new theatre (and I especially love it because some of my favorite 19th Century writers performed here over 100 years ago). So call or go online for tickets now (You can click the image above left to get to the Ordering Webpage for my show). If you can't make it to the Firehouse show, I'll be in Arles, France this month, and in spring and summer 2009 I'm headed on tours to the West Coast, Montana and points beyond! See below for more info. Also, if you're not in the audience to sing "Congratulations" with me in person, you can gather around the piano and sing it at home ("Congrats" Sheet Music is available at HipHarp.com). To read about my current publishing project, "Baroque Flamenco," see below. Happy Fall!
FRANCE - Oct. 25-28: Deborah returns to Arles, France this October as a Special Guest at the 14th Journee de la Harpe, for workshops, concerts, and to attend a variety of special events as a guest of the city! Says DHC: "This small festival in Arles is one of my favorites, and the city is fascinating, especially its famous street markets full of farmer's cheeses, persimmons, spices and exotic thingamajigs (don't ask me what they all are!). If you can't make it, I'll try to take pictures and post them." Reserve tix at the Festival Website. BIRTHDAY BASH!!! Newburyport, MA - Nov. 21 & 22: Deborah returns to the historic Firehouse in Newburyport for TWO nights! The Annual Birthday Bash is a very special show, always lots of fun, and often a quick sell-out -- so order tix NOW at the Firehouse Website or by calling 978-462-7336. HOLIDAY CONCERT with THAYER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in Fitchburg & Leominster, MA - Dec. 13 & 14: TWO special Holiday concerts with the Thayer Symphony Orchestra, special guest DHC and the irrepressible Maestro Wada! Call to buy tickets at 978-466-1800 and see the Tour Page for more info. WEST COAST TOUR - March 2009: Deborah tours the West Coast in March '09, with stops in the S.F. Bay Area, Seattle and we're workin' on Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, BC! Tix on sale NOW for a solo performance at Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park, CA! Call 707-588-3400 for tix! And if you have beloved venues in Southern California, Oregon or other West Coast locations where you'd like to see Deborah, send us the details and we'll forward the info to Deborah's agent! MONTANA TOUR - July 2009: Deborah tours Montana in July '09, including a 3-day stop at the Big Sky Folk Harp Festival, where she'll be teaching workshops and performing live, and a solo show at Myrna Loy Center in Helena, MT! And if you have a favorite venue in Montana or closeby locations where you'd like to see Deborah, send us the details and we'll forward the info to Deborah's agent! SUMMER "PERFORMANCE FOR MUSICIANS" WORKSHOP: We're working on the details for August 2009, so stay tuned! FIND OUT MORE: Stay tuned to these E-Blasts or visit Deborah's Tour Page for updated info. WHAT'S DEBORAH WORKING ON NOW? "BAROQUE FLAMENCO" SHEET MUSIC For years harpists have asked us for a way to play Deborah's fiery harp piece, "Baroque Flamenco" - but creating manuscript for the piece has been a real challenge. "It's challenging in several ways," says Deborah. "For one thing, I improvise a lot in the piece, so there's not a 'set' way I play it. Getting my brain to put one way down on paper and say 'OK, that's the way people will play it' is very tough. It's like having to choose a favorite song and thinking that's the only song you'll ever get to hear! For another thing, it uses so many non-standard techniques that it's very hard to notate - and very tedious to edit. And finally, the piece is so much about the way it's performed that I realized simply creating written manuscript won't get the piece across -- I also need to make a DVD to actually 'show' how the piece is played. So I've been working hard at both the written and the video documentation so that other players can truly learn to play the piece the way I envision it. "Another challenge is that I've made a commitment to myself recently that, when I publish my music, I'll provide three versions of it: one for beginners, one for intermediate players and finally the advanced, or concert version -- that way, people can start on the music when they're beginners, learn the techniques and the playing style, and then graduate to the Intermediate and Concert versions as their technique develops. It's such a fun piece to play, and it's so wonderful to contrast the Flamenco and the Classical styles, that it seemed a shame not to write it such a way that every harpist can play it. "And my final challenge was that I wanted the 'Beginner' and 'Intermediate' versions to be playable on the lever harp as well as the pedal harp. To non-harpists this won't mean much, but for the ever-growing harp community it's important that challenging and exciting pieces be accessible for both types of harps. "So, all in all, this is a huge project for me! I was very lucky to find an advanced-level student, Katrina Thompson, who's interested in playing the piece for her master's concert. Katrina agreed to be my guinea pig in developing the piece, so she and I have been working like crazy to get it finished by November. Wish us luck! And stay tuned!" |
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