 Press
Release
Creative
Fireworks 2011: Two Unusual
Harpists create One Unusual
Event ... and a Third joins
them to bring it to Pennsylvania
GRAMMY®-Nominated
Electric Harpist, Deborah Henson-Conant,
presents a Creative
Discovery Event in Pottstown,
PA based on her Concert/Seminar "Strings
of Passion"
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WHO: GRAMMY® Nominated
Electric Harpist: Deborah
Henson-Conant
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WHAT: Discovery
Performance Event, "Fireworks
for the Creative Spirit"
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WHEN: Tue.
Sept. 27, 2011 at 7 -
9:30 pm
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WHERE: Tri-Count
Performance Arts Center -
245 E. High St. - Pottstown,
PA 19464
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PRICE: $99
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EVENT INFO: Information
about the event
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ARTIST WEBSITE: http://www.HipHarp.com
-
HI-RES IMAGES: http://www.hipharp.com/pressphotos.html
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MEDIA INQUIRIES or to SCHEDULE
INTERVIEWS: Beatriz
Harley info@HipHarp.com
/ 781-483-3556 |
Imagine
this: In a private location, a
world-class performer shares her
creative process and principles
with a small group of creative
artists who then try them out on
the spot.
When
harpist Trista Hill
heard that the “renegade
of the harp world,” Deborah
Henson-Conant (DHC),
was coming to her area
for a performance with
a local symphony, Hill
seized the chance to
bring DHC’s dynamic
energy and artistic
philosophies to her
own community in Ohio.
Together,
they developed a workshop
that would combine
DHC's philosopies,
lifetime of experience
and intimate performance
style into
a one-of-a-kind experience
for artist of all levels:
an opportunity to “Experience,
Discover and Embody” the
artist’s concepts
through an intensive
and completely unique
4-hour performance-workshop.
The
first event was so
successful that the
two have taken the
workshop on the road,
in conjunction with
DHC's 12-State
fall performance tour,
and innovative harpists
and harp societies
along her tour-route
are hosting the event.
Says
Hill: "This is a
one-of-a-kind opportunity
to basically climb into
the mind of a world-renowned
creative artist along
with a very small group
of audience-participants.”
On
Tue. Sept. 27, from 7:00
- 9:30pm, the "MatchBox
Version" (a shorter,
2.5 hour version of
the full 4-Hour seminar) will
be held at the Tri-County
Performing
Arts Center in Pottstown,
PA, hosted by radio
station WPAZ' "Morning Show"
host Betsy Chapman, herself
a harpist.
Deborah
Henson-Conant is a GRAMMY®-Nominated
recording artist, whose
music special "Invention
and Alchemy" has
appeared on PBS stations
across the
US. She plays an
instrument that was invented
specifically
for her - a kind of "Hyper-Harp"
she straps on and plays
like an electric guitar.
She also teaches, and
for
the past five years local
harpist Trista Hill has
travelled to Maine each
summer for a week-long
performance
intensive with DHC - so
she knows DHC's work
both
as a performer and a teacher
as few others in the
country
do.
Collaborator
Trista Hill is an unconventional
teacher and performer
herself. She
has a studio of over
30 students in
Delaware,
OH, is U.S.
Representative
of the International Jazz
Harp Foundation and performs
and records as a soloist
and with local
jazz, folk, pop, and alternative
rock bands/musicians.
"When
you see a chance to
share
an essential life experience,
you grab it," Hill
says of producing the
original "Fireworks
..." event.
"Deborah has a unique
ability to reveal her
artistic
process at the moment she's
creating it. This
openeness, combined with
guided 'play,'
helps the audience-participants
discover their own authentic
voices. That's
liberating, revolutionary,
and exhilarating
-- and exactly the kind
of experience I'm excited
to share with my students
and other area artists
and
musicians."
"This
creative workshop is
open to all levels and
all media
- music,
theater,
dance, writing, etc.,"
Hill and DHC explain, "because
an essential part of mastery
is the ability to see things
anew. That needs to happen
at every stage of artistic
exploration - and beginners
can often provide a fresh
perspective and
challenge assumptions
that have become invisible
to 'professionals.' So
including all levels
in one workshop enriches
the experience
for everyone"
Read
more at the event's website:
http://www.hipharp.com/events/fireworks.htm
Why
combine performance
and
workshop?
A message from
the artist:
As
artists, we're influenced
by art, ideas and our own
artistic expression. My
goal is to combine these
three influencers in one
focused creative experience.
I
started developingthis
idea about five years ago,
when
I
was asked
to present at the Boston "Ideas"
Conference, similar "TED"
events. I requested to
appear near the end of the
two-day conference, and went
to every other presentation.
I created a basic structure
for my own presentation,
leaving myself open to be
inspired by all the other
presentations.
It was one of the most explosive
and exciting 20 minutes
of
my life, and I still get
feedback about it.
I
came away determined to
find ways to combine:
-
Experiencing a
master presenting in their
own creative format
-
Discovering the ideas
that form the foundation
of their work
- Embodying
those two things in one's
own creative
expression
The "Creative
Fireworks"
event combines
three elements
in
way
that permits and supports
expressive freedom and new
ideas for the audience
of artists and musicians.
 About
the Instrument:
or...
How We Made the Racing Bike of
the Instrument World
Invented
for Henson-Conant by
Europe's top harp builder,
CAMAC, DHC's instrument
is a
hybrid of guitar, harp
and racing-bike
technology,
a 32-string, carbon-fibre,
fully electric instrument
that’s named for
her, the “DHC
Blue Light.” It
was built specifically
for Henson-Conant's performances,
shows that combine theater,
music, movement and stories
and that need an instrument
that can range convincingly
from ethereal ballads to
all-out distorted Blues.
About
the Artist:
Described
as "the Jimi Hendrix
of the harp,"
by electric guitar legend
Steve Vai, Deborah Henson-Conant
is known for mixing theater
and music in styles from Flamenco
to Blues. She's opened for
Ray Charles
at Tanglewood,
toured with the Boston
Pops, jammed onstage
with Bobby McFerrin
and offstage with Steven
Tyler, premiered
her works with ensembles from
the National Symphony
Orchestra to the
Prague Radio Orchestra
and starred in two music specials
on PBS. She's
won grants from the NEA
and "Meet the
Composer," and
a GRAMMY®
nomination for crossover classical
project "Invention and
Alchemy." She’s
been interviewed by Scott
Simon, Charlie Rose, Studs
Terkel, Joan Rivers
and featured in stories on
NBC, CBS, CNN and
NPR and yes,
the Food Network.
Press
Quotes
"Reshaping
the serenely Olympian harp
into a jazz instrument by
warping it closer to the Blues."
New York Times
“ ...
dazzling harp playing, gorgeous
jazz/pop singing, comic timing
and impressive songwriting” Austin
American-Statesman “
Striking flamenco sparks from the
strings … wrenching distorted
bends worthy of Eddie Van Halen … belting
gutbucket blues and crooning lullabies … the
intense focus commanded by a master
storyteller.” Springfield
Union-News
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Click
here for more press quotes
ARTIST
WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA:
• Website: http://www.HipHarp.com
• Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/HipHarp
• Blog: http://hipharp.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/HipHarpist
• YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/HipHarpist
For
more artist info or to schedule
an interview, contact:
Beatriz Harley, info@HipHarp.com,
781-483-3556
More Info: http://www.hipharp.com/publicity.html
Hi-Res Images: http://www.hipharp.com/pressphotos.html
|
"I
experienced a workshop, discussion,
interaction and concert all in
one evening! It seemed perfect
for everyone present, and there
were a variety of age groups,
skill levels, harp people of
various styles, yet we were all
focused and excited to be there
..." Miriam
Brown 