Press Release

WHO: Grammy Nominated Recording Artist & Electric Harpist: Deborah Henson-Conant
WHAT: "Electra's Lyre" A Mini-One-Woman-Musical -- plus tunes from touring show & upcoming album
WHEN: Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 8pm
WHERE: The Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington, MA
TIX: Tickets are $22 - $50 (Student Tix: $15): Order by phone at 781-646-4849, online
Online Info:http://www.hipharp.com/events/2011-Regent-May.html
MORE INFO / TO SCHEDULE INTERVIEW: Beatriz Harley: 781-483-3556 info@HipHarp.com
ARTIST WEBSITE: http://www.HipHarp.com
HI-RES IMAGES: http://www.hipharp.com/pressphotos.html

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Every performing artist has an incubator theater, a place they unveil new works. For Grammy-Nominated electric harpist Deborah Henson-Conant, it's the Regent Theatre in Arlington. Just back from a sold-out concert with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, Henson-Conant, is using her May 7th Mother's Day Eve show at the Regent Theatre in Arlington to unveil a new work-in-progress.

" Electra's Lyre" which Henson-Conant calls a "Mini One-Woman Musical" will open the show. The rest of the evening includes tunes from Henson-Conant's upcoming album, story-music pieces, and audience favorites from her touring show. Henson-Conant is known as the world's foremost electric harpist. She tours internationally and plays an instrument that was built specifically for her, the "DHC Blue-Light." Her shows all feature the electric harp, voice and songwriting that garnered her a Grammy-Nomination and her own PBS music special in 2006.

ABOUT THE FEATURED PIECE: 'Electra's Lyre' is a Mini One-Woman Musical, a humorous look at Karl Jung's concept of the 'Electra Complex,' (the flip side of Freud's 'Oedipal Complex'). In story and myth - it's the Electra Complex that accounts for those two spectacular mother-characters, the Evil Stepmother and the Fairy Godmother, basically opposite sides of the same persona. 'Electra's Lyre' is the story of one woman's visit to the world of Electra in music, story, humor and movement. "A perfect theme for Mother's Day Eve," according to the composer.

Henson-Conant has made a tradition of treating Regent Theater audiences to the first glimpse of new works. Her November 2010 show at the Regent Theater featured a similar piece called "Honey, I Shrunk the Harp!" A 20-minute mini-musical that literally shrunk her harp on-stage.

Both are part of a new style of work she's developing: Mini One-Woman Musicals that combine story, costume, music, humor and movement, each created from 5 or 6 smaller pieces, all connected by one story or concept and using electric harp, voice and looper pedals.

Audiences will see that in action Sat. May 7th at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, at 8pm.

About the Instrument:
or ... How we made the Racing Bike of the Instrument World

The instrument, a 32-string, 11-lb carbon-fibre electric hybrid, was invented for Henson-Conant by the CAMAC company in France, built specifically for her performances:shows that combine theater, music, movement and stories – a kind of high-energy solo Nouvelle-Cabaret that requires a lot of physical freedom, and a sound that can range convincingly from ethereal ballads to all-out distorted blues.

"I spent the last 2 decades working with CAMAC to shrink my instrument from a 6-foot-tall symphonic behemoth to an 11-pound carbon-fiber electric powerhouse," says Henson-Conan, who will feature the harness-able carbon-fibre instrument at the solo show Sat. May 7th at the Regent.

"We went through the same developmental arc as computers: reducing the size and increasing the power.My concept was to take everything great about the concert harp and put it in an interface that’s more like electric guitar" In 2009 we hit a roadblock - hardware improvements were making the instrument too heavy to wear. We had to come up with a completely new structural concept. So to create the new ultra-light instrument, the CAMAC company, which is based in France, turned to the French racing bike builders and eventually used similar technology to build the instrument's structural frame."

"Now that I finally have the instrument in my hands, I'm creating every kind of repertoire possible for it: from symphonic shows like I did last month in Washington, to shows like this that use costume, story and humor. At the same time, I'm combining the electric harp with technologies that are more familiar to electric guitarists and rock-players, like distortion pedals and loopers.

“With these two instruments alone – the harp and the looper -- I can create the experience of a full ensemble – but because I’m solo, I’m completely free to respond artistically, to change the show spontaneously. And because of the harp’s size and weight, only 11 pounds, I can move around the stage freely. If you look at all this purely in terms of technology, I'm now creating the new applications for this new interface. But this gorgeous combination of ancient and new gives me a huge creative palette to work with." (Deborah Henson-Conant)

About the Theater

"This is a great old Vaudeville theater, with a deep, wide stage with plenty of room to move around, a decent lightboard and great sound. The seats are comfortable and there's not an obstructed view in the house. It's also about 6 blocks from my house, so when I moved here, I kind of adopted it as 'my' theater. It's where I try out all my new ideas -- and 'Electra's Lyre' is the newest." (Deborah Henson-Conant)

Artist Bio
Deborah Henson-Conant is a Grammy-Nominated composer-performer and the world’s premiere electric harpist. She sings, plays and tells stories in Nouvelle- Cabaret shows that combine styles from Flamenco to Blues. She’s toured internationally, debuted with the Boston Pops, opened for Ray Charles at Tanglewood, jammed onstage with Bobby McFerrin and offstage with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and starred in her own music special on PBS, “Invention & Alchemy.” She's been featured on shows from CBS’ “Sunday Morning” and NBC’s “Today Show” to NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and interviewed by hosts and journalists from Scott Simon, Susan Stamberg and Studs Terkel to Charlie Rose and Joan Rivers.

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

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