 Press
Release
Creative
Fireworks 2011: Two Unusual
Harpists create One Unusual
Event in Delaware, Ohio
GRAMMY®-Nominated
Electric Harpist, Deborah Henson-Conant,
presents a 4-Hour Hands-on Creative
Discovery Performance based on
her Concert-Lecture "Strings
of Passion"
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WHO: GRAMMY® Nominated
Electric Harpist: Deborah
Henson-Conant
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WHAT: Discovery
Performance Event (Combination
Performance, Lecture
and Workshop)
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WHEN: Friday,
July 1st, 2011 / 6pm
- 10pm
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WHERE: Private
Home near Columbus, Ohio
(Delaware, Ohio)
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PRICE: $139
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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
-
MEDIA INQUIRIES or to SCHEDULE
INTERVIEWS: Beatriz
Harley info@HipHarp.com
/ 781-483-3556 |
Imagine
this: In a private
home,
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
local harpist Trista
Hill
heard that the “renegade
of the harp world,”
Deborah Henson-Conant (DHC),
was coming to Ohio for a
4th of July performance
with the Ohio Valley Symphony
in Gallipolis, Hill seized
the chance to bring DHC’s
dynamic energy and artistic
philosophies a little further
north to the central Ohio
community.
DHC
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.
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
she heard DHC would
be in
Ohio, Hill invited her
to give Columbus-area
artists
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.
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.”
"When
you see a chance to
share
an essential life experience,
you grab it," Hill
says of producing this
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. And perfect
for the Independence Day
weekend, it's like
a personal, creative Fourth
of July
celebration - complete
with artistic
fireworks!"
"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/2011-ohio-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
This
July 1st "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
-
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
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