Composer’s Spotlight: Shoshanna Godber performs ‘Baroque Flamenco’

Composer’s Spotlight Series: Shoshanna Godber plays ‘Baroque Flamenco’

Shoshanna Godber shares insights about her playing “Baroque Flamenco,” a piece she finds exhilarating, empowering, and fun to play. Her audiences are captivated by her rendition, with one person noting feeling hypnotized. She was drawn to the piece for its rhythmic complexity and the opportunity it offers to showcase the harp’s versatility.

Performing “Baroque Flamenco” since 2017, Shoshanna finds it inspiring, even influencing her own compositions. She advises potential learners to embrace the piece’s flexibility and encourages lever harpists to incorporate aspects of the pedal harp version for added challenge.

Working with Baroque Flamenco composer Deborah Henson-Conant (DHC) could provide valuable insights beyond what sheet music offers, particularly in having a passion for the performance and assisting with rearrangements for lever harps.

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Shoshanna Godber

Shoshanna Godber is a Canadian harpist, singer, pianist, and banjo player who discovered her passion for the harp during her Bachelor of Music at the University of British Columbia. Shoshanna performs a diverse repertoire, from Celtic, to classical, to contemporary pieces, and she enjoys collaborating with her guitarist husband. Shoshanna has recorded three children’s folk music albums and published over 40 arrangements and compositions for harp and voice, solo harp and harp ensemble. Since 2012 Shoshanna has taught harp and directed a harp ensemble at the Conservatory and loves empowering her students to achieve their harp dreams.

Continue reading below for the full interview with Shoshanna Godber

A Mini-Interview with Shoshanna

How would you describe your experience of playing the piece?

Exhilarating, empowering, passionate and fun!

What do people say when you play this piece? Do you have favorite memories of people’s reactions to it?

People are always captivated and amazed by this piece. My favourite comment was someone saying that I had “totally hypnotized them” especially as it came from someone who typically doesn’t like harp music!

What drew you to this piece – why did you choose to learn it?

I love the rhythm and tonality of Spanish music. “Baroque Flamenco” has so much passion and really shows off how the harp can do more than just play angelic music. I was also drawn to the special techniques (strumming the harp like a guitar and tapping on the soundboard).

What does this piece add to your repertoire (and/or your life) that you didn’t have before?

I have been performing “Baroque Flamenco” since 2017, and it never gets old! It was the first piece I played with strumming and tapping and has inspired my own composing/arranging journey.

What would you tell someone else who’s thinking of learning this piece that you wish you’d known before you learned it?

I think DHC does a great job of explaining everything in the sheet music and welcoming performers to make it their own. I don’t think there’s anything I wished I knew before learning it, but I do think it’s useful for more advanced lever harpists to realize that they can incorporate a lot of the pedal harp version into the lever harp version if they want the added challenge.

What do you think you can get from working directly with the composer of the piece that you can’t get from the sheet music?

DHC is so incredibly energetic and creative; I’m sure she would have valuable insight into injecting passion into the performance. Sheet music can only communicate so much. I would imagine that DHC would also be able to help lever harpers incorporate parts of the pedal harp version if they need assistance rearranging things.

Please follow this artist on social media and let them know what has opened up for your own self-expression in seeing and hearing their performance, and please share in the comments below.

Website: shoshannagodber.com
Instagram: @shoshannagodber
Facebook: Shoshanna Godber
Youtube: Shoshanna Godber

Stay tuned for more artists soon and check out my Composer’s Spotlight blog series, featuring other talented musicians who played my song!