Two Hip Harps … and 50 Improvising Harpists
I’ve just wrapped up the first stop of my Europe Tour — a sold-out 2-Harp concert with my friend, harpist Evelyn Huber in Landshut, Germany with – near Munich – followed by a 2-Day “Improv Adventure Workshop” with 50 harpists – all masterminded by the amazing harpist Susan Kaiser and her group of creative adventurers: Harfenfreunde Landshut.
On Stage …
Our program featured jazz-inspired improvisations on two completely different electric harps, both developed by the CAMAC Harp company. Evelyn plays a Concert Grand Electro-Acoustic pedal harp and I play a wearable, 11-lb carbon-fibre “DHC” – my signature electric harp.
Decades ago, Evelyn came to study with me in the USA for an extended jazz residency in the Boston area, then took everything I taught her and created an amazing life of improv and collaboration. We reconnected during the Pandemic, when she premiered and recorded my concerto “Soñando en Español” in Europe with the Salzburg Philharmonic.
One of my favorite moments of this show was when Evelyn played the first movement of that Concerto, “My Mother’s Mexican Hat,” as a solo tour-de-force – and I got to hear the audience roar with applause at the end. For a composer, that’s the greatest experience in the world.
Sneaking a Peek …
Wondering what I was doing here?
I was checking out Evelyn’s pedals.
Wanna know why?
Evelyn plays a pedal harp. I play a lever harp primarily, but for years I also played pedal harp. And when you play pedal harp, the first thing you do when playing a piece, is to set your pedals in the key you’ll play the piece in.
And I had completely forgotten what key we’d be playing in.
So I was sneaking a peek to see how Evelyn had set her pedals … thinking I was so nonchalant that nobody would notice .
Can you see me in the middle of the aisle in the Left Hand photo above – surrounded by this beautiful sea of audience? One of the things I love about the harp I play – the “DHC” harp, aka the electric body-harp, aka the HipHarp – is that I can literally walk off the stage and into the audience with the instrument and because it’s electric and wireless, my sound is the same as when I’m on stage.
So for the last song of the show I walking into the audience and sang with them – and oh what beautiful voices they had.
Improv Adventure Workshop …
After our concert, I spent the next 2 days with 50 wonderful harpists all ready and willing to learn to improvise! One of my favorite moments was hearing them all playing the dramatic flourish at the end of Baroque Flamenco: I cannot tell you what a thrilling sound it was to hear 50 harpists playing the last few bars of Baroque Flamenco with passion and rhythm — I’ve never heard anything like it! This photo shows where all that magic happened!
Meet the Team and All the Improv Adventurers!
It takes a whole team to manage a creative adventure like this one and this is the Landshut Harfenfreunde Team for this adventure: from Left to right: Susanne Kaiser, DHC, Evelyn Huber, Jana Günther and Magdalena Gosch.
The Improv Adventurers!
And here are the adventurers (well, most of them) — I only wish you could have heard what I heard from the stage – the creativity, the rhythm, the fire, the great questions, the wonderful discoveries. Thank you to every harpist in this wonderful group for a truly adventurous and wonderful two days with music!
A Note to the Adventurers
You were AMAZING! You sang, you danced, you laid down on the floor and listened to the harps around you, you asked questions, your rhythm was SO powerful, your insights were beautiful, you blew Baroque Flamenco out the roof and together we learned so much about the ways Cats and Dogs Giggle. It was truly an adventure and YOU made it so. Thank you!!!
A Perfect Gift …
Another wonderful gift of this trip was the chance to meet in person with members of Hip Harp Academy – people I know so well from our online improv classes: Christina Specht, Frank von der Heide, Lila Weise, me, Rebekka Riebl, Monika Amler and a new friend who joined us for the photo.
I was so proud to have them there – to see their self-confidence, their creativity, and their strong rhythm as 50 harps played “Cats and Dogs Giggle” an improv game that uses the chords C, A, D & G.
But there was another gift! When the concert presenter stepped to the stage after our final piece with gorgeous flowers for Evelyn and me, Christina, from Hip Harp Academy followed with this marvelous green running backpack! And there’s a story behind that, too!
This backpack was an amazing gift because it all goes back to a story I told the Academy after a running adventure, when I ran 2+ miles to a Doctor’s appointment one morning just after a snow storm when my car wouldn’t start. Somewhere along the way, I lost ONE backup shoe out of my backpack (and amazingly found it a day later 2 miles from home propped up on a fencepost).
But just so I would never have to lose a backup shoe on a run again, they gave me a running backpack that fit perfectly and was light and small and, for me, a perfect gift!
I didn’t even know there was such a thing – and now I have one! Thank you!!! Plus it was so wonderful to hear their strong rhythm and great takeaways during the workshop – I was so proud!
With organizer and harpist Susanne Kaiser and the wonderful poster she made (which doubled as a cover for the 64-page workshop handout).
Evelyn Huber with the “2 Hip Harps in Concert” poster — our first Duo concert, after performing together with the Salzburg Philharmonic in 2023.
I put my hand in this photo so you can see how gargantuan this Pretzel they gave me was – filled with cheese, tomatoes, meat – classic Bavarian party food.
Harpists Who Dare
Ready to liberate yourself from the notes on the page?
PROJECTS & PERFORMANCES:
FOR HARPISTS:
- Join Hip Harp Academy
- Harp Time Live (FREE Weekly Playalong)
- FREE Resources
Is the 64 page book from the Paris Tour available?