September, 2016
Dear BACAHS Members and Friends,
Fall is coming fast upon us as we begin our 2016-2017 Harp Year, following such a busy past year, culminating in achieving the status of American Harp Society Chapter of the Year.
Thank you to all the members who participated in our chapter planning meeting in August and offered great ideas and feedback. Stay tuned as more of these come to fruition. In the meantime, the chapter and its membership are chock-a-block with performances and events. Check out our member news and coming events sections and don’t miss the Member Spotlight, featuring Diana Rowan.
First on the docket in October (date TBA) is our Fall Kickoff Event with Sarah Voynow and her Jazz Trio at the Center for New Music in San Francisco. Then before you know it, it will be time for our ever popular annual Winter Potluck in January, where we’ll be entertained by Jennifer Ellis and her Admiral Launch Duo. February will feature master classes by Susann McDonald, in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Chapter, and finally in May we will present our fourth bi-annual Yvonne La Mothe Schwager Harp Competition, with Winners’ Recital to follow the next week.
Stay tuned as we continue to announce more details and added events as the year unfolds. And as always . . .
Happy Harping!
Alice Yothers and Susie Spiwak
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
DIANA ROWAN by Suki Russack
In light of Diana Rowan’s upcoming Virtual Harp Summit taking place September 14 through 20, I sat down with her to explore her genesis with the harp and her inspiration for the first ever on-line summit.
Diana has been a world traveler since she first left her native Ireland at age five. Her father was in the Irish diplomatic service and took postings all over the world, bringing his family with him.
Diana lived with a Greek family on the island of Cyprus during her high school years. Here she was exposed to the music of Greece, Turkey, the Balkans and the Middle East. She was trained in classical piano, eventually earning a Master’s in Piano Performance, but became entranced by the harp after hearing a concert of Kitka, an Eastern European women’s vocal ensemble, accompanied by Ensemble Alcatraz, which featured harp and other medieval instruments. She told one of her piano students how much she was moved by the concert and discovered that the student owned a tiny William Rees harp. Diana borrowed the harp and began to play. From there, Diana says, “Voila! An obsession was born”.
As Diana became more proficient on the harp, she realized that in order to master this complex instrument and produce the sounds that she dreamed of hearing, she had to have better harp technique. She heard Alice Giles perform in concert at an American Harp Society conference and knew that Alice had the tools that she needed to progress. She spent intensive periods over two years with Alice, taking daily lessons, discovering the intertwining connection between harp interpretation and technique. Without technique, there would be no vehicle for art, and without art, all the technique in the world wouldn’t give her the creative expression she desired.
Along with her study came the discovery that the harp is present in almost all kinds of world music. It forms a bridge between different musical cultures and eras. In fact, this subject became the basis for her Doctoral thesis in Music Theory, which she completed at the National Academy of Music, Bulgaria, in 2014.
When I asked Diana how she had come upon the idea for a Virtual Harp Summit (VHS), which showcases more than 20 master harpists from all over the world, she said that several reasons were the inspiration. First, it was an organic outgrowth of her extensive on-line teaching. Also, she has given many concert tours all over the world, and gathered students from remote areas who want to study harp but who are living in places where there are no opportunities for fulfilling their harp dreams. Having attended and taught at many harp conferences and seeing how rich and valuable such conferences can be for those who can attend, Diana wanted to bring a harp conference to harpists wherever they may live. Because Diana has given concerts all over the world, she has met many wonderful harpists who aren’t able to travel to the US, but deserve a broader audience.
VHS is a first-of-its-kind online harp festival. Its theme, “Playing with Expression and Creativity” offers to spark each harpist’s individual creative impulse. VHS takes place from September 14-20 and is free. Participants must register online to attend (please click the link below) and is available for subscription holders after those dates.
Best of luck, Diana, for a great summit and thank you for your generous offering to the harp community.
Links:
Virtual Harp Summit registration: http://virtualharpsummit.com
Facebook Virtual Harp Summit Page: https://www.facebook.com/virtualharpsummit
Diana’s harp performance page: http://dianarowan.com
Diana’s harp teaching page: http://brightknowledgeacademy.com
BACHAS wins Chapter of the Year for 2015-16 from American Harp Society: Many of you already know BACAHS was selected as Chapter of the Year for 2015-2016 by the Executive Committee of the American Harp Society! (full story here)
The Bay Area Chapter was recognized at the AHS Annual Membership Meeting in Atlanta at the National Conference. Alice Yothers, BACAHS Board President, accepted the award check in the amount of $300.00 from AHS president Ann Yeung. The money will be used for future programming for the Chapter. BACAHS’ winning application will be included as an example on the AHS website.
Thank you to all the chapter members who helped to make last year so rich and vibrant.
A harp ensemble for BACAHS members is in the first stages of formation and slated to begin this fall. Natalie Cox and Janice Oretga will be providing leadership and repertoire suitable for both pedal and lever harps. The group will meet once each month. Several locations likely in San Francisco are being considered that can accommodate easy load in and close parking. A few lever harps may be available for borrowing. Details such as the day of the week, and nominal fee are still being worked out.
Anyone who is interested in joining please contact Natalie Cox at musicians@lmi.net or 510-778-0737. Please let us know if you have preferred day(s) of the week and if you will bring your own harp or be in need of a loaner.
Dates and locations are now announced for the Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Competion for Young Harpists and Winners’ Recital. The Competition will be held on Sunday, May 21, 2017 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Winners’ Recital will take place on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at the San Damiano Retreat in conjunction with the 2017 International Harp Festival. Madeline Jarzembak, new Principal Harp with the Santa Cruz Symphony will be the featured performer in addition to the student competition winners. Repertoire, Guidelines and Registration are available at https://bacharp.org/competitions/
New Benefit for BACAHS members: BACAHS joined the Center for New Music (C4NM) at 55 Taylor Street in San Francisco. C4NM offers rehearsal, meeting and performance space to its members at reduced rates. If you are interested in learning more about renting the space contact Susie Spiwak at bacahs@gmail.com.
MEMBER NEWS
Karen Gottlieb and Laura Simpson will present a very entertaining and informative program: A Harpist’s Tips for Freelancing Success at the fall kickoff event for SVCAHS on Sunday September 11th. Check out the calendar for more details.
Dominique Piana gave a lecture-recital at the AHS national harp conference in Atlanta entitled Romantic Miniatures, demonstrating the evolution of the romantic “fragment” from expression piece to impressionistic sketch. In the Exhibits Hall, she was approached by Rebecca Squire, who had commissioned Thomas Duffy, a Yale Professor of Composition, to write a holiday-inspired work for her harp ensemble through an AHS grant. It became Three Sparkles for the Season, three short pieces for 3-part harp ensemble and 2-part treble choir (boys or girls or female choir). The words are secular, which allows the work to be performed anywhere, including public schools. Dominique will make this music available to any interested harp ensemble. The harp parts are intermediate in difficulty.
Last May, Dominique premiered a song cycle based on folk poetry for tenor & harp by David Finko, entitled Passages in the Wind, with her son Greg Allen Friedman, at a concert with the Pleasanton Chamber Players at the Firehouse Arts Center. She also performed the Golubev Quintet with the ensemble. The Finko set was published in time for the conference, along with other works for voice & harp by Schumann, Dvorák, and Oberthür. Among other new publications are Dizi works for flute & harp, more Krumpholtz Sonatas, and also romantic solo works by Hasselmans, Holý, Oberthür, Posse, Schuëcker and Steibelt. The American composer Paul Creston’s Lydian Song is now back in print, and particular care has been given to PASTELS, a new collection of transcriptions of descriptive music, from Beethoven to Sibelius.
Diana Rowan announces her first-ever Virtual Harp Summit, running September 14-20. It’s a harp conference-festival that comes straight to your living room. Learn directly from 25+ master harpists, listen to gorgeous harp performances, meet other harpists worldwide, all in your PJs! Virtual Harp Summit is 100% online and FREE.
Register here to attend: http://virtualharpsummit.com
Still basking in the success of her first ever 2016 International Harp Festival, Jessica Siegel asks that we Save the Date for the 2017 International Harp Festival, planned for May 25-28, 2017, at the San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville, CA. And be sure to read Gaylene Suganuma’s report on the 2016 festival in this newsletter.
Diana Stork invites you to check this newsletter’s Events section for details on performances planned by her Bay Area Youth Harp Ensemble in October and December. She also invites us in December to walk the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral with music by Portia Diwa and Diana, and with Diana, later, at Community Congregational Church in Tiburon.
Lynn Taffin spent the summer collaborating with harpists and other musicians and composers from Paris, Zurich and even closer to home in Oregon for upcoming concert projects.
She asks that we look in the upcoming American Harp Society Journal for an article by her student Audrey Kost. Audrey chronicled her science project of building a laser harp. What a great way to merge her passion for music and science!
IN MEMORIAM
Barbara Imhoff
Harpist, Barbara Imhoff, passed away on June 23, 2016 after a three year struggle to overcome ovarian cancer.
Barbara was a classical harpist who played with numerous Bay Area orchestras including the Napa Symphony, Vallejo Symphony and Oakland Symphony. In the early 1990’s, Barbara branched out to compose music for the harp. She created a fusion of world sounds using harp and other instruments. The pieces weave sinuous melodies, lush textures and hypnotic rhythms together for an original sound. Barbara and her bands produced many CDs, the most recent of which is The Bindi Society.
Barbara was a dedicated teacher who worked at Harps Etc and her home in Montclair. She is survived by her Mother, Evelyn Smart of Carmel, CA.
A celebration of life will take place on Saturday, October 1st, 2016 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Please contact Jessica Siegel at harpsetc@pacbell.net for further information.
Elvira C. Cassell of Mill Valley, CA died on December 23, 2015. She was 94 years old. Elvira was a lover of the harp and friend to many harpists. She was a student of Marcel Grandjany and, according to her husband, Andrew, derived great pleasure from playing the beautiful instrument. Our sympathies go out to Elvira’s family.
Check out our upcoming events here.
And don’t forget the classified ads here.