Thursday, August 12, 2010

Teacher Listings



French Method Teachers/Universities

Salzedo Method Teachers/Universities

More to come.....
Please send me links, names, and method preferences if you want me to link up any other names!

Thanks!

Harp Festivals and Competitions

I love searching for new things to work on and pursue for either myself or my students so I figured I would post a list of upcoming festivals and competitions that I find information about online.

Competitions


AHS Competitions 
  • Lyon & Healy Awardshttp://www.harpsociety.org/CompetitionsAwards/LyonHealyAwards.asp 
    • Music: Grandjany Rhapsodie and Renie Legande 
    • Awards: $2000 + $500 Gift Cert. to L&H
    • Date/Location: June 18-19, 2011 in Denton, Texas
    • Review: I did this competition last year and loved it.  It was a great one to enter!  The rep is small which is nice, and there is no pre-screening CD for people to cheat with.  They pick three winners but don't rank them.
  • AHS Nationals: http://www.harpsociety.org/CompetitionsAwards/NationalCompetition.asp
    • Music: Varies between levels
    • Awards: 6 prizes per level between $100 - $1500
    • Date/Location: June 19-23, 2011 at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX
    • Review:  I did this competition several times as a youth.  It is very competitive and stressful for me.  The competition is held every other year at various locations and you do have a pre-screening CD.   (I have a difficult time with these because even though you are told NOT to edit the CD everyone does and so those of us who refuse to cheat have a tough time making it past the CD round.  I am not bitter, I did make it to the competition one year, with out editing, and I was very proud of my accomplishments!  I am just stating the fact and letting you know as it is something to consider.  While it was a good lesson in Honesty for me as a youth, it was also VERY difficult every year to get a letter of regret after putting in so much work and not even getting to officially compete.)

Youth Competitions

International Harp Competitions
 Feel Free to link up to let everyone know about other competitions!!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Audition Time....

It's Orchestra Audition season for me this month!  I am so excited that there are 2 principal harp auditions open for this season!  But this does mean lots of slow, boring practice.  As much as I love playing in orchestras, I actually despise practicing orchestral excerpts for auditions.  It's just so nerve racking because you never know what the panel wants.....  ie.  Bartok: To roll or not to roll? That is the question!  How much rubato to do on the Nutcracker Cadenza?  (Don't get me wrong I know how I like to play it and have thought through it alot, but I have heard SO many different interpretations and each one is 'right'?) and there are only so many times you can play the Berlioz before you start to want your own dose of Opium.  

OK enough ranting.  

What do you do to prepare for Auditions?


Here's my Complete audition list for this year:

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique
Britten: Young Person's Guide
Mahler: #5 Adagietto
Ravel: Tzigane
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capricio Espagnol
Strauss: Don Juan
Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the Flowers Cadenza
Verdi: La Forza del Destino
Wagner: Magic Fire Music




Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"Don't You wish you played the Flute?"

          

Every harpist has heard this 'joke' at some point in their career and every harpist I know hates it!  No we don't wish we played the flute.  If we did we would have played the flute!  We know the harp isn't the smallest instrument on the planet, and yet we play it anyway.  Surprise!!!  We enjoy playing the HARP!  Once I even got this joke from some old dude driving by as I was lifting the harp into my car. EXCUSE ME!!!  Obviously this isn't the easiest thing to do in the world.  Thanks for interrupting!

I really don't know where this joke originated, but everyone seems to think that 1) it's funny, 2) we've never heard it before and 3) they made the joke up themselves! 

I really want to get a good "come-back" for this that doesn't make me seem rude.  I get that people are trying to be nice and probably can't think of anything else to say, but I am really sick of smiling and laughing and I think my "fake laugh" is getting worse every day.

I've tried every thing from, "no" and "that would make it easier" to "he he he, haven't hear that one before" and "but the harp is so much prettier".  What I really want to say is.... if you really think my harp is so cumbersome that I am not able to enjoy moving it myself why don't you offer to help!  (Not that I need help.  when I turned 16 my Dad signed me up for weight lifting classes and washed his hands of the "Official harp mover" job.  I used to accept help from attractive young men when I was single, but now that I am married I usually just try to get people to leave me alone and let me move my harp) 

What are your favorite comebacks?  leave a comment with your thoughts.

Music Organization Tips?

I always seem to get annoyed with my music organization system.  I tried using a filing cabinet, but that wasn't quite big enough for my larger pieces of sheet music and the edges were getting "eaten alive" every time I would open and close the drawer.

I recently gave up looking for a new system and just made my own.  I love the way magazine boxes look, but they don't make them big enough for sheet music!  I started collecting cardboard boxes, cut them up and taped them back together into the right shape.  Since these boxes are going in the living room I wanted them to look at least halfway decent so I covered them with some leftover fabric from previous craft endeavors.  They turned out pretty cute!!



How do you organize your music at home?  Any tips you want to share are always appreciated!!

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