Welcome to 2019! Another
year begins. Time to think about and
plan for another year at the harp!
Becoming what we will be this year often starts by looking
back. And looking back at this blog, we
see that we have been here since 2009 – that means we will celebrate ten years
of sharing about harp, travel to Scotland, musicianship, and more (hence the ten heavy title for this week).
Wow.
It seems like only yesterday that we began. I started the blog to share my excitement
about creating the Harp in the Highlands and Islands trip with my dear friend
David. I had dreamt of going to Scotland
with my harp and playing so many great tunes right at the places they commemorated, in the
air of the history they chronicled, in the peace of the glens, along the gentle
sweep of the waters, and in the majesty of the mountains. But a chance conversation made
it become real.
What’s not to be excited about!?!
In that time, the trip has had some amazing guests who
really made each outing an adventure. And
David and I have had a blast getting to gather new friends each year (“a true
pleasure” just doesn’t manage to capture the joy, fun, and interest we’ve been
able to enjoy at each trip!). We are so
fortunate! We have honed each trip and
every year brings something new. We are
excited to be trying something new this year with the Harpa Retreat! We’ll let you know more about that as it
develops but it will bring together the professionals of the Harpa trips to a
slower paced, creativity focused week together – with the customary Harpa
performances for charity mixed in – because, after all, we are performers – we
l-o-v-e to perform! The perfect vacation!
But early on in writing the blog I realized that as much as
I love to share the travel and the music, there was more to share. Although I look forward to going to Scotland,
planning to go to Scotland, preparing to go, developing tunes to teach, helping
travelers plan (and pack!), there was more to share. And while the trip is a week or so, we’re
harp players for the other 50-some-odd weeks of the year – and that stuff
needed to be said too!
We’ve talked about technique and ergonomics (based on my career
as a Human Factors and Ergonomics professional and experience teaching
specialized lessons to prevent or ameliorate problems or injury), elements of
musicianship and professionalism – from practicing to performance, from
planning to anxiety, from prepping for a thorough and satisfying lesson to assuring
you have everything you need in your gig bag, and more.
And still there is even more.
You’ve mentioned things you’re interested in (and I’m always glad to
hear from you – you have great questions and insights!). Sometimes I have an answer at hand – and sometimes
I have to do some homework, but I’m jazzed to learn something new.
And I do view this time with tendresse and look forward quiet
tenty! Ten years is certainly something
to celebrate. And through the coming year
we will do exactly that! One thing we’ll
be doing is migrating away from BlogSpot to my website (if you want to do that
now, subscribe to receive the blog by email ).
You can also follow me on Facebook. There will be “birthday presents” (giveaways)
sprinkled lightly throughout the year.
And of course, content laden posts!
Thank you for following me this far – let’s see where we get
to! Leave me a comment – I l-o-v-e
(and hearing from you!) – especially if you have good ideas for the coming
year! See you next week!
* defined as fondness (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tendresse
)
** defined as attentive (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenty)
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