We just finished another fun week here at Harp in the Mountains. Harp camp is always fun, and this year I was privileged to have a great group of students. As always, we rehearsed a lot, but we had fun too. And this year’s heat wave made the swimming pool the best place to take a break from practice.

We like to call ourselves the only harp garage band. The garage is a perfect space for us to rehe...

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It was a little over a year ago that I started blogging at Harp Mastery. My idea in starting the blog was to share some of the things that I have learned about the harp and harp playing, music and being an active musician. Through this blog, I have been privileged to virtually meet harpists from all over the world who are on all different kinds of harp journeys. ...

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Performance injuries are every musician’s greatest fear. Our playing is so intrinsic to our being that just thinking about having to stop playing due to an injury can cause nightmares. Even worse is the sense that when you are injured, your colleagues, although they will express their sympathy, take a step or two back from you, as if i...

Fear is a part of everything we do. And in music performance we confront our fears daily. Unfortunately, sometimes it can become an obstacle that seems to big to overcome.

You don’t need to let fear hold you back. There are clear strategies for battling various specific fears. But whatever you’re afraid of, there are some basic steps to take to arm yourself for the fight.

1. Accept it. Fear is ...

Old School. Back in the day. Whatever you call it, I’m old enough to have been there. And a recent Facebook post by a former student brought home to me some of the important changes that I have seen in the harp world.

Her post was this photo with the comment “Well that’s a new one.” But it’s not; it’s an old one. She had never seen a patched string before. Harp strings were not always as affordab...

 ©iStockphoto.com/Luis Carlos Torres

Perhaps you are a fan of Evernote, as I am. I use it for everything. It’s my notepad and my filing cabinet, and I can access my files from anywhere.

In case you don’t know Evernote, here’s a quick overview. It is a filing system in the cloud. You can keep your files in Evernote and they sync seamlessly between your computer, your smartphone and your ...

Saturday, June 22 I will be giving workshops at “Lark Music Presents Anne Sullivan’s Harp Mastery.” I am very excited about this first-time ever event. I will be able to share some of the valuable things I learned from my teachers and from my own years of teaching privately and at the Curtis Institute of Music. And I am especially looking forward to meeting many of you and putting your faces to yo...

This is an “odds and ends” sort of post with some important news, some blog post updates and a couple of quotes to motivate you.

Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised.
– Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete (1911-1956)

Post Update: Lawrence had a great addition to the Schubert Ave Maria blog post from last wee...

It’s wedding season again, and time to dust off all the tried and true ceremony music, from the Pachelbel Canon in D to the Mendelssohn Wedding March. And surely at least once this season, there will be the beloved Schubert Ave Maria.

I have always considered this an interesting wedding selection. Without question the music is sublime, and it makes a lovely setting for the medieval Latin Prayer t...

This post was inspired by Kim Rowe’s May 18 blog post on the Harp Column website.

No, I was NOT asked to give a commencement address to music school graduates. But if I were asked, this is what I would say in 500 words:

Dear New Music Graduates, Congratulations! You are about to embark on the exciting adventure known as a career in music. Don’t listen to those who tell you that the terms “caree...