Southeastern Harp Weekend

A Day for Wire

Strung Harp with

Cynthia Cathcart

"I believe limitations give us room to be creative. When every option is available, we just play more and more notes, faster and faster. With a limited number of strings, lacking levers, with a long sustain that demands extra attention to damp as well as strike, the possibilities to be creative on a wire-strung harp are endless."

 

 

So you have a wire-strung harp but not many opportunities to spend a day studying in depth with an expert? Cynthia Cathcart is one of the world's authorities on the Clarsach.  She has done in-depth research to rediscover the repertoire and authentic techniques of playing the wire-strung harp with the fingernails.  Cynthia is an encyclopedia of information and tells wonderful stories with her words and with her music.  Since wire-strung harp is such a specialty area, you can be assured this will be an intimate workshop with plenty of individual attention.

 

 

 

 In this all-day workshop, you will experience:

 

 

•The joyful camaraderie of other wire harpers!

 

 

•Application of wire harp techniques, figures and ornaments

 

 

•A formula for learning a tune so that you will remember it without sheet music

 

 

•Exploring the background of a tune to guide your interpretation in playing

 

 

•Exploring the tune's theoretical nature

 

 

•Identifying techniques to bring out its essence

 

 

•Finding a story or lyrics for the tune

 

 

•Going home with a new tune in your repertoire of memorized music

 

 

•Being able to ask Cynthia your wire-harp questions in an intimate setting!

 

 

 

Cynthia has chosen six tunes from which the group will make a choice of one to study in depth. The choices include Irish and Scottish tunes, an early-music selection, and an American tune. As a group, we'll choose one and take it from there. The specific figures and techniques to be covered will be determined by the piece we choose. This is not a spread-yourself-thin workshop, but a calm day of true learning that you will remember for years to come.

 

 

Bring your wire harp of any size.  All the possible choice tunes fit on a lap-size wire strung harp, and will also resonate beautifully on a larger wire instrument. If you are a nylon harper interested in this experience of learning a tune for lever-free playing, you are also welcome. Beginner to advanced, the composition of the group will decide which path we take.

 

 

Beginner to Advanced

9:00-5:00

$110

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