Florida Harpers and Friends and
Palm Coast Chapter Present Recital
Bambi Fischer
Newsletter Editor
fischarper@yahoo.co
Florida Harpers and Friends and |
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Members of Florida Harpers and Friends and The Palm Coast Chapter of
the American Harp Society recently joined forces and presented a recital, “Musical
Moments” hosted by Mary Johnson which included students of Mary Johnson,
Barbara Kraichy, Laura Lou Roth and Bambi Fischer. A wide variety of songs were
presented from traditional tunes such as Morning Has Broken, Sakura, All Through
The Night, Who Threw The Overalls In Mistress Murphy’s Chowder by George
L. Geifer, and The Ash Grove to such classics as Canon In D by Pachelbel and
Les Pins De Charlannes by H. Renie’.
The recital and dinner were graciously hosted at the home of Mary and John Johnson.
Respectfully submitted by Bambi Fischer fischarper@yahoo.com
I remember years ago seeing them on TV playing a concert in Ireland , and they had a guest singer who sang Salley Gardens. I remember thinking that that would be the ultimate experience in the world, to play or perform with them. It seemed like one of those unreachable dreams you wouldn't dare to even express. And now it has happened for real. All the years of hard work and practice truly were worth it.
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I was recommended by a gentleman who books orchestras and stage shows, and I had played for his daughter's wedding. He had known me for years and knew I played Celtic music. An Irish lady called to interview me and make sure I knew the Irish style of playing and was familiar with the pieces. I had gone to Ireland and studied a little in Dublin, and I had read everything available on the ornamentation, studied recordings, and attended classes in Irish style at folk festivals I have several good friends from Ireland who have performed with me and coached me in the style, also, so I felt very prepared. The agency heard sound clips from my website and that was the audition. We were given the names of the pieces, the key, and the fact that there would be a medley. No music. A CD came about 3 - 4 weeks out so I could hear their style. I actually had the music in my library of Irish tunes, and thank heaven I had several different versions of the tunes, because they perform them differently from the books suggested by Sylvia Woods, who was the first harpist to play with them. Actually, some of the tunes in the Florida Harpers Tune Book were closer to their melody than the Woods or Robertson books. (Yeah for Florida.) |
So I practiced with the CD's to get the right chords and changes of melodies and their style of ornamentation. The pieces were very fast, and I spent a lot of hours with the metronome working them up to tempo. I felt like I was back in college. Wow! But with everyone playing (everything had to be by memory) together so fast, there was no room for error!
Sylvia was kind enough to email all of us (I think there were ten harpists across the country doing this) notes like the cue piece, tuning to A= 447, and so forth.
There was no rehearsal, just a sound check. I called ahead to find out exactly what pieces I would do and if there were any solos, and the agent rep said they would let me know when I got there. Imagine just a sound check and finding out what solos an hour and a half before concert. Yummy.
I went to the Melbourne King Center and we did a run through and it went great. They only did 4 measures of the encore to set the tempo, so all of that piece was actually a rehearsal. After the run through Paddy Maloney asked me to just jam along with the reels, which was a lot of fun, and went pretty well to play by ear.
The guys were gems to work with. As nice as they could be. Every night they came up to me to give a compliment and a warm welcome. Paddy came up to me after every show and said he really liked my playing. Paddy came to sit by me most nights for dinner, and chatted about Derek Bell. The cello player was great fun and before I would play she would flash a big smile that just made you feel like everyone wanted you to do your best. They were all very natural, un-affected, regular guys who just love playing music. By the way, the pick up mike was the one Derek Bell used, so there was quite a connection there.
I was so focused on the music and listening to the other players the nights I performed that I was not so aware of the crowd. I wasn't nervous at all, just enjoying the moment. At every concert there were people I knew, and a lot of people from the Florida Harpers and Friends convention in January.
I had a photographer friend come to Gainesville and take the pictures you saw. I was able to get them developed and the guys signed one for me. What a memory!!!!! By the last night they all came up to me and gave me bear hugs and kisses and really made me feel that they would miss me. The fiddle player came to check out the harp and asked how I got involved in the Irish music, so I told him about going to Ireland and all the studies. He said I really had the style down great. You can't get a better compliment than that, right? I gave Paddy my demo CD with the piano and voice on it also, which I am hoping will give me an edge.
At the end of the last show their artist manager came up to me and said that everyone wanted to know if I had a flight case for my harp. I must have turned pale because he had to repeat it about three times before it registered with me. He said that they would need harpists for the rest of their touring lives and they all liked me and wanted to work with me again. (Shall I just pass out now and say I must have gone to heaven already?) He was very serious about getting specifics of weight and dimensions of the case, so I got the information and flight approval today. Who knows when, but he seriously wanted to stay in close touch. I figure, it might as well be me. . . . . .
What an incentive to practice. It is hard to get back to reality.
Again, thanks to all my friends in FHF and all the support you have given me. It was a great feeling having friends at the concerts!
Victoria Lynn Schultz
Submitted by Linda Paul
For me, for years, picking the right music for each function was a time consuming, costly and huge headache. However, after a few years, as I began to view music as almost a psychological event, it became easier to be creative with my book, or rather, books! Years ago I began making notes for what selections from my standard repertoire evoked which kinds of responses so I could begin working with the variables that make up a good book for each type of event. The following is my observations based on event types.
Also, at the risk of ending up with a "library" of music that costs thousands of dollars, one has to draw the line at the amount of music one wants to keep in repertoire or handy for the occasional use! I also discovered that I could keep my music in a more "pristine" condition if I kept it in the magazine holders one can easily buy at a discount or office supply store for about $1 each. These magazine holders are great for organization and preservation. I have a printer/copy machine and I copy each piece in my "book" on card stock, leaving the original or the book in the magazine holder. If I need more than one copy, I can easily have one for each book. I investigated the copyright law and found that copying for one's personal use is permitted. So be sure to keep the original to prove you have purchased the music! I usually keep four "books" going on my shelves: wedding, dinner, classical and religious/ethnic.
Most of us, in the commercial or "casual gig" class of harpists have a standard book of selections that we play extremely well. That book may, indeed, be fully memorized, which is a help for some functions. The standards are those songs which are repeatedly requested, and usually are taken from classical (which takes in instrumental, ballet and opera), Broadway and movie genres. Add to that mix soft jazz, hymns, patriotic and ethnic. This will cover 99% of the requests you will get at any time. Depending on where you do most of your work, a good book or two with a mix of these styles covers 100% of your playing. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked to play Oh! Danny Boy .....!
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Parties around anniversaries, retirement, weddings, business and after-five cocktails all call for "love" music. These events beg for upbeat and schmaltz. Here you go for the standards from the 30's to the present, along with classical selections that are equally upbeat. The "psychology" is happy songs or songs that provide an atmosphere of sparkle. I use Bach, Vivaldi and Mozart for the classical selections, as a general rule. After that it is an open market for oldies, movie themes, and even some ethnic selections. Try to stay away from minor keys unless it is a really hot number, like Summertime by Gershwin. Make sure you vary style and tempo, which is hard to do when one is playing "upbeat" music. But throwing in Memory from Cats and Somewhere Over the Rainbow between Bach Minuets and Burt Bacharach is always acceptable. Don't do glissandos on every song - rather do three or four songs in the evening with glissandos in the arrangements. I try to add two or three hot contemporary songs each year, mostly based on what people request. Currently I've added some Celine Dion, Adreas Bocelli and Elton John. Patriotic is also very acceptable here in middle America. The older the crowd, the more acceptable it becomes. However, God Bless America by Irving Berlin is a classic and should be in everyone's repertoire. |
Events that have eating as a part of the event are fun to plan! The psychology here is - as you adjust the tempo you can actually speed up or slow down the entire eating event! The same goes for playing in restaurants. If there is a dinner, especially sit-down, I usually start with upbeat and swinging selections, then after the eating begins I switch into slow, lots of classical and quiet. For large banquets of 200 or more, it is amazing how softening the music begins to "soften" the noise level of the crowd! Once the desserts are about to be served I pick the pace back up with more pop selections. However in a restaurant that likes to serve after dinner drinks and liqueurs, wait until after dessert to pick up the pace. Once the pace picks back up, people begin to shut down the evening.
I try to keep the music in the memory range of the audience. So if I'm playing for a house that is largely comprised of 60+ year olds, my book dates further back than it would for 30-something's. A good book for the 20-40 crowd is made up of many movie themes and themes from television shows, oddly enough!
If you don't have Latin in your book, get it! I've found several anthologies at the music stores that go from Perez Prado to Ricky Martin! There are many great and "doable" Latin numbers! Carlos Santana is very hot because he crosses several generational lines: the 60's to the 90's and the present! Also Burt Bacharach and Debussy are getting warm to hot right now!
On the other side of the genres available are funerals. Most of the funeral homes pay the harpist direct. If you can gracefully do funerals, they are a good source of income, but they also require great flexibility because you only get 24-72 hours notice. But it is a "day job"! The going rate is about $150-200 for 45 minutes worth of work. This book is easy because the family either wants hymns or classical, period.
I've found most of the selections requested for funerals are in the Hymns of Family and God, which is a hymnal used by many Methodist churches. Look for it under Paragon Associates, Inc. in Nashville, TN., ISBN 0-89477-000-4. It also contains great patriotic selections. The arrangements are not just chorales, but many contain wonderful obbligato lines and key changes. The range of selections is quite comprehensive, from very classic hymns of the 17-1800's, but also many contemporary selections including Bill Gaither and Andre Crouch. This hymnal also is a great find for wedding music.
Count on: Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Sweet Hour of Prayer, In the Garden, Nearer My God to Thee for Christian funerals. For funerals with no faith affiliation use classical. Occasionally you will get requests for some favorite country song - just roll with the flow if you can!
Weddings have become the mother of all events! Many years ago, after several disappointments in doing weddings, I switched from just "booking" a wedding to using a technique that solves 99% of the problems we encounter with brides and their mothers. I have a bridal consultation that each bride must make at my studio, and if possible, 60 days before the wedding. The consultation is $50, which, if they book me to do their wedding, becomes their non-refundable deposit. Because tastes vary, it is much easier to bring in the bride, her consultant and all the "interested" parties and spend the hour playing each selection. Hearing is a necessity because not all brides are making the selection of a harpist for themselves: fortunately and unfortunately, it usually is because a mother or aunt wants a harpist!
I also began doing a form that I've developed that helps me to remember all the questions I need to ask, plus it gives the bride the exact names and composers on her sheet, with accurate spelling, to take for their program. I also get a signed contract with my copy of the program, along with my notes. Since I've begun this practice I've only had one cancellation - in 12 years!
As I've already stated - tastes vary! If you do weddings in "liturgical" churches, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran and some Methodist, as well as Jewish Synagogues and Temples, you cannot do any popular music. So you must have classical that is acceptable as well as a broad range of hymns or ethnic selections. Most liturgical churches and synagogues do not permit The Wedding March or The Bridal Chorus because they came from operas that satirize marriage. I've used Trumpet Tune and Trumpet Voluntary for processional with no hassle. I've found several short pieces for lighting the unity candle, and the best is Schumann's Little Song or Dewey Owens's Little Fishes which I've dubbed Etude for programs!
The more contemporary the church, the more open the pastor is on music selections. So have The Wedding March and The Bridal Chorus in your book, because about 50% of my weddings use those two numbers for the processional and recessional. I have a large selection of "light classical" I use for the pre-nuptial music, which includes the short themes of well-known classical music like: Borodin's Polovetsian Dance #5 known as Stranger in Paradise, as well as Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto Theme, known as Full Moon and Empty Arms. Another is Chopin's Etude in E, known as No Other Love. You will be surprised at the number of people who think these arrangements are the real thing!
The formal seating is usually where I begin playing the "real" classical selections, like Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring and Pachabel's Canon in D. The variety of music one can use for this part of the wedding is great, but, I get the same requests over and over again because of two things: they heard it at another wedding or they have a CD they purchased of wedding instrumentals. And oh, watch out for this bride! They usually don't understand that a harp can't sound like an orchestra or a pipe organ. It takes time to introduce other more appropriate selections. Stick with it. The bride will thank you.
For ethnic events it is believed that one has to either be of that genealogy or invest in the appropriate music. However, I do many Jewish weddings and rarely have to change my book. Classical seems to cross all ethnic lines! But events that are largely made up of an ethnic group you are not one of requires persistence in locating the right kind of music. Voila! Check your local library! Many times you can get one copy of a piece out-of-print music from your librarian. I've done this successfully for Irish, Polish, Hispanic and Early American events! So don't rule out Cinco de Mayo if you're not Hispanic by birth! The library carries a vast amount of good, ethnic choices for almost every topic I've encountered! And don't "assume" that the ethnic group likes certain kinds of music! I've made that mistake a couple of times! Ask what kind of music they would prefer.
Arriving to an event SURE of your book is 90% of the attitude for having a successful event.