Harp Column Blogs: Brandee Younger

Love everything about this shot.  John Coltrane loved the harp!  I was excited to find out that once, an interviewer asked Coltrane who his main influences were and his reply was: Ornette Coleman, Ravi Shankar & Carlos Salzedo!  I wonder whose harp this is in this shot.  It could use some clipping :D

Spring is here!  It seems that everyone has been working like crazy around here and harps are back in style (if they really ever left…).  Orchestral & chamber concerts, recording sessions, pop performances & tours, club dates and lots of harp students. It has been quite difficult to find a harpist here in NY to sub for anything lately.  It’s raining work and things are going great!!

Or…are they?

About a month ago, a dear friend and fellow harpist called and let me know that she would no longer have her job at the performing arts secondary school where she currently works--she and a bunch of other of her colleagues.

Then, last week I received an email in which the subject read  “Urgent: all 300 fine arts teachers laid off in Detroit” with a letter asking for help to save the arts in Detroit’s public school system.  This is a school system with a rich, rich, rich musical history.  Their school system has produced some of the best musicians and popular artists.  Also, beginning in 1925, Cass Technical High School has the oldest ongoing harp program in a public school here in the states.

This has been a problem for quite some time here in the United States.  I still cant understand why the arts are always first to go.  I first learned of the issue as a teenager, in 1997 when every time I turned on the television, I’d see a VH-1 commercial for their “Save the Music Foundation”.  Then, I learned that my very own school district was in danger as well.

Where would many of us busy, working harpists be today if our schools hadn’t had music?  What can we all do to help?

It seems like forever since I’ve posted –I have been out of touch.
Now, summer is half over already and most of the weeks have been harp-filled with performances, teaching, rehearsals and recording. While teaching at the Elyrica Harp & Flute Camp in Darien, CT, I’m taking this time away from playing the harp to reflect on the past few months, and look forward.

This winter, I took a trip along with harpist Megan Sesma, to Guatemala as part of the Guatemala Harp Project. We brought over supplies and music and worked extensively with the harp instructors and students at the National Conservatory of Music in Guatemala City and El Sitio Cultural Center in Antigua. Please write me if you'd like to learn more details about this trip. What a rewarding experience!

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[soundcheck/rehearsal]
This summer has been eventful as well. I was honored to play two sold-out sets at the Bluenote Jazz Club with the legendary Jack Dejohnette, Ravi Coltrane & Kenny Davis. The night was to benefit Jazz Reach, an organization dedicated to teaching jazz through live performance, multi-media educational programs and informative clinics and master-classes for student musicians and ensembles. We played compositions by Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane and Jack Dejohnette. We also played an arrangement of Michael Jackson’s hit “Human Nature” that Ravi Coltrane made for quartet. (photo credit, Doug Kim)                

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That brings me to the event that still has me in shock, some 4 weeks later: The death of Michael Jackson. It’s difficult to even say those words! He was a true talent with a strong purpose on this earth! Here’s one of my favorites. Michael Jackson singing the standard," All the Things You Are"

It seems everyone is performing MJ now. I’m just waiting to see some harp arrangements pop up!

:-)

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