Harp Column Blogs: Kimberly RoweArchive

OK, I'm sure this is not the first, nor will it be the last, rant you will read about composers writing new music for the harp. But since I spent a good portion of my weekend re-writing a new part, please indulge me....

Why is it that some composers insist on writing parts with lots of double sharps, double flats, and chromatics for the harp? Where do they learn that this is a good idea? Why must I get out manuscript paper and a bottle of white out every time I sit down to play one of these new pieces?

I guess I should look on the bright side. It turns out the piece in question is playable, now that I've re-written half of the first movement from a sharp key to a flat one. And even though my part now looks like a map of the Everglades and I need magnifying glasses to read it, it actually sounds pretty good.

I am thankful for composers who write new music for the harp. Really and truly I am. I just wish for once I'd get a part that doesn't require 10 hours of preparation before I can actually sit down and play it. Is that so much to ask?

We had a blizzard. A good ole fashioned Nor' Easter, according to the Weather Chanel. We got 10 inches of snow. Enough to have to cancel our local American Harp Society chapter event, which will be extremely difficult if not impossible to reschedule, but not, of course,  enough to keep me from having to drive 60 miles to and from Atlantic City last night to play a gig. (On the program, ironcially, was "Mr. Snow" from Carousel.)

I'm no stranger to snow... I went to school in Cleveland and then lived in Ann Arbor where driving in snow was a weekly occurance. But I guess living in Philadelphia for the past ten years has made me forget about the whole moving the harp in the snow, driving to gigs in the snow phenomenon we harpists have to endure if we want to succeed in the freelance business. "The show must go on" and all that, and according to my contractor there was absolutely no chance the show would be canceled, and of course he was right.

So while all sensible people are on the couch with a log on the fireplace watching the Olympics, I am creeping down the highway, white knuckles clutching the wheel, wondering if  Starbucks is hiring. At least I don't live in N.Y. or Boston. According to the Weather Channel, they got more....

Welcome dear harpists. If you've come this far you've probably figured out that Harp Column has a brand new Web site! Although this may not seem like a big deal to you, it is something we've been working on for a very long time. Did I say "we." Ooops. Actually I had nothing to do with it--it was all my husband Hugh's doing. Thanks Hugh! (He's very smart.) Anyway, Hugh says our new site neeeds blogs, and that since I'm the editor of Harp Column, I have to do a blog. I've never done one before so here goes....

Appparently, blogs are all the rage. And because here at Harp Column we are ever so trendy, we have invited several notable harp celebrities to blog as well. (You see, this is a long roundabout way of saying that these blogs may actually have something to do with the harp if you take the time to read them.). They will pipe in periodically to espouse on pretty much anything they want, just for your reading pleasure. Who did we ask to blog, you may ask? Well, I'm not going to tell. You will just have to keep coming back here to find out, but I promise, you will be impressed!

So, stay tuned for more blogs. We promise to bring you the most interesting bloggers the harp world has to offer! (Actually, as far as I know they are the only bloggers the harp world has to offer, so basically you're stuck with them whether you like them or not.)

KIM