Harp Column Blogs: Kimberly RoweArchive

I just got back from our ninth Beginning in the Middle seminar! I can't believe we have been doing this for going on ten years! Some of the adult harpists who came this year had just started playing in 1998, and now they are proficient harpists. It really is amazing to watch them year after year and see thier progress. We had 38 harpists play in our Beginning in the Middle harp ensemble concert! Here they all are:


We also had another great faculty, and special guest Roslyn Rensch, who wrote the book "Harps and Harpists." Here they all are, plus a few guests:

(Back row left to right: Leah Riddick; Patricia Wooster, Alison Reese, Marissa Knaub, Kimberly Rowe, Mary Jane D'Arville; front row left to right: Robbin Gordon-Cartier, Amy Roberts, Kim Robertson, Molly Hahn, Ray Pool)

I can't wait for next year, our tenth year! Hope to see you there.

KIM

I was online today googling for images of harpists with good posture to use in a handout for a workshop I'm doing next week at Beginning in the Middle. So I type in (no surprise here) "harpists" and not far down is a picture of two youngish looking harpists with OK posture, so I click. Imagine my surprise when upon closer look, it is two of my very own harp ensemble students!!! It was a picture some guy took last October when we set up shop in the park to sell CDs. Apparently he had never seen harps before.

Here it is: harps in the park. Scroll all the way down to October 02, 2005. We are sandwiched in between two photos of a band called "bumrunner." I'm flattered he thinks the girls are from Curtis, but in reality he probably just doesn't know any better. 

Anyway, beware the power of the blog!

Yesterday I had several entirely unproductive lessons with students who weren't prepared. (You know who you are.) I had a whole blog ready to go about it and after re-reading it, realized how incredibly negative it was. Why should I waste space writing about students who don't have time to practice rather than focusing on the ones who do everything I ask of them and more?

One student I work with has been playing the harp for roughly a year. She gobbles up every new piece I give her, diligently practices scales and etudes, and at each lesson her sound becomes more rich, mature, and refined. Another one who has been with me a few months has learned all the new harp ensemble music I've thrown at her, polished solos for recitals and masterclasses, and treats each new piece as a well-deserved reward. Another new young student prepared an entire program, perfectly polished, to give at a local nursing home. Another worked overtime to learn a new orchestra piece to the satisfaction of a picky conductor; one prepared diligently for a recent competition; another prioritized her practice routine to focus on an important audition--the list goes on. You know who you are!

For the few of you who come to lessons acting like you've never seen a harp before... well... maybe I should take a cue from one colleague who collects the check and then goes into the kitchen to prepare dinner while you spend an hour practicing the assignment you should have prepared at home.

Spaghetti bolognese, anyone?