Being a musician lends itself to racking up memorable moments. Anything can happen in a  live performance—some things you expect and others surprise you—and simply showing up to the day’s gig can lead to moments you’ll never forget. We wanted to know what makes one performance stick out in an endless cycle of load in, tune, perform, load out. We asked some professional harpists to share their most memorable moment with us, and the variety of stories they tell is indicative of the diversity of the performance experience. Some moments are humorous, some are poignant. Some performances made an impression because of who was listening, others because of an obstacle that had to be overcome. The only thing that can be said by all of the harpists we talked to is that it was difficult to choose among so many memorable moments with the harp.

Cheers!

Jazz harpist Carol Robbins

Los Angeles jazz harpist Carol Robbins has done it all—toured Europe with Billy Childs’ group, played with Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl, and recorded with Brian Wilson. But the gig she will always remember is the one where everybody knew her name.

“It was difficult to choose one performance, as there have been many thrilling experiences playing my harp. I chose the only TV show on which I had an actual, albeit small, role with lines. The show was ‘Cheers,’ a big hit for NBC back in the ’80s and ’90s. I was called to audition and told that the song would be ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.’ I learned it the night before the audition. I played the song in my own way, which they loved. One producer wanted me to make it more ‘classical,’ but fortunately, she was overruled. They asked me to sing a little at the end of the song, and that was a fun addition to the arrangement.

The day of the show taping, which was performed for a live audience, I was treated like a cast member. I had my own dressing room, they did my makeup and hair, and I ran through the show with the cast for director James Burrows. I even received a couple of fan letters! My character’s name was Elaine. Everyone in the cast and crew was super nice. They had a woman giving massages to anyone on the set who wanted one.

The gig was especially interesting because I have never been an actress and I had a great window into what that job would be like. Musically it was fabulous because I got to play my own arrangement without any music and I feel I nailed it. There have been so many gigs I’ve loved at iconic venues playing jazz, my favorite genre, but this does stand out as an extremely fun and unique gig. I have kept the script and fan letters, and I am still receiving small residuals.”

The show must go on

Vancouver Symphony principal harpist Elizabeth Voplé Bligh

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh has been an orchestral harpist her entire career—the last 35 years with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. There are two things she knows from her years of performing: the show must go on, and the show can’t go on without the harpist.

“When I was in my early 20s, playing with the National Ballet Orchestra, we were doing some Nutcracker performances on tour in Hamilton, Ontario. I had a bad case of stomach flu, but the show had to go on! It seemed like a good idea to get some rest between the matinee and evening shows. I called friends of my father, who invited me to have a nap at their house.

Somehow, they forgot to wake me up in time for the second show, and when I popped my eyes open and looked at the clock, the curtain was supposed to go up for the second show! We jumped into the car, careened through the streets of Hamilton, and arrived at the hall about 10 minutes late. As I roared through the door, the stage manager said into his headset, ‘She’s here! We can start!’ I managed to give a really good performance, in spite of having a bucket beside me in case I needed to throw up. Miraculously, the harp had stayed in tune from the first show. Perhaps that’s why I kept my job.

This illustrates one of the perils of being an orchestra harpist; when you get sick, you can’t just get a substitute to take over with no rehearsal or an unfamiliar part. If you’re lucky, the adrenalin takes over and allows you to focus enough that you don’t remember how sick you are until you stop playing.”

Trust me

Jazz duo Lori Andrews and Bart Samolis

Harpist Lori Andrews and her bass-playing husband Bart Samolis have been playing gigs together for years. They’ve played it all and schlepped their gear to every venue imaginable in Southern California. There was one December gig that stands out for the jazz duo, retold here from Samolis’ perspective.

“So there we are, the weekend before Christmas, playing holiday music at the Beverly Center. It’s a very popular, high-end, posh mall in Beverly Hills. Harp and bass—what could be more festive and calming, right? A cool Yule for sure.

After this gig, we were driving directly to the airport to fly to Philadelphia for the holidays, so timing is everything. Loading out, Lori has the harp on her McKay cart, I have my electric acoustic bass over my shoulder, and I’m pulling the cart with the amp, stools, cord bag, etc. piled on top, and it’s hectic. Every elevator that bothers to stop on our floor is completely packed. No one gets off, no one gets on, and time is slipping away from us. Finally, after waiting about 15 minutes I say to Lori, ‘Have you ever taken the harp on an escalator?’ She says (wait for it ’cause it’s important), ‘I’ve done it a thousand times!’

So off we go. She heads down the escalator first. So far so good. I’m right behind her with the gear cart between us on the steps, and then all hell breaks lose. We get to the bottom of the escalator, and she can’t push the harp over the claw/lip junction from the escalator to the floor because she is a step higher than the harp and has no leverage. Yes, we are stopped on a moving escalator—with a harp!

My cart is now jamming Lori in the back of the thighs as she falls backwards into it with the harp cart, and now harp, lying on her stomach. I’m trying to help but can’t do anything from my position. I look back, and at that moment, I’m seeing a cartoon segment where all the characters’ eyes are popping out of their heads. People are panicking as they try to, yes, move back a step, or two, or three.

Lori is finally able to push through and get the harp off the escalator without breaking anything, and honestly, we never laughed so hard in our lives. All the way to the car, all the way to the airport, all the way to Philly, and for the entire trip, we laughed as we retold the story to family and friends. That was about 20 years ago, and even today we can’t relive that event without crying. If we were ever invited back—which we weren’t—we’re sure there would be a ‘NO HARP’ sign on the escalator. Lori says she guesses she hadn’t actually done it ‘a thousand times,’ adding once was probably once too many!”

Revenge of the nerd

Celtic harpist Kim Robertson

Doing something out of the ordinary like playing the harp can make for a rough experience in the cliquish world of high school. In her most memorable performance, Celtic harpist Kim Robertson found she was not as alone as she thought in her not-so-fond memories of high school.

“I hated high school. I was an introverted music nerd who ate lunch in the choir room, never went to homecoming or prom, and was a conscientious objector to dissecting frogs in biology class. So I was quite surprised to receive a call, some 20 years later, that I had been nominated for my high school’s hall of fame by none other than—wait for it—my old biology teacher. I was invited to an all-school assembly to perform a piece with the orchestra, give a short speech, and receive the key to the city.

We performed a string arrangement of the air ‘Eleanor Plunkett’ by Turlough O’Carolan. The performance went well, aided by the live acoustics in the gym. But as the haunting last note was hanging in the air, suddenly a loud recording of ‘Time Warp’ from the Rocky Horror Picture Show started blaring and in pranced the pom pom squad for a dance routine. To date, it was the most jarring, mood-busting musical segue of my career.

My speech began with ‘I hated high school,’ and ended with, ‘It does get better.’ Afterward I was surrounded by young students—fellow and geeks—thanking me and saying, ‘I hate high school too!’ It was a defining moment because I realized how lucky I was to have found my path in music, and even more importantly, to have found my tribe in the harp community. I still have the key to the city, which coincidentally, as the mayor whispered in my ear that day, opens beer bottles.”

Barbra and me

Broadway harpist Laura Sherman

As the harpist for Wicked on Broadway, Laura Sherman is no stranger to performing with the best performers in the world. In 30 years of playing the harp, you’d think pinning down the most memorable day would be tricky, but Sherman can name the day and the moment that stand out for her.

“One of the most memorable performances of my career occurred on Oct. 11, 2012, when I was part of a 56-piece orchestra accompanying Barbra Streisand during her ‘Back to Brooklyn’ tour at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. This performance kicked off the tour and the first time that Ms. Streisand, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, had sung publicly in her hometown.

Naturally, the crowd was especially enthusiastic and the atmosphere highly charged. The fact that the performance was being recorded and videotaped also created an extra special vibe. However, what most moved me that evening was a specific moment in the song ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,’ a moment that I had heard Ms. Streisand sing many times before in rehearsals and performances.

Why this particular moment on this particular evening? It all began in 2006 when, instead of using a rehearsal pianist, Ms. Streisand hired our New York-based orchestra to fly to L.A. and rehearse with her in a huge sound stage for three weeks—108 glorious hours. Imagine the education we received listening to and playing with one of the world’s greatest singers as she tried out top-notch arrangements that were tweaked on the fly by our brilliant music director, William Ross. By the end of those three incredible weeks, I felt deeply attuned to Ms. Streisand’s every vocal nuance and subtlety.

So when the moment came on on that October night in 2012 when she sang ‘I’ll sing to him’ from ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,’ it hit me straight in my heart, causing the tears to flow. In that moment, she sang with a depth of emotion, vulnerability, and authenticity that was exquisite. It felt as if she was singing just to me, to each one of the 18,000 people in the sold-out arena crowd, and it was unforgettable.

Alas, opportunities such as these are far rarer these days. Even Ms. Streisand has reduced her touring group to 11 players. And while each performance with her during those four tours was special (especially in Tel Aviv, the first time she performed there), this one moment stands out as an example of how deeply touching, transporting, and bonding live music can be. I will never forget it.”

Rising to the occasion

Seattle harpist John Carrington

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal harpist John Carrington has spent the last 37 years performing on the harp. His most memorable moment came early in his harp days, while he was pursuing his master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“I attended Church of the Covenant near campus. It turned out that John Rutter would be in town and agreed to conduct the church choir during a Sunday morning service, as his U.S. manager for the Cambridge Singers was our church organist. I was asked to accompany the choir on some of his harp settings. I had just performed his Dancing Day cycle for harp and choir the previous Christmas and worked on it like it was a concerto. When it was suggested I should play solo prelude music before the service I chose to play the Prelude and Interlude he wrote for that cycle.

The rehearsal the day before went well, but we ran out of time, and I was not able to play or get feedback from Mr. Rutter on Dancing Day. At the time the work was just getting to be well known, and I asked Mr. Rutter when he was going to record it. He replied that he didn’t need to because an excellent recording had just been done by the Toronto Children’s chorus and a fabulous harpist by the name of Judy Loman. My heart sank. I was going to have to follow up a performance by one of my favorite performing artists? Gulp.

Sunday morning arrived. The service was being broadcast live, and my teacher Alice Chalifoux was in attendance; the pressure was on. Just before I sat at the harp to play, Mr. Rutter surprised me by coming out to the empty choir pew facing me, sitting down a few feet from me, and leaning forward on the pew with his hand to his chin to listen intently. I rose to the challenge, and it was one of those few times in your performance life where everything goes perfectly and you are satisfied and fulfilled as an artist. I was 150 percent prepared, so I could give 100 percent, and I remained in the zone. Afterward, Mr. Rutter congratulated me and shouted, ‘Judy Loman lives!’ My favorite compliment. He autographed my score, ‘Bravo on a brilliant performance of this.’ Anytime I play a work by him today I remember this moment.”

Playing for Park and the Queen

French harpmaker and harpist Jakez François

Before Jakez François became president of Camac Harps, he made his name as a world-class player. His two most memorable experiences were unforgettable for very different reasons.

“I grew up in a musical family in Brittany, France, where playing by ear is in our blood. This is what I did on the Camac stand at the 1990 Paris World Harp Congress (WHC), demonstrating the newly-designed Blue harp. A few years later, I was very surprised to be invited to play jazz at the WHC in Tacoma, Wash. The reason given for the invitation was that I was a non-American harpist, playing quintessentially American jazz.

To be honest, it had never entered my head that I could be described as a jazz harpist, as I was mainly improvising on folk and pop songs. However, I figured that in front of most classical harpists, I could get away with it, and so I recklessly accepted the invitation. I quickly brushed up on jazz basics, added a few gimmicks like pedal slides, and gave my very first pseudo jazz concert.

The next day, a friend was kind enough to congratulate me on my performance, and he asked me if I had noticed the young man in the front row at my concert. ‘Not at all,’ I answered. ‘Why?’ ‘Believe me,’ my friend said, ‘you will soon know who he is.’ It turned out I had given my first jazz concert in front of none other than one of the best living jazz harpists, Park Stickney.

My other memorable performance involves a piece I include in my usual set—a boss nova arrangement of ‘The Minstrel’s Adieu to his Native Land,’ the famous piece by John Thomas. Re-christened ‘The Minstrel’s Suicide,’ it is my winning number for harpist audiences.

Welsh people are rightfully proud of their traditional music, and coincidentally a Welsh TV director once attended a concert I gave in Wales. A few years later, he invited me to play at the televised opening of the Welsh Parliament, and of course my program had to include my ‘Minstrel’s Adieu’ arrangement.

I did not know that another attraction at the event was the presence of an official lookalike for Queen Elizabeth II. She spent the entire show doing funny things on the set. I can tell you that it is almost impossible to perform live on TV, when what you see through your strings is the Queen of England eating fries with her fingers.”

A room without a view

Orlando freelancer and Harp Column music review editor Jan Jennings

As a freelancer, you never know where your next gig will be. You could be playing in a school cafeteria one day and a ballroom at the Ritz the next. Veteran freelancer Jan Jennings has played nearly every venue imaginable, but one locale stood out among the others.

“When I was about 16 years old, my teacher referred a job to me that she didn’t want to do. Two men who owned a retail store planned a Christmas party in July for their employees at a nice country club. They hired a male violinist to play in the ladies room and a female harpist (me) to play in the men’s room. However, the violinist was a no-show, so there was nothing out of the ordinary in the ladies room. They had me placed strategically along the wall in front of the urinals. There was a sign next to me that said, ‘For your listening pleasure while you meet nature’s call.’ As the cocktail hour progressed, several guests headed down to use the facilities. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw me playing the harp. No one said a word—they just turned around and went back upstairs. A few minutes later they would return with some other men saying things like, ‘I’m not drunk,’ or ‘See, I told you!’

Eventually, they started bringing their wives down with them and they gathered around the harp, making requests and singing along. It was my first experience taking requests (I remember they asked for ‘Spanish Eyes’) and playing by ear. I had a blast and I’ll never forget it. Early on, I realized I enjoyed playing pop music as well as classical, and I liked entertaining people with the harp. “

Planning and punch lines

Dallas Symphony principal harpist Emily Levin

It may be early in her career, but Houston Symphony principal harpist Emily Levin has already learned a few important lessons from her most memorable performance.

“I have a few memorable performances, but my first recital at Indiana University comes to mind for two reasons. I spent that year with my teacher, Ms. McDonald, working on nerve-related memory slips that had started to develop. I was preparing for the International Harp Competition in Israel, and she insisted that I perform every piece in my head, note by note, with pedals. The amount of mental focus and time it took to do this transformed not only the technical component of my playing, but also made me internalize the interpretation of every single note, which made my musicality more nuanced. My recital was the culmination of this approach, and in this performance, I realized how much my playing had improved.

The second reason this concert stands out is that my B bass wire broke just as I started Liszt’s Le Rossignol, which begins with pianissimo harmonics. In the awkward silence that followed as I replaced the string, I decided to tell my favorite joke at the time. ‘Why did Mozart dislike chickens? Because they kept saying, “Bach, Bach, Bach.”’ Unfortunately, I had already told this joke several times before, so a quarter of the audience knew the punch line before I finished. My mother also told me that I spoiled the melancholy atmosphere of the Liszt.

It really was a good joke, though.”

Back to Bach

New York City harpist
Bridget Kibbey

There is no shortage of thrilling moments or famous stages in harpist Bridget Kibbey’s performing career. What topped her list of memories was an experience that, though demanding and even a little scary, pushed her to new heights musically.

“One of my most memorable concert experiences occurred this past season. I’m thrilled to be crafting new touring projects that broaden and challenge my abilities and perception of the harp. I adore the keyboard and organ works of J.S. Bach because of their intricacy, harmonic beauty, and constant drama. To adapt these works to the harp requires an ear for counterpoint and clarity beyond my typical repertoire, so this was a lovely challenge.

To add to this, I was so thrilled to team up with a fabulous Baroque ensemble, the Sebastians, with whom I performed two of Bach’s harpsichord concertos and trio sonatas. Hearing the way the Sebastians would phrase this timeless repertoire taught me a lot about how to press into the string in order to have an authentic approach to each phrase. We launched this hour-and-a-half project in Seattle this past season, it was one of my favorite programs to date. Although it was scary to memorize and prepare such demanding repertoire, it boosted my confidence and created more poise on stage.

The best thing about choosing to be a musician for life is the ability to hone your craft more and more each year. This project really opened up my ears and strengthened my abilities on the harp.”

2-B and not 2-B

Boston harpist Ina Zdorovetchi

Ina Zdorovetchi is a seasoned performer. She’s competed in the world’s most prestigious harp competitions and played under the most intense spotlights. There is almost nothing that can break her concentration.

“One of the most memorable concerts I’ve had on the harp took place on Aug. 5, 2016, at Brevard Music Center, performing Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto, op. 25 with Maestro Keith Lockhart conducting. Given that the harp is rarely featured under the spotlight as a solo instrument, it was a highly anticipated event. I prepared for it for months and was extremely excited and looking forward to the day of the concert. For those who are not familiar with the festival, the campus is located in a mountainous and humid area. All performances take place outdoors in a beautiful performance space. Weather conditions in Brevard are capricious, ranging from very sunny to torrential rain in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, the day of the concert was a rainy one and extremely humid. As we know, this does not bode well for the harp.

The performance started out well. The rain had stopped. The audience was so quiet. You could hear a pin drop. We finished the beautiful second movement, and I was on my way into the extended harp cadenza. Then, just about quarter of the way into the cadenza my second-octave B string broke. The conductor looked at me extremely worried. I could sense him thinking, ‘Will she stop playing to replace the string? Will she go on without that very important string?’ The orchestra behind me froze, as it waited for their attacca entrance into the third movement. The audience reacted with movement in their chairs and hushed gasps. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of a difficult run of 32nd notes up and down the harp, all the while thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’  Not only the string was missing, it was also dangling against the nearby notes. Well, instinctively, I continued playing. As soon as the music allowed me to do so, I extended a fermata, switched all the glissandi into the left hand, and quickly removed the dangling string with my right hand. Apparently, the string ended up flying into the principal viola player who later confessed she took it home as a souvenir from the experience. Performing the challenging third movement without the second-octave B proved tricky, but not impossible. The final page of the concerto relies so much on that particular B that I ended up using impromptu enharmonics wherever possible.

This event will stand out among the many other likely choices because it put me in a position of quick and instinctive reaction that I was not aware I possessed. Normally all of my concentration in a performance goes to creating colors, providing a natural pace to the music, and becoming attuned to the ensemble behind me. In this instance, however, I quickly realized the importance of the automatic pilot and muscle memory kicking in, as every drop of my attention was directed to getting through the rest of the piece with a missing string and on-the-spot enharmonic decisions! The concert was a success and will stay in my memory as an exhilarating experience with emotions ranging from excitement, bliss, shock, panic, relief, and pride. The audience seemed immensely entertained, and, in the end, that’s all that matters to me!

You never know who’s in the audience

Indiana University distinguished professor
Susann McDonald

In a career as storied as Susann McDonald’s, there have been countless memorable performances, but there was one particular week of concerts early in her career that she will never forget.

“When I was in my 20s, my manager, Ann Kullmer of Inter-Allied Concert Bureau, wanted me to do something to make an impression on the music world in New York and draw reviews from the city’s newspapers. She rented Carnegie Recital Hall every other night for a full week and advertised three different solo recitals of all original music for the harp to be given Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I loved the challenge, and remember playing no transcriptions but lots of sonatas—Hindemith, of course, but also Tailleferre, Hovhaness, Krenek, Dusseks, Handel, Migot, plus works by Grandjany, Renié, Pierné, Prokofiev, etc. My parents drove from Illinois to New York for the event. I remember while I tuned the harp in the hall, to my surprise and dismay, I saw my mother sweeping the stage of some dust or debris—there were no stagehands! When we left Carnegie Hall, with the harp in the station wagon, people thought it was a funeral because of the mountain of flowers piled in on top of the harp in the car.

I learned later that Mildred Dilling, Carlos Salzedo, and Marcel Grandjany all attended, and required their students from Curtis and Juilliard to attend.

At intermission of the first recital, all three teachers came back stage and advised me to change the angle of the harp, to turn the column out to face the audience (not the wings), advice I have followed ever since.

Unfortunately, after my agent’s noble attempt to present me in Carnegie Hall, all the New York newspapers went on strike that week, so there were no reviews.

That was too bad, but the trade journals like Musical America and others gave glowing reviews.”

Oh, the places you’ll go

New York and Nashville freelancer Kirsten Agresta

Nashville-based harpist Kirsten Agresta says she’s been fortunate to have many amazing and eclectic experiences in her harp career, so she was slightly surprised to find naming her most memorable one so easy.

“There is one experience I was lucky enough to have that is undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime night—performing with Beyoncé at the White House for President Obama’s second state dinner, honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

To perform for a president that I passionately supported, while playing alongside an artist I respect and admire, in one of the most exclusive venues on earth was nothing less than extraordinary. I was placed in a prominent position on stage and played a harp solo as an intro while Beyoncé made her entrance. The President and his family, who sat directly in front of me, grinned from ear to ear as we performed. Sasha and Malia danced in their seats, singing ‘to the left, to the left’ when we played ‘Irresistible,’ while hundreds of silk monarch butterflies fluttered from the rafters. The only official photo of our performance released by the official White House photographer Pete Souza was of Beyoncé…with me. I couldn’t believe it.

Afterward, as we were packing up to leave, we were suddenly called back on stage. President Obama gathered the band in a receiving line and greeted each one of us individually with kind words, a hand shake, and a kiss on the cheek. Michelle Obama gave me one of the biggest bear hugs I’ve ever received. We took several group photos with President and Mrs. Obama and President and Mrs. Calderón, and in each one the harp—still onstage—is in the middle. I look back on this truly magical experience often and with great pride. It is an indelible memory that makes me incredibly grateful and filled with appreciation for the places my harp has taken me.”

A special wedding guest

Dallas jazz harpist Cindy Horstman

Wedding gigs tend to be ho-hum events for freelance harpists. But every once in a while a wedding comes along that exceeds all your expectations. Such was the case with one mysterious wedding gig for Dallas harpist Cindy Horstman.

“In 1994 I released my first jazz harp trio CD, In Flight, and was lucky enough to have the Dallas Morning News feature it in an article.

The mother of a bride read the article and contacted me to ask if my trio would like to play for her daughter’s wedding. At first she was very careful not to mention names, only that the bride loved harp music and the groom loved jazz. But when she mentioned that the best man was Bill and his wife, Hillary, would be attending the wedding, I put two and two together to solve the mystery—the groom was President Bill Clinton’s brother, Roger Clinton!

The ceremony was held outdoors at the Dallas Arboretum, which is a public botanical garden. My trio—bassist Michael Medina, drummer Dan Wojciechowski, and I—had to deliver our instruments 12 hours before the wedding to be inspected for anything suspicious and, of course, we had to give them extensive background information way in advance.

When we arrived to set up for the ceremony, we had to go through metal detectors and give them proper identification—I felt like I was at the airport!

We played the prelude as guests were being seated. Right before the ceremony began, I noticed at the back of the space that there were suddenly Secret Service agents lined up shoulder-to-shoulder around the entire perimeter. They all wore sunglasses, trench coats, and earpieces just like in the movies. When President Clinton entered, he looked at us and had a big smile on his face. Right after the ceremony, it began to rain, and the wedding party started to go inside for pictures. I felt that this was my golden opportunity to meet the president. The trio walked up to him, and we introduced ourselves. He said, ‘I’ve never heard jazz harp before, you guys were fantastic!’

We thanked him, and as I was giving him our CD, I couldn’t resist asking if I could use his quote as a reference. In his charming way he responded, ‘Absolutely!’ I’ve been using it ever since.”