As usual, the harp orchestra concert featured more than 45 harps and a variety of performers: a brass quintet, a Renaissance music group, Harp Rock Cafe, the Jacobeen trio (come on guys, you have to come up with a name!) and Seasons. There were also some stunning vocal performances (more on this later...)
The day started for Teresa, Grace and I by waking up at around seven to start packing stuff for the concert, then an 8:00 a.m. mass, breakfast and more packing, and a 10:00 (ish) arrival time at the Whitaker Center.
This year, Louis Lynch, the director, decided we should put on the show not once, but twice, so we practiced, and then had shows at 2:00 p.m. and 5:oo p.m. We were supposed to eat lunch before the 2:00p.m. show, but Teresa and Grace got lost after I put them in the direction of the food (I of course had no trouble finding it) so they performed the 2:00 p.m. on empty stomachs, but did get to eat between the two shows.
Seasons played on all the harp orchestra pieces, and were also part of an octet performing a debut of an arrangement of "Adoramus Te Christe," by Donna Missigan. We got to accompany the phenomenal Jane-Ellen Varner on "O Holy Night" to finish off the first half of the concert, which was such an honor!
We decided that for our solo number we would play "Walking in the Air," from the cartoon the Snowman. We had assumed that everyone had seen this cartoon, based on the book, but after people gave us these blank looks as we tried to explain it, we realized this was not the case. Anyhow, Teresa and I played the harp and Mary-Grace had her hammered dulcimer debut at the Whitaker Center (and with the harp orchestra), and she did a super job! I was a little nervous as she mounted her platform to play (Grace is so small we had to get a platform constructed so she could reach the dulcimer!) because she gave me her "deer in the headlights eyes," but luckily all the hours of practice kicked in (including last night's run through which we had while stranded at the Camphill Municipal building last night, when Grace decided that she would rather sing the song than play it on dulcimer...)
Two obstacles with this song were keeping the instruments in tune and keeping the strings, period. Since our solo song occurred in the middle of the second set, I had to tune the instruments before each show and through intermission (and, with three harps and the dulcimer, we are talking about almost two hundred strings). Then, during the second show, smack in the middle of the Jacobeen trio's evocative and mysterious arrangement of "We Three Kings" Mary-Teresa popped a string. And we were sitting right in the front row. Luckily, as string breakages go, this was a relatively quiet snap, often a harp popping a string can sound akin to a gun going off.
Nevertheless, while the audience didn't notice, many of the harpists did, since this is one of your worst nightmares as a harpist. Of course I had expanded this worst nightmare scenario to the string snapping AND whacking me in the face leaving a permanent scar...this is what happens when you are a harpist and a drama major. Maria Goodpastor offered us the use of her harp, but Teresa solved the problem by just playing Grace's harp during the song, so everything worked out in the end.
Familiar with this song or not, people seemed to like it. As one of the singers swept by in an elegant teal gown, she whispered that is was "just stunning," followed by another vocalist in a sparkling black dress who simply looked at us with these wide eyes and nodded in appreciation. Later I found out with my mom that these two women are sisters and both are nationally recognized artists; Dorothy Byrne is currently one of the Metropolitan Opera's principal artists, and was just nominated for a Grammy award for her work in Glimmerglass Opera's production of "The Mines of Sulphur." Her sister, Terry Croteau, is a musical theatre performer, a published writer, and a mural painter and illustrator! After hearing this, my mom gave them our CDs for free (good call, mom). Amazingly, these two live in Mechanicsburg and Middletown (so you might have an award-winning television producer living down the block from you and not even know it).
It was a great day, all and all, and not one to be missed.
However, if you did miss the show "there is a cure in the house." The Harrisburg Harp Orchestra will certainly have another Christmas Concert (and probably a summer concert) that I will keep you informed of, and Seasons still has loads of holiday engagements coming up which we would love to see you at (even if you live far away this doesn't change the fact that we would love to see you).
Coming up next, Seasons has a two-day turnaround before playing the opening of the Christmas Showcase at the Harrisburg Farm Show!
Cheers,
MK
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