Author Archives: Jen

On Balance

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I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but everyone else is getting older. Every day. Inexorably. Also, not everyone gets their jollies by carting around nearly 30 pounds of wood in a bag on their shoulder.

Oh wait.

Ok, we are all getting older, e-v-e-r-y single day and we do sort of enjoy an activity that can require us to tote around a large, unwieldy bag full of recycled tree bits. And that’s before we’ve even begun to have fun! All this moving the harp (even without the case) can require that we have good balance. Like other things we practice, with small but consistent activities we can get there.

Adding functional exercises will help you tote your harp. They will also help you carry groceries, sit and get up from the dinner table, walk across the room or on a sidewalk. They can even make sitting at your harp easier. And activities like bending to one side, grabbing a handle and shoulder strap to lift a bag of tree parts onto your shoulder, then walking some finite distance, lifting said bag into and out of a vehicle, and subsequently toting it somewhere else to bend over again to place it gently on the ground are just part of everyday life! Easy-peasy, right?

Now, before I go any farther, I must reiterate that I am not that kind of doctor, and you should speak to your physician before embarking on any exercise or fitness regimen. Everything I say is a suggestion or just an idea. Functional exercises are a physical practice and require strength, flexibility, and balance to build greater strength, flexibility, and balance. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new fitness programs, especially anything I suggest. If you have any injuries, health conditions, or other physical limitations, it is important that you remember that you must take care of yourself, especially before trying any new or modified exercises. The information provided on this website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare professionals with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Reading this blog, or trying anything I suggest, involves risks and your results may vary.

Now, back to the point at hand. Working a few functional exercises into your everyday routine can help you continue to be able to carry your harp (or lift it onto the harp cart) for a long time to come by helping to ensure you have the balance needed to successfully bend over, lift, carry your harp without falling over! Here are three functional exercises that can move you toward improved balance:

  1. Stand on one foot. No, I am not kidding. Can you do it for 10 – 15 seconds? Longer? If you are at all wobbly (or if you’re just smart), do this behind a chair or at your kitchen counter to catch yourself in case you lose your balance. If you can easily do 15 seconds, can you do 30? The longer the better. When you’re feeling big and bad and hard to diaper, try it with your eyes closed (definitely have the chair for this!). It’s important to be able to stand on one foot – you spend half the time you’re walking in that position! This also strengthens your feet which do most of the work keeping you balanced.
  2. Undecideds (sit to stand). You might think it’s easy to sit down or to stand up from a chair (or you might not). You know how to do this. Use a straight chair (like a dining room chair or your harp bench). Stand in front of it and sit down, now stand up. And again, nine more times (like you can’t decide to sit or to stand!). While you’re doing these, try to remain upright (don’t bend over and hurl yourself onto the seat and similarly, don’t push off the table or make loud groaning noises!). If you’re not used to doing these, do them in a chair with arms because while one might be easy, ten will sneak up on you! (you can also use your legs to push off if you don’t have a chair with arms). Strengthening your legs helps in nearly everything you do. (PS if this isn’t enough, move to squats – same idea just no chair to fall into).
  3. Teapots (side bending). I haven’t ever seen anyone pick up their harp case from the floor who didn’t add a sideways bend (like “I’m a Little Tea Pot”) and worse, many of us not only bend sideways, we also bend forward at the same time – which is just begging to topple – head over tea kettle as they say. For this, sit upright in that chair we just finished not flopping onto with your arms hanging along your sides. Bend to reach to the floor on one side, come back to the middle and reach for the other side. Keep yourself upright, no slouching or slumping. If you can’t reach the floor no worries, you know it’s there and it gives you something to strive for. Don’t forget to breathe.

Do each of these exercises about ten times each then repeat the sequence two more times. Like all our practice, it’s about slow, careful progress not speed or overdoing it. Take it easy, build up, and enjoy the process. And, like harp technique books, there are loads of additional activities you can add to help you improve your balance. These are just a few that are easy enough to bring in to any practice session to make moving your recycled trees a bit easier over time.

What do you do to improve your balance? Do you have a different functional exercise to share? I’m always looking for some and you know I love to hear from you – leave me a comment!

Time to Plan!

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Time to plan –

One of the best things about January is that it just feels like a time to plan! Now some plans can be small but important like “I plan to practice every day” and others can be big like “I plan to buy a complete set of strings, so I won’t have to worry about a string breaking”.

But some plans are both big and important – like, “I really want to travel to Ireland and Scotland, and I want to do that with a harp so I can soak up even more of the wonderfulness in the air!” So, let’s start planning because I would love it if you came along with us!

For 2025, Alex and I have made some changes and added some flex, and I think you’ll really enjoy it! Welcome to your adventure where there are lots of amazing sites and musical sounds to be had in these incredible cultural treasures.

New in 2025 – you can come along to Ireland and Scotland, just Ireland, or just Scotland. Travel dates are October 1st through the 14th, estimated at $5,900 ppdo plus airfare. If you can only come for one week, split fares are possible – ask for more information! We are still planning, so be sure to check back often as the itinerary is updated and confirmed. This is a rough itinerary and is subject to change.

Here’s the plan:

The first week will be in Ireland. This week will focus on some favorites – and you know that there’s a tune for that! (for those of you haven’t traveled with me, that seems to be the sentence that comes out of my mouth all-the-time. Don’t worry, I’ll share them with you!).

Days 1-3: Down South in Dingle

Touchdown Shannon! We’ll meet in the arrivals hall and then make our way south to the Dingle Peninsula where music is king and “the next parish over is Boston!”

Days 4-5: The Cork-Kilkenny Connection

Known for winning the tidy town award year after year, Kilkenny is full of charming streets, traditional shops, and plenty of High Street atmosphere.

Days 6-7: Dublin’s Fair City

Ireland’s work-a-day capitol awaits as we check in to Dublin. With great districts like the Temple Bar and Grafton Street, Dublin has so much to offer including a chance to find out more about those Irish roots!

Departure Day or Day 8: Up North in Belfast

We know that some of you have to head back Stateside, and we’ll be sad to see you go but we’ll be headed to Scotland!

Week Two: Scotland

We’ll enjoy the historical centers and their sites. We’ll balance our time with organized tours and independent downtime. If you’ve never been here before, you’ll see those marquee sites that are a must. And if this isn’t your first time, those local gems for just waiting for you – the tenured visitor.

Day 8-9: Stirling in the heart of Scotland

We’ll spend some time exploring those beautiful spots that make Scotland so unique. We’ll check in at Stirling to see how things look from the stunning castle and learn a little more about William Wallace and history – romantic and accurate!

Day 10-11: Historic St. Andrews

We’re off to beautiful St. Andrews to take in this amazing and interesting place – full of history, culture, golf, and a university! St. Andrews is small but mighty – and compelling!

Day 12-13: Ending in Edinburgh

Edinburgh awaits us with plenty to see and to do! We’ll arrive in style by train and pull into Waverly Station. From here, we are just a short distance from our hotel. Just off the Royal Mile, we’ll set out to enjoy the local area and enjoy our workshop as well as dinner.


Departure Day

As we say goodbye to you here, we’ll be sure to fill your final hours with any last-minute activities or venues that might interest you. We are sure that you will leave magical Scotland with a song in your heart and a smile on your face and perhaps a reason to return to this legendary culture.

What’s Included

Breakfast at our hotels and dinners at unique locations daily.

Balance of scheduled experiences and unscheduled time to explore further or relax as you choose.

Plenty of downtime to enjoy unscheduled moments any way you please.

All attraction tickets and passes for experiences and guided tours (always with local experts).

All transportation including airport transfers upon arrival and departure.

Daily music workshop time to develop those crucial skills as well as a small harp for your use.

Our Commitment:

As we get to know you, we will be able to find those little corners of Ireland and Scotland that delight and enchant. From magical bookstores, fabled artworks, and secret passageways, we’ll share with you those little things that make this the experience of a lifetime.

You know one of the quintessential joys of making music is sharing with others, so if you have a non-harp playing travel mate – bring them along! They are more than welcome (and if they play a different, small trad instrument, they are welcome to bring it and learn the tunes as well).

At this point you’re likely interested, and have questions, right? Ask away, I love to answer questions! Click here for questions.

If you’re ready to “press play”, click here to save your spot and get priority access. Can’t wait to travel with you!

I hope you’re going to plan to come along – we’d love to show you our favorite things and find some new ones too! Let me know in the comment!

Welcome to the new

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Hope you had a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. You either? Well, here we are at the beginning of a new year (I’m chuckling as I write because that originally came out “eww year”).

That makes this the week when every other article you see is about resolutions, how they don’t stick, goal setting, how those goals have to be the right shape otherwise they won’t stick, planning and organizing, how a poorly thought out plan or substandard organization won’t stick.

That’s a lot of not sticking. So, what’s the point? After all, a new year starts every 365 days (or so), so what’s the big deal? Maybe it’s not a big deal after all.

If it’s not a big deal, maybe take the pressure off. Rather than focusing on what you “should do” think about what you have done and what the next logical step (or steps) might be. Nothing outlandish or excessive. And certainly not some ridiculously high number of goals/resolutions/foci.

In years past I have encouraged you to set goals, to make vision boards, to identify your resolutions. But not this year (I’m learning as we go, just like you). Instead, I’m going to suggest that you take a beat. Spend a moment reflecting on where you are – what you have learned, what you’re good at, what you still need to work on, what you know and what you don’t and how you might close that gap. In other words, just take a little time to consider what has gone before and what you can do next.

Why this new approach? It’s easy to get caught up in the details of all the shoulds of the beginning of the year. But getting caught up in those details also might derail you from taking the opportunity to skip pondering. What have been your successes, your stumbles, the holes you need to fill, the music you need to branch off into? It probably won’t take you a long time to give a thorough assessment of you – as you are now. Then you can decide what you might do next. One thing. No grand plan. No extended network of activities with untenable timelines. Just one thing.

You might be thinking, “Just one thing”!?! Well, that won’t take me long. What would I do next? I better make a plan for that.” (or something like that). But here’s the thing. Since this isn’t a big fancy goal setting/planning strategy – we can just keep repeating it. Think about the just one thing to do next and then do it. Lather – Rinse – Repeat.

I’ll admit – this takes a little getting used to. We’ve got lots of practice making big resolutions that we can’t (typically) execute. This might feel like traveling a little too light. But before you get too giddy, remember that it won’t be 365 days until you do it again – you might do it tomorrow (or next week, or Spring – whatever). When you’ve completed just one thing, then you can again take a beat, look around, and suss out what might be the next thing. And don’t sweat figuring it out. If you’re less experienced, ask your teacher. And if you don’t have a regular teacher, book a lesson with someone you admire for a coaching session.

Finally, don’t forget to write it down! What’s the point of figuring out the thing if you don’t have it on hand to refer to later? So tell me, when will you take a beat? If you’re willing, let me know what you’re next thing will be! If this is too off-putting or you need a little help focusing you can book with me – I love a challenge! Let me know in the comments!

Here are the comments from this week’s post – I look forward to hearing from you!:

Eby wrote:

Happy New Year dear Jen. I wish you the best in the coming year.
 – Eby – Happy New Year to you! Thank you so much for reaching out! Let’s have a wonderful year of harping!

Kay wrote:

Jen! I love your blogs! I just read the one about hosting a harp circle. It actually helped me understand that they are social, not a structured rehearsal where we all are supposed to improve and play together with one teacher telling us what needs to be better. I have been expecting the gatherings to be more like the hand-bell choirs that I have been part of! Whenever I read your writing, I visualize your fun cheerful self speaking, like at OSAS. Hope to see you again in June!
 – Kay – I’m so looking forward to seeing you in June – and before!
Robin wrote:
I don’t set goals at the beginning of the year. Instead I make little ones all year long. I’m very happy I decided to do a mini holiday concert with my husband for our neighbors and we hope to do another this year. We’re going to Sunita’s Tuscany harp retreat so I’m preparing two solos and a couple of duets to share with everyone. And maybe a new arrangement to work on with her. That’s it so far but I’m sure there will be more.
 – Robin – You have some really great plans and I’m excited to help you get there. I know you’ll have a wonderful time with Sunita and will learn so much from her! Can’t wait to hear how your holiday concert went!

Christmas Time is Here

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Christmas Time is Here

As the Peanuts Christmas song goes, Christmas Time is Here….

I want to take a moment to wish you the best of holidays, days of friends and family and laughter and love. I hope you make some music, share some harp magic, and enjoy the holidays with sound and joy. I’ll be playing my favorites for the president of my fan club between happy bites of treats and sips of delight.

And I want to thank you for your continued support and participation. I hope you look forward to this each week with as much enthusiasm and I feel creating it. Let’s wrap this year with our shared love of music and revel just a moment in the bliss! From me to you, Merry Christmas!

PS – things are still a little dorked up on the back end, so if you want to leave a comment or send me a note, please click here (so your comment doesn’t get eaten by the website!).

Wrapping up?

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Wrapping up?

The end of the year is rapidly approaching. You’re probably busy with social engagements, family time, practicing, decorating, work commitments, school holiday pageants, gift buy/wrap/giving (and maybe gift making?), and all the other stuff that makes up the end of year holiday swirl (miasma?).So, it is reasonable that you might not have gotten to a point where you can spend a few minutes sorting through the detritus of the last twelve months. I know it can be scary – at first blush you might think you haven’t gotten anywhere – I often feel like that about this time of year.

But there is plenty of irrefutable proof all around if you think to look for it. Let’s take stock, shall we? Here are some questions that bear consideration (they are multi-part questions):

What did you learn this year?

I know you learned something! First, what did you want to learn? Whether it was a new tune, to read better, to adapt music to your instrument, or whatever you wanted to learn – were you able to learn it? Were you able to learn more than one thing?

Now – what did you want to learn that you didn’t get to? Why was that? Are you disappointed or do you feel like you did well getting where you did? In addition, what did you learn (in everyday life) that you can apply to your playing, and what did you learn from playing that you can apply to your everyday life?

What did you practice this year?

First, what did you intend to practice? Did that align with what you wanted to learn? Did your practice serve you?

Second, were you able to meet your practice goal? Did you practice as much as you meant to? How did it work for you? How did it not? What could you have done differently? When should you have made changes? Practice isn’t a purgatorial punishment (really!). And you only have limited time, so it needs to be useful and efficient. Otherwise, you aren’t going to get anywhere.

What did you achieve this year?

First, what did you want to achieve? Was that realistic? How’d you do (maybe as a percentage, not just a yes/no)?

Second, how well stated was your achievement? Did you set yourself up for success or for failure? How could you frame it so that you could see (and assess) your progress throughout the year?

What did you overestimate this year?

First, it’s easy to make big sweeping goals but actually achieving them can be a bit of a bugaboo – it’s likely you overestimated something in your playing goals for the year. Were you able to correct along the way? Do you feel ok about your progress where you might have been too optimistic?

Second, how do you feel about the gap between where you are and where you thought you’d be? How does that make you feel about yourself? (BTW it should only help you understand about overestimating not undermine you!) Anything you underestimated? What is the difference between the things you over- and underestimated on (e.g., you overestimated reading but underestimated total number of tunes learned)?

What next?

Once you review yourself, you can ask yourself what’s left to do and how you might go about doing it. Remember that there’s nothing magic about mid-December – it’s an artificial boundary, but it is useful for taking stock of our progress and our direction.

No matter how you went about the process of practicing and playing throughout the year, you can reflect on it. But now it might be very clear why I’m always suggesting you write it down. Because if you had, now you could be looking at your notes throughout the year, your thoughts and feelings about not only the music you were playing but also about the music you would like to be able to play, the technical things still kicking your metaphorical butt, and the little joys that happen at your harp (but which recede from memory so quickly, and often before confronting the next challenge).

So, if you’re willing, please share how it went. I’m particularly curious about your gaps and the things that got in the way! And what questions we should add to this list. As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Gift Guide for 2024

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Gift Guide for 2024

It’s gift giving time. That glorious time of year when the days are short, time is shorter, tempers might be shortest of all. And it’s not like it doesn’t come along every year at the same time. No matter which winter holidays you celebrate, there’s gifting involved. And where there’s gifting, there’s stress over what to give and whether it will be the best gift given.

Well, I have a shortcut for you! People love handmade presents. And there’s nothing like the present. And when you present someone with their gift that you have made especially for them, while you might have trepidation, they are just too busy being delighted to notice.

What better handmade present than to share your music? There really isn’t one. Your recipient instinctively knows that there’s a little part of you in the music. They know you had to work hard to bring their gift into the world. They know how precious that time is – because the music is ephemeral. And they can carry it with them for the rest of their life because while it is ephemeral it is also permanent as a memory. They might be extra happy that they don’t have to find a place to put your gift (or dust it) because it will be stored in their heart/brain.

You might not have thought making music for someone is a gift, but it is. You need to value it as such. And I don’t just mean for kids to give their parents – although I have found that this motivation helps my kid students focus on learning their Christmas tunes. And I have to give a special thanks to my parents who taught me at a young age that playing for someone is a good present (although I never really believed them – until I started teaching).

Because you want each gift to “fit” you can choose from many options:

If you have a fan(s) – you can play a concert! (not kidding). Play all the tunes they love – a curated playlist just for them.

If you have a supporter – you can compose a tune for them (or an improvisation – you know a composition that you don’t bother to write out fully). Play it one off (with a heartfelt, “I made this for you!”) or make it part of the concert you give them.

You can make them a recording to take with them. Good quality recording is available easily now so you can probably make a solid attempt with your phone and a quiet room. If you really want to make yourself crazy, you can use a free editor to put the whole thing together.

  • Really a glutton for punishment? You could use that recording to make a video with pictures and snippet videos embedded with the music. Use graphics that share your thoughts and feelings about the music (e.g., you could find some video of eagles on the wing to pair with a soaring melody or a photo of a fire for a cozy tune).

If you’re crafty, you could go in other directions and still reflect your music.

You might have an admirer who listens to you practice all the time. This might make you feel like a performance isn’t a good fit. How about decorating a score and framing it? Use the dots from one of their favorite tunes. This can be plain with just the score in a frame, or you can literally decorate it by making a picture from the shape of the melody. Or you can draw and paint on the score as a canvas. There are so many possibilities!

You could knit a scarf that represents the music of their favorite tune. I thought of this when I watched my friend make a “sky scarf” that reflected how sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy the day had been. No reason you couldn’t also knit the “story” of your music! Chose the colors that you “hear” to reflect the mood of the tune and (if you’re a better knitter than I) even change stitches to reflect the shape of the melody.

How about a bake that incorporates the tune? Shortbread would go with absolutely any Scottish tune. Soda bread for your Irish? Cream horns to play hornpipes? Sacher torte for your favorite Viennese waltz? You get the idea. You can have a tea party or refreshments for your concert.

That’s just a few ideas to help move your holiday gifting along. I know you have other, better ideas. Let me know what you’ve made or are planning to make to share your love with your giftees – leave me a comment (you know the drill).

Follow through…

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Follow through…

I love it when you ask me questions! They are always good, they make me think, and they give me something to share here! (hint hint – if you have a question, I will do my best to answer you).

One of you recently asked a question and I wanted to share it. I want to highlight it now because it’s the holidays and this seems to be a time when other people have no compunction asking you to play for them – for money, for free, for whatever. It’s just likely to happen around this time. And, frankly, it’s hard to say no – because it’s the holidays and who says no to heartfelt requests at this time of year? I think it’s hard to!

So, what was this problem – let’s hear it from you:

Here’s my latest issue- I’m having problems at the end of pieces during a performance. I almost always bungle the last few notes and end up playing the wrong chord or nothing at all. I think I lose focus because I’m almost done. Should I memorize the ending? Practice it more? Take drugs? Let me know what you think.

Great question! If only because it happens to us all.

You might be tempted to assign blame to your aging brain, or lack of preparation, or nerves, but I don’t think that’s it at all. Will it take drastic measures?! Nope!

Here’s my answer:

You might be suffering from “get-home-itis“. What’s that? Well, that name for it comes from aviation where it is often not just an embarrassment – it can be fatal.

Get-home-itis happens when you can feel the end is coming. It’s pretty exciting – whether you’re flying home after being away or closing out a tune (or program). But get-home-itis causes you to shift your attention away from what you’re doing, and instead think about what will come after that. It can be momentary. You might not even know you’ve done it. But it’s just enough of a shift to make you bungle, and leave you shaken, frazzled, and embarrassed (which one can argue is better than actually being dead – even if it feels like you’d like to die right there on your bench).

So, how do you get over a case of get-home-itis? It’s actually fairly easy and much more comfortable than bracing yourself for impact!

  1. Memorizing your piece is a good place to start. That’s more for the reality that if you’re shaky going into the tune, you’re going to come out worse for wear at the end. Doing significant preparation will mean not only memorizing the beginning but also nailing the end. To do this – don’t always start at the beginning when you’re practicing. Break out portions of the tune that are not going smoothly. A strong start will encourage you, but the finish is what your audience will remember.
  2. Practice thoroughly. This will, of course, support memorizing the tune (because the more you practice it, the more facile you will be with it – all the way through). And extra preparation never killed anyone. Unless you’re being paid to deliver a specific tune, you should always feel free to shelve something that feels shaky until it’s actually ready.

Here’s the biggie:

  1. Think of your tune as having a follow through. Picture focusing on the end of the tune and its follow-through (like a golf swing, bat swing, doing a grand jete, or using an egg whip). The follow through includes not just the last note of the tune, or even the final chord but also your final gesture, the breath you take (and release), and putting your harp down. If you’re having trouble picturing this, think about how a beginner ends their tune – they typically spank their strings and we’re done – no follow through. Train yourself to think “through” the tune, focusing on playing all the way through to the end. Don’t skip a (brain) step between where you are and the end of the tune – picture all the notes, dynamics, gestures, phrasing – all the things. And remember that the end is not when you stop playing! Rather, it is after the final gesture, whether you muffle the strings and/or put the harp back on all four feet. T-h-e-n you’re done.
  2. All of this is in aid of focusing on what you are doing. Don’t be thinking about how glad you’ll be to get off the stage. Or what flavor ice cream you’re going to have on the way home. Or how many more times you’ll have to play this tune this season. Or even how tired you are and how much you just want to go home. Keep your head in the game! We’re not done here – not until the last ringing of strings is hovering in the air on the bated breath of your delighted listeners. Only then are you finished playing that tune. Don’t pull up short! Commit!

Stay present. There is only this moment. Later moments will have their own time – after you follow through on this one. No need to be thinking about what comes after – enjoy this right now.

I’ve sort of avoided the topic of taking meds for this. If you experience crippling performance anxiety, then you should definitely seek professional help, and medicine might be part of that solution. However, if you find you’re only a little anxious, I’d point out that you’re human. If it’s just a frisson in the pit of your stomach, breathe. * In addition, while medicine might take the edge off – equally it might cause you to lose your edge. Then you have a different problem (not playing like your usual self).

Whether you have experienced this or not, give it a try and see if the end of your tune isn’t just a little bit better when you purposefully follow through. As always, you know I want to know what you find! Let me know in the comments.

 

*I’m not a psychiatrist, nor am I opposed to using medicines if needed. Feeling nervous before performing is normal – in fact, one could argue that not feeling nervous is not a good sign). If you aren’t sure, try this (not very rigorous) self-test – next time you’re feeling anxious before performing, do some breathing (deep inhale for 4 counts, hold for 5 counts, exhale for 8 counts a few cycles). If that helps (your head clears a little, you feel less like throwing up, and you can remember how your first tune starts!) then try to go it unaided. If it doesn’t help, definitely find a physik to help. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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It’s that time of the year when we take a beat to be grateful and thankful for all we have and all we have been spared. I hope you know that I am grateful that you share your time with me. Here, I made this to share with you.

Happy Thanksgiving

PS – looks like I might be back in business publishing blog posts here on the website. Thank you to all my subscribers who have hung in there while we got this worked on! I’ll get caught up on previous posts soon! Until then – let me know what you think of the email or if you prefer to read here on the blog. I always appreciate hearing from you! Let me know in the comments (yay – so glad to say that again!).

Woohoo Summer!

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Woohoo Summer! 

This week Summer officially begins. Where I am, Summer will start on a day that is predicted to be nearly 100oF. Yay.

But when Summer starts like that, at least there is no confusion – it’s definitely Summer, no lingering doubts.

And certainly no time to stay home! Because Summer is also time to get out and play! I’ll be doing a couple of things and I hope I will see you there. Here’s where I’ll be for the next little bit.

At the end of June, it’s time for the Ohio Scottish Arts School – YAY! I love so much about OSAS – the people, the format, the tunes, the silly games, the hanging out with friends, the playing music, the comradery, the tradition. I’ve been going to OSAS as a student or a teacher from the very early days of my harp life and it’s like coming home. I’m so delighted to be teaching with Wendy Stewart, Kelly Stewart, Tiffany Schaefer, and Haley Hewitt! And a number of you will be coming which makes my heart happy – to see old friends and to meet friends in the flesh for the first time at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, OH. Can’t wait!

Then in July, there’s the Somerset Folk Harp Festival which is always a maelstrom of activity (in a good way). This year there is an amazing lineup of instructors, and I am so grateful to be among them. Somerset is offering me the opportunity to do that thing I do by mashing up my technical world with my music world and I’ll be teaching two workshops.  On the Saturday I’ll be presenting Preventing and Avoiding Injuries: Ergonomics for Therapeutic (and other) Settings which is open for any level and will be helpful to all harpers not just therapeutic musicians. It will be hands on and interesting no matter where you play.  On Friday it’s Repertoire for Every Patient! with tips, techniques, and approaches to make a small but workable repertoire be useful no matter who you play for in the healthcare setting. It will be focused on therapeutic music, but the principles are the same no matter where you play. I hope I’ll see you there – please say hi! And if you’re on the fence about coming, I hope you will decide that yes, you need to come – registration is still open!

In August, it’s off to Scotland to see Glasgow, Edinburgh, a brief jaunt to Skye and a turn about the Highlands for a bit. I (really!) will try to remember to take photos, but you already know I’m so bad at that because I’m usually too busy gawping at all the beauty! I have a small but feisty group and I’m really looking forward to seeing the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I’ve wanted to see this event for years! I know so many of you wanted to come along but weren’t able to for one reason or another – so watch this space and start planning for next year!

And then it will be September! Whew! I hope I do a decent job sharing all the fun and learning and visiting friends (and photos – really, I will try!). I’m excited to see several of you and I’m happy to share some of the experiences with all of you. I’ll share photos here and on my face–tagram.  As always, let me know if I should be looking for you in a particular place, ask questions, and share your thoughts in the comments!

Woohoo Summer!