It’s Christmas week, and for me, this is a week to finally settle into the holiday mood. This is the time we decorate our tree, get in touch with friends and family, and start reveling in the spirit of joy and peace that feels so elusive other times of the year.

So this is not the week I want to...

I’m kind of a Christmas carol geek, if there is such a thing. I’ve always enjoyed playing them and even as a young person, I was fascinated by where they came from: their origins, translations, composers, text sources, etc. For me, the stories behind the carols were a kind of history and geograph...

My first ocean cruise was a cruise from New York City to Bermuda. I’d never been on a big ocean liner before. Although I’ve done a couple other ocean cruises since then, I’m not really a fan. I love exploring, and there is only so much exploring you can do on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

B...

I don’t do very many interviews on this podcast. I started the show as a way to help harpists with their learning and I wanted, and still want, to be able to use this podcast to teach, to encourage and to inspire harpists all over the world. 

But over the last year, I have realized that there ar...

It’s time for a confidence boost.

You’ve been practicing your holiday music and feeling like you’re making good progress, but it’s not quite there and the performance date is coming up soon. 

Your music is mostly fine. It has up days when everything goes perfectly and down days when it feels li...

I know what I’m going to talk about with you today could be controversial. It could sound totally off target to you. Nevertheless, I hope you will hear me out.

I want to share with you why and how I think most harp beginners start wrong, even if they are working with a teacher. It isn’t exactly ...

I was moving the harp the other day and once again, it occurred to me just how much stuff we have to carry around with us. Granted, I move my harp all the time for rehearsals and concerts - it’s a big Lyon Healy Salzedo model harp - so you would think I’d be used to it by now.  I guess I am, most...

Over the years I have had questions about my practice: how much practice I do, what I do in my practice, and so on. There has also been the occasional request to sit in and listen to my practice. I have always thought that my own practice routines and what I do on any given day in my practice wou...

So you decided to learn a new piece for the holidays - good for you! When I think of all the years I’ve been playing the harp, it’s a little amazing that I still feel a little thrill when I pick up a new piece of music to learn, and I’m sure you feel the same. Starting a new piece is a voyage of ...

It’s nearly the end of October and already my daily practice is revolving around what I will need to play this holiday season. Yours might be too. The smart harpist knows that this is the time to plan your practice carefully so that you don’t have to cram practice time into an already overloaded ...

I once had a student say this to me: “But it doesn’t work when I do it that way.”

We were trying to fix a passage in a piece she was learning. When she played the passage for me, there was an obvious stumble spot, and I had a definite idea about what was wrong and how to fix it. But after a week...

If I were to ask you what you think the most important skills are for any harpist, what would you say?

There are lots of obvious choices. You might include technical skills, like scales or arpeggios or putting hands together. You could mention skills like note reading, or sight reading, or rhyth...