COROMIND ISSUE 18 JUN24 ONLINEVERSION - Flipbook - Page 28
Strings of
Enchantment
Discovering the Harp
with Anna Dunwoodie
People often say to me ‘I’ve always wanted to play
the harp’ … and I believe them – it’s an intriguing
instrument which both enchants and bewitches the
listener at the same time.
There are also a few myths to debunk.
1 Angels play harps. I can neither
con昀椀rm nor deny this, but here on earth,
it’s just normal people. However, the harp
does have a fascinating history which
dates back tens of thousands of years
and in every ancient culture across the
globe. Harpers/harpists were both men
and women and, like most musicians,
they held an elevated place in society. To
the extent that in early Mesopotamia,
a tomb has been unearthed where a
number of harp players were buried alive
with their ruler, to usher him into the
next life. As someone who plays the harp
with our guitar-playing locally elected
leader, I’d like to state that this will not,
in any circumstances, be happening.
2 Harps are really expensive. Yes, some are expensive, but
student harpists start on an inexpensive instrument which can
be hired. When you get to a level where you wish to purchase
a good quality instrument, it can be a bit of an investment, but
there’s always a demand for second-hand harps if you decide
to stop playing.
3 The harp is inaccessible – “I’ll never be able to play one
… it’s too hard ... I don’t live near a teacher … I don’t read music
…” All these things are easily resolved.
When I was ten years old, I saw someone playing and singing
with a harp at the Thames CWI (Country Women’s Institute)
annual competitions, and I said to my mum, ‘That’s what I
want to do!’ I was keenly musical as a child, but the nearest
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harp teacher at the time was in Auckland and 昀椀nding a harp to
hire or buy was nearly impossible. There were only a handful
of harpists across the whole of New Zealand at the time,
compared to 400-500 harpists now.
I waited 昀椀ve years before I could start weekly lessons in
Auckland – this was before the internet and times were a
little di昀昀erent. I was already having
lessons in piano, guitar and voice, but
when I started playing the harp, my
understanding of music seemed to gel
into this one instrument; quite quickly
the piano and guitar were put aside. Two
and a half years later I left Thames to
study a Bachelor of Music, majoring in
pedal harp, at the Auckland University
School of Music.
In 2023 I moved back to Thames with
30 years’ experience of teaching people
to play the harp, growing the NZ harp
scene and working to gain recognition
for NZ harpists internationally, with
a focus on enlivening the harp music
scene in the area. I believe that it is
the arts which nurture not only the
soul of the creative community, but the whole community.
Any community without creative souls would be a sad and
dangerous place.
In the last six months, I’ve brought some top level international
and local harpists to the Coromandel to perform concerts
which have been really well attended; in fact, the sell-out
crowd was blown away by the music of harper Adriano
Sangineto (Italy) and how he used the harp, with many stating
they had no idea that the harp could be used that way. At the
grassroots level, I have taken harps to local retirement villages,
a care home, preschools, primary schools, the public library
and Thames High School to let people have a listen and a
play of these instruments. The response is always the same,
regardless of age or ability – people are always surprised at the