Prague's harp meeting

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Jana

Prague's harp meeting

Beitrag von Jana »

Hello to all :_grin_:

because I am crazy I started to prepare little one day/night meeting in Prague. I promised to let you know when it will be done and ... it is now! Here is link to german version of informations (BIG THANKS TO JOSEF for translation!!! He is saint!!!!)

http://www.sweb.cz/maffet/akce/h_vikend_ge.htm

It will be small and unofficial, but I hope it will be nice and will works. Thank you for great inspiration!!!
skh
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Beitrag von skh »

Ahoj Jano,

I will try and be in Prague at that time, but maybe I won't have a harp with me. I'd love to visit the harp meeting anyway, if that's possible :_smile_:

cheers,
Sonja
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Reidun
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Meine Harfe(n): 2 Chromatische Harfen von Henrik Schupp, grosse & kleine Keltische Harfe von Pepe Weissgerber, Erard Grecian, kleine keltische Harfe von Louviot, Ivy von Karsten Stielow
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Beitrag von Reidun »

Thats really good news!
I m glad this happens!
(a pity I m not free that weekend...)
best wishes
Rheidun

PS Josef is not a saint :_grin_:
but this is a good job...
Zuletzt geändert von Reidun am Mo 10. Sep 2007, 11:06, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
Reidun im Netz: http://www.harpmusic.ie
Jana

Beitrag von Jana »

Hello Sonja,

you are very very welcome :-) Never mind about harp. I hope I will have new one in the spring. (It should be finished until christmas but you never know) - so my smaller will be ready for anyone in need. This meeting will be really simple and small. (He he ... of course I dont know what to expect - because it's open to non-harp people too. :_smile_: )
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s4bine
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John Egan aus Kirschholz (Bj. 2000, die Harfe hat mir Jürgen in einem Baukurs bei Frank Sievert gebaut)

Brian Boru (Nylonbesaitung) aus Ahorn (Bj. 2010, entstanden in einem Baukurs der Klangwerkstatt mit André Schubert)
Wohnort: im Vogelsbergkreis (Hessen)

Beitrag von s4bine »

Dear Jana,
it's impossible for me to attend. :_sad_:
But I wish you all the best for your harp meeting. It was great to get to know you in Lauterbach and I hope we'll meet again ... perhaps one day in Prague or in Lauterbach? :_wink_:
Lots of love
Sabine
Zuletzt geändert von s4bine am Fr 28. Sep 2007, 23:25, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
Josef

Beitrag von Josef »

here is Jana's poster presentation: :_cheesy_:
http://www.sweb.cz/maffet/akce/A4plakat_barevny.jpg
Zuletzt geändert von Josef am Do 3. Jan 2008, 13:23, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
Gast

Beitrag von Gast »

JANA HERE (fast news from parent's computer)

I survived Prague's meeting and I will surely try to post more informations soon as well as photos. It was absolutly wanderful and I still cant belive that it become true. About 90 paying people attended, I counted about 18 harps and biggest suprise for me was that even full beginners and people who touched harp for the first time in their life joined on stage in masive group of many harpists and played for audience 5!!!!!! very easy songs in Canon style which they practised with Wendy during noon and afternoon. And thay did it!! So brave!
Oh and Erik and Anna were excelet! They were really golden jewell at the end of evening and people didnt want to let them go. We had a lovely time. I will write more soon.

No I need to recover, a lot of sleep, some pills for headache and shower :_smile_: See you soon.
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DS aus MOD
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und

No1 - kleine chromatische Harfe Eigenkonstruktion und Eigenbau ( Okt. 2007 )

und

No2 - derzeit in Planung
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Beitrag von DS aus MOD »

I have been there.
It was a realy lovely meeting, nice people everywhere :_smile_:

I don´t understand any Czech, but thanks to my Navi I found it without problems and while the meeting I never had any problem with communication, because the most people understood some English and thanks the last help by [S]"Saint"[/S] Joseph.

Big thanks to Jana !!!

Please let me know, if you try the adventure of a second meeting.

Dieter

Besides:
Prag is worth to stay. Hostels in centre are not expensive.
If you are good by feet you can visit all interesting towers, castel, bridge, some churches and Jewish village in one day.
I did it, because I never had been in Prag before.

Nachtrag 25.3.08:
Heute stand bei uns in der Zeitung unter Reisen, daß man in Prag auch ein "Knödelzertifikat" machen kann :_smile_:
Zuletzt geändert von DS aus MOD am Di 25. Mär 2008, 11:09, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
Ich bin doch nicht beklappt :_smile_:

Von allen Tieren liebe ich ganz besonders den Amtsschimmel.
Jana

Beitrag von Jana »

HOW IT STARTED....

When I returned from Harfentreffen 2007, I was so inspired that I decieded to organise little meeting of local harpists. All harpists here just only talk that it would be nice but I was sad that nobody try anything. My idea was. One afternoon - only harpists. So we will have tea, we will play and maybe some audience will come and they can listen. I booked room from 50 people thinking that with harps ... together .. It can be enough of space.

MEETING IS GROWING....

Somehow ... (I have no idea how).. I found that too many harpists booked that if they all come with harps, there will not be place for any audience. So around christmas I changed booking to big all for 150 people and because I needed to pay high rent, I added evening concert and invited also harpmakers.

OH MY GOD ... it's FESTIVAL...

O.k. Miracle happend / Erik from Sweeden wrote to me that he is interested to come. I knew Erik from Harfentreffen and I had his medieval CD and loved his music a lot because he and his wife Anna were for me greatest inspiration as for medieval music and now I will have them there personaly. So we have guest start for evening concert. o.ki And some people from abroad signed ... I needed to organise sleeping overnight and brekfast ... So little meeting turned into serious festival. I neve organised anything bigger than tea for friends and now I become organiser of still growing festival...

BUT :-)..... It was soooooooooooooooooo wanderful!
Morning - fast preparations of space in Toulcuv Dvur. We had really big hall parted to two places. Happily people come to help me and poor Josef with Johanness have no chance than to work :-) Also harpmaker from Pribram - mr Hanzik come and his family heavily helped me with preparations and making atmosphere, because they took also other funny instruments like kanteles, monochords, citterns and dulcimers.
10:00 - harpists join and we unpack harps and start to play. I count 16 harps and people part to two groups. Full beginners in a back room learn to hold harp or advanced beginners learn easy song. In a first room is my friend Wendy and that more advanced group play all they love and enjoy themself in session-like atmosphere. Soon Erik and Anna join them and I here really delightfull sound from first room. :-)))) Happily Wendy is charismatic and funny person who is able to lead group of this people. I am happy for that because I am more quiet and shy.
It's hard to move people out from harps, but there must be some space for lunch. Some of them played and played and if there would be somebody who could feed them during playing, they would be playing during eating. :-))))
About 14:00 - Normal people are coming
Both groups joined and continued by learning some easy tunes which harpists will play during concert. People are coming and listening them and I sit in a first room, have there two harps and show audience how to sit, put hands and talk about mechanic.
About 16 starts some lectures ... he he ... well, starting by Josef :-D with his explanation of diffrent types of people who ask harpist about harps. Really funny thing. People are laughing.
Than Dieter was talking (BIG THANKS) about cross string harp and how it should be played.
At 17 - starts Hana Blochova with lecture about history of harps with musical examples and reconstructions of historical harps. Including giant egyptian harp. (This was really high point of afternoon, because to see and hear egyptian harp in reallity is rare ocassion and I am happy than Hana come - she had serious car accient few weeks before and still didnt feel well - so I was thankful, that she come.)

will continue.....
Jana

Beitrag von Jana »

..... PART II



Evening cocert... started 40 minutes late, so we decieded to shorten all beginning parts including our own band. It was nessesary, because we had a lot of people to play and needed to end at 22:00
At first should play all atendants. Wendy moved her group to stage and I expected that only few will be brave to come and play, but I turned and they ALL!!!! were siting begind me and watching me when to start. Me jew fell down. I didnt expected that. And they played five easy "canon" melodies which they practised with Wendy. And they did it! Fantastic. It was big gang of harpists and some of them had harp in their hand for the first time. VERY BRAVE!

Than solo harpists come, opening with our czech father of local harpers - Jirka (he made his first harp from old wardrobe 10 years ago and he was first who tried to play it.)
Than I, Wendy and Jirka played Carolan's Ramble to Cashel. We didnt played that together for few years and didnt rehears it - but it turned out so great, that my teacher later highlighted that.
Than Wendy with her lovely song (she has great voice)and me with Ailein Duinn. Than come Alexandra with her own music and finaly Hana with few medieval songs

Than our band played ... but only four songs. Wendy had trouble to play harp after all day playing and painfull hand, so she played only flute (We have two harps, medieval wind instruments and drum) and so I needed to play most of harp parts alone, which was a bit stresfull. I did there billions of mistakes, but nobody recognized and people really loved what we played (only my teacher sitting in a first row will break my fingers tomorrow, because I did there some ... well not mistakes ... some parts turned absolutly tu diffrent melody ... but to person who dont know the song it should sound like a cool variations ... but my teacher knows :_smile_:

And than we had a two star musicians. First czech group TRES ENSEMBLE who play renaissance music with harp, lute, voice and gamba
And than come Erik and Anna and they played so wanderfuly and made so great atmosphere that people didnt want let them go and so they needed to add 3times songs. BIG THANKS!!! Erik, you are stars! And mainly - you are both wanderful people!!!!
After 23 - we move all people out and only people sleeping overnight stayed. We prepared carpet, sleeping bags and mats, open sangria to have a evening snack and of course .... played!
Does anyone know how to switch off harpist who are in playing mood? It's impossible. But so great! :-)))
We played even during breakfast and than to Dieter for sweet morning music. :-) It was nice to open eyew to gentle tones.
UF I survived that and I hope that people enjoyed. I still have no photos, but I have some very nice responses and so I belive that people love that even it has some child's illnesses, but it was great.

My personal result...
Well festival has 0 profit. Which means that I was able to pay rent of hall and food and drinks and gas. So big stone felt from my heart, because I am not rich and I invested into festival a lot of my money. But finaly... It's behind me. I am now very very tired and feel 100 years old ... or like after some marathon run. If there will be event like this I will not be completly only organiser like now and there should be team of supporting people or we should ask for grant. But it's for the first time and it was big lesson and experience.

Finaly with harpmakers models, erik's harp, harps of atendants, Hana's harps for lectures - I counted 23 harps :-)
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