ReGroup

From John and Lynne

The Catskill concert was the first of a great month for John and Lynne, who have settled for now on the name ReGroup for their harp duo. The name evolved out of a long walk down Market Street in San Francisco, from John's home in the Castro to the newly reopened Ferry Building overlooking the inner harbor. We talked about what it means to us to be able to play the harp now - after significant careers that took us away from practicing and performing. We talked about what we learned about music as kids growing up, about the people and experiences who had major influences on us musically and personally, who nurtured us as musicians and who push us away from music, and what sort of influence we wanted to be now- for others who would come into our musical lives. And we talked about giving back: about sharing what we have learned with the next generations of musicians, about fulfilling Lucile Lawrence's charge to John to "do something for the harp every time you play." ReGroup it is: we are reactivating our duo, committing ourselves anew to the cause of the harp, reinvigorating each other through our commitment to being full time musicians and striving for authenticity in all that we bring to the harp. If we have a mission for the duo it's to always work with young students wherever we go, and to commission, transcribe, and perform music that shows the full range of capabilities of the harp-- that makes the harp shine, not us!

 

After Catskill we spent the next two weeks trying to get abreast of work in our day jobs, and then John was here November 7th. We practiced together over the weekend and on Monday worked with the high school students in the Mesa Public Schools harp program, Tuesday morning we played a program for the Kerr Cultural Center, in Scottsdale, came home and repacked the car (two harps, tow benches, concert clothes, overnight clothes, three string bags and one roller cart- all in the Audi!) and drove to Flagstaff where we played an evening program for the Flagstaff Federated Community Church. On Wednesday we returned to Phoenix, did the laundry, soaked our aching fingers in the pool, and practiced some more. By Thursday our fingers had stopped hurting, and we practiced individually for the majority of the morning. then in two cars, drove to Los Angeles, where on Friday morning we worked with the Clement Middle school band and choir students, drove to Pasadena, NAPPED (we are getting old, here!) and played a concert Friday evening sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the AHS. It was a whirlwind week, one that defined for both of us where we want to be putting our energies. Parting on Saturday was- truly- bittersweet. We are off for the month of December and in January will reconvene, to prepare for concerts on the Eastern seaboard surrounding Beginning in the Middle, playing at BITM, and playing here in Phoenix for a church series April 9th and on my faculty recital April 10th. We are ready to sell our cars and buy a mini Van- can you believe it? But loading two harps into that Audi, while an accomplishment worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records doesn't hold too much appeal on a daily basis! When we are out for a month at a time, playing, the (horror, I can't believe I am admitting this) mini van will be much easier on these aging backs!

My Recital

November 22, 2009 was the premier performance of the Christmas Blacksmith aka Handel's Harmonious Blacksmith. Performed in a bit less than stellar fashion by HarpArts alum Mary Ann Flinn, there were some surprising finger gymnastics, a few extraneous notes inserted and a few vital ones eliminated but no hesitations in the performance. The Blacksmith was completed in molto briillante fashion and the ground set for a wonderful teaching opportunity for the faculty at HarpArts 2010.