Fall 2011 was a tremendous season for two regular HarpArts attendees. Mary Ann Flinn, carefully selected her new Lyon & Healy 23 from among seven harps at the factory in Chicago, and Julie Nelson took the big plunge and purchased her first pedal harp.

Julie reports that while her lever harp was being repaired, "I thought maybe I would have to buy a new lever harp and that made me think that maybe I should consider a pedal harp because the sound is better, the repertoire more complete and it definitely would be a challenge! So Bonnie and I went back to Richmond and MJ (Mary Jane D'Arville of the Virginia Harp Center) had four harps for me to try. She played, I listened, I played, we all went out to lunch and talked, came back played more and I decided on a Clio with extended board 47 strings and "only" 55 pounds. I really like it and am having fun learning pedal changes and getting the hang of it. I am still playing lever harp on a lap size therapy harp at the hospital. This fall I have done three gigs (background music mainly) and one church gig. The first three went well, but the church gig was not my finest hour, but people seemed to enjoy anyway. "

That's our Julie--modest to a fault. Congratulations on the new harp!

Finding the right harp was a bit more work for Mary Ann. After an early morning flight from Atlanta and successfully navigating Chicago's public transportation system, she found herself at the Ogden avenue showroom pondering where to begin. She was open to three models: the 23 (Lyon and Healy's flagship model), the 30 and if it was really special--an 85CG. The trouble was that with nearly 30 harps in these models to pick from--where to start?

"It's really a process of elmination," Steve Hartmann of Lyon and Healy explained. "When you find a harp that you want to consider further, move one pedal to sharp and then go on to the next."

The next several hours were spent busily playing and listening. John Wickey (representing the Atlanta Harp Center) was on hand to help demo the instruments and before too long the 85s were elminated. Then the 30s.

After lunch, which seems to be an important step in harp selection generally, Mary Ann was firmly in the 23 camp. But which one? There were seven natural 23s from which to chose. How would she ever make up her mind?

"We were down to two at the end of the first day" reports Wickey. "Several had been moved to the concert hall and then to a smaller room to hear them in different environments. One by one contenders were eliminated."

The next morning Mary Ann was back at it and spent most of the day alone in the small room with the two remaining 23s. Which one will be her new friend for life? Was she making a mistake?

"It was a real nail biter for a while there," John said "but after lunch I think Mary Ann was feeling more confident about her decision." She had found her new harp. Here is the proud owner with her glorious new 23 just before Lessons and Carols 2011.