Performed by Tyné & Katie, Dec 30, 2013. You can see more videos by harpist/singer Tyné Angela on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TyneAngela
Yes, that’s really me playing on a swingset (near the Hunter St. Bridge in Peterborough, ON – another Harp Quest shot).
My fingers were chilled straight through!
Where is the strangest place you’ve ever played your harp?
First entry in the Urban Harp series. This one was taken during the infamous “Harp Quest” of 2002. (Boy, does that old page look dated now!)
The goal of the Millennium Harp Quests (which took place around the world after the turn of the new century) was to expand awareness of the instrument, encourage people to play in public, and generally spread lots of warmth and good feelings (Peace on Earth through harping – not a bad sentiment).
As a reward for finishing my personal quest (which was to play at 25 bridges and locks throughout central Ontario) I received a lovely little 19-string hand-made collapsible (!) Paraguayan-style harp. It has had a place of honour on top of my piano ever since, and still gets played regularly. It was even used to compose several tunes for small harp for my book, “A la Mode”.
You can click on the picture for a bigger version of the image.
Updated to add: Here’s the website of the guy who started it all: http://harpingforharmony.org/
I feel like I should have heard of this group before now. Such a great idea! I wish I was in a populated enough area to start something like this. The mission of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble is “to deliver quality musical instruction on the harp, develop music reading skills and musicianship to at-risk, urban youth.” You can visit their official website at http://www.urbanharp.org/.
Here are some members of the group playing “What a Wonderful World” (the sound is a bit fuzzy but it’s still way cool):