"Music is food for the soul...feed it well!"

Jan Jennings is a fantastic teacher and polished professional who has played for every conceivable occasion. Her audiences have included mayors, governors, U.S. Presidents, Robert Goulet, Carl Reiner, Carol Burnett, Henry Mancini, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, and others. Her website lists a “partial repertoire” of 300 pieces!

Jan was introduced to music with five years of piano lessons as a child. She studied harp with Marie Mellman Naugle in Harrisburg, PA for seven years, but did not intend to pursue the harp as a profession.

She became a bank vice-president, but the demand for her talents as a harpist allowed her the unique opportunity to “retire” to become a full time harpist.

Jan’s background in business continues to serve her well. She was interviewed and quoted in the book, “The Savvy Musician,” by Dr. David Cutler.  This year she will be teaching a workshop on the “Business of Music.”

She is hard to get, so we are thrilled to have her after missing her for 3 years. 

Jan will be teaching an all-day class Thursday before the harp weekend.

Southeastern Harp Weekend

Presenters 2013

“I believe we all can learn and play music in a way that brings us joy, healing and calmness, and connects us to our heart.  My passion is to help others find the way.”

“I believe that if you play what you love to play, you can only bring goodness to the world.”

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Sharon Thormahlen says the best thing she ever did was to marry a guy who turned into a harp maker. But we beg to differ; she is beloved in the folk harp world for her beautiful compositions and arrangements that fall so easily under the fingers.

She says "It would be very unlikely that I would be playing the harp, I would not have written any harp music and I would not be part of the harp community if I hadn't met Dave. Although – he was hardly a harp maker when we met, he had built 1, maybe 2 harps and was also building mandolins, guitars, and hammer dulcimers. It was a twist of fate!"  

She has published 13 books and has been teaching since 2005.  Her own compositions are inspired from nature hikes, meadows, waterfalls, and her observations of the whimsies of life.  This year we are excited about her new courses; she always makes your classes upbeat and practical, working with participants hands-on to show new skills.

Every year we cycle new presenters into the mix, so we force ourselves to cycle out even very popular clinicians for a year or two so you can get lots of variety.  It’s hard !!!

But we have a special detour this year to have Joanna Mell teach a Tuesday all-day session that is going to be FABULOUS.  She will not be doing workshops during the weekend, but she will be in the vendor hall, and doing a few private lessons.

We always have fabulous feedback on Joanna and her easy-going, upbeat workshops.  She uses humor, interesting exercises, and keeps the group engaged.  She teaches left-hand patterns and techniques that are beautiful and  accessible to intermediates and developing players. They are also useful to advanced players who realize that sometimes “less is more” and “ease is good.”

Her Tuesday intensive is to inspire harpers with encouraging activities to get unstuck in all ways.  Her teacher Alison Simpson “was a tough cookie who took me from being a "harp slob" to being the harpist and performer that I am today.”  Joanna wants to help you feel that spiritual and joyful connection with your harp that will allow the music to flow.  She will help you learn new material in a positive and efficient way.  And part of the day will be "Ask any question you want and I will address it".”  Like a true workshop - fix what's broken!

Joanna has recorded several CDs of Celtic music and therapeutic music.  She is also a therapeutic harpist on staff with Grand View Hospital Hospice and uses her musical gifts to bring comfort, peace and healing to those who are suffering in mind, body and spirit.  Joanna is founder and director of the Heart of God Foundation which trains therapeutic harpists and also provides therapeutic harp music to patients in health care facilities. 

Joanna will be teaching her all-day class Tuesday after the harp weekend.

Kim Robertson is the name everyone in the folk harp scene knows. Many of the masterful clinicians and performers of the world today stand atop the shoulders of Kim Robertson. She has stretched the boundaries of the harp for all of us.  As a pioneer in the American folk harp movement, she has unparalleled inventiveness & virtuosity with a keen respect for tradition.

Born in Wisconsin, she was classically trained on piano and orchestral harp. In the mid-70's, Kim's discovery of the Celtic harp grew into a profound love, setting her upon a path of, traveling with her harp from concert halls to grass roots folk clubs; from luxury cruise ships to remote mountaintops.  She performed concerts by candlelight, delivered singing telegrams, and played herself on an episode of "Beverly Hills 90210.”

She tours the USA, Canada and Europe, has trained most of us at one time or another, and is among the most popular lever harpists performing and teaching today. Her work encompasses endless recording projects, brilliant published harp arrangements. She’s in demand at international workshops, concerts and retreats.  Her classes are great-great-great, so you can’t go wrong.  We’re excited to have Kim here as one of our headlining presenters.

“Kim Robertson stands out both for her technical expertiise and humor. After attending her session I am more confident that I can become a better harper.” -2012 participant Julie Rehder

Kim will be teaching an all-day class Thursday before the harp weekend.

“I believe I’ll go write another song.”

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Mike Williams has helped many musicians advance their careers, most notably Emmylou Harris and Nancy Griffith. We got hugely high evaluations on Mike last fall.

The most creative harpers collaborate with musicians of other genres: fiddle players, dulcimer players, or guitarists.  Mike is a brilliant 12-string guitar picker and one of the best songwriters in the country; John Denver performed and recorded some of Mike’s songs. 

Mike is also the quintessential entertainer who can joyfully “work the crowd,” bringing them to laughter and tears. During the late 1970’s Mike played the college circuit and brought in an amount which in today’s terms would be $325,000 a year, a reflection of his songwriting touch.  So yes, he has something to teach us -- things that go beyond what we usually learn about melody writing. And he’s a charming and charismatic fellow with infectious zest for life!

“My favorite instructor was Mike Williams - He could "teach the heck" out of song/tune construction, and what a wonderful, positive person!" 

Sunita Staneslow has played in concert halls and pubs from New Zealand to Tel Aviv. She is classically trained, although her passion is traditional music. She grew up in Minnesota, graduated from Tufts University and Manhattan school of music, studying with Frances Miller, Lucile Lawrence and Judith Liber.

Here is someone who specializes in both Jewish and Celtic music, but most of us know her for her gorgeous arrangements and liquid playing.  Try her arrangement of Silent Night for emotive and delicate!

Sunita is a hugely popular performer and instructor at all the major North American harp festivals. In July of 2000, Sunita moved from Minnesota to Israel with her husband and two kids.  She now lives near Tel Aviv and has a busy teaching studio and performing career. She works as a therapeutic harpist at a children’s hospital, which she says “feels like an island of good energy in a world of tension. The focus is on the kids and love.”

She has released 13 CDs on several labels of Jewish, Celtic and classical music and published fourteen books of her arrangements of music for the harp. 

“I really enjoyed Sunita... now I know why everyone speaks of her with such admiration, affection and respect. She is a fine player and a great teacher. And she just makes you feel like the sky is the limit when it comes to playing the harp.”  - from 2012 evaluation

Sunita has a delightfully non-pretentious, beautiful energy. She will be teaching during the weekend AND doing an intimate all-day Tuesday class

Sunita will be teaching an all-day class Tuesday after the harp weekend.

If you’ve ever been frustrated with learning repertoire, here is a soulmate for you.  Dee Sweeney was a classically trained grade-school-through-college-harpist who stopped playing for several decades because of her frustration with the struggle she experienced in learning, memorizing and retaining new repertoire.  

As a result of studying NLP and whole brain learning strategies, Dee returned to the harp armed with new learning models and was able to learn music and rediscover the joy of playing.  Through her later training in therapeutic music, she developed total comfort with playing spontaneously and continuously for extended periods of time without music.

Dee Sweeney is now the Owner and Director of Harp for Healing and the Clinical Musician Certification Program.

Dee loves teaching people how to learn music with joy through understanding how their brains like to learn.  As a result of her expertise in learning strategies and therapeutic music, and her success in filling the gaps in her own musical skills, she is able to present these beautifully satisfying concepts in a gentle and “easy to grasp” manner.

Dee is facilitating an all-day course Monday that will allow you to integrate what you experienced over the weekend.  We’ve never had this before; it will be FABULOUS for the “packed brain.” It will sort all that you learned into a smooth packet that will send you off to the best year of growth ever!

“My favorite was Dee Sweeney.  She’s a great instructor,  and now I can memorize music!!” - 2012 evaluation

Dee will be teaching an all-day class Monday after the harp weekend.

dee sweeney

mike williams

sunita staneslow

nicolas carter

sharon thormahlen

jan jennings

“I believe that we help make the world a better place by creating good vibrations. Learning to play the harp can be wonderful journey of creating beauty and positive energy.”

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“I believe that it would benefit all musicians to understand the workings of their instrument.”

Dave Thormahlen began to play music in 1972 and immediately was inspired to learn to build instruments. He built his first harp in 1982 has built over 1200 instruments in the last 30 years. He plays mandolin and guitar with his wife, Sharon, who oddly enough plays the harp.

He will be teaching a workshop on levers and simple repairs you can do at home.   And harpers, take note:  Dave will be available to do harp regulations!  Just find him in the vendor hall at the Thormahlen booth.

dave thormahlen

maeve gilchrist

kim robertson

virginia schweninger

"I believe WE are the instrument, and the harp is only wood, strings & glue. The music starts & ends with us."

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Here’s an exciting addition to your harp adventure!This may be your first opportunity to learn from a Paraguayan harpist.  Nicolas Carter teaches Latin music with a unique warmth and sincerity, and workshop participants from other conferences report that he makes novel concepts interactive and fun.  Many experienced professionals implored we MUST have Nicolas Carter!

Nicolas learned to play the harp in Paraguay, a country with a distinguished tradition of harp music.  And it’s a place where most of the harpists are men, unlike North America. Nicolas has been performing professionally since 1988 in Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Nicolas connects with audiences in a personal and authentic manner.  He combines his passion for Latin American harp music and storytelling with a desire to promote understanding and peace in the world.  His on-stage reflections often weave touching and humorous stories from his own life experiences.

annalee driscoll

Come be blown away by Maeve Gilchrist! Her concerts will leave you breathless and her teaching content is unquestionably unique. 

Maeve was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. Daughter to an Irish mother and Scottish father, she grew up immersed in traditional folk music. At an early age Maeve was accepted into the Edinburgh Music School where she spent seven years studying classical piano, clarsach (Celtic harp) and vocals.

From her early teens, Maeve was in demand on the traditional music scene in Scotland where she performed at events such as the opening of the Scottish Parliament, the Celtic Connections Festival and the International Edinburgh Harp Festival. At seventeen she received a full scholarship from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied jazz and world music, alongside a colorful career as a professional musician and teacher.

She tours with her own trio, featuring Scottish bassist Aidan O’ Donnell and fiddler Duncan Wickel, fusing her Scottish roots with the colors and freedoms of jazz to produce an unrivaled sound.

Her solo project is called ‘THE OSTINATO PROJECT” an exploration of the harp with a focus on each hand working as an independent voice.

Maeve is the first lever harpist to be employed as an instructor by the Berklee College of Music and she has written a folk harp method book, published by Hal Leonard Music. 

Maeve will be teaching an all-day class Monday after the harp weekend.

"I believe that to articulate our musical ideas,

we have to focus on bettering our technique,

hand independence, and rhythmic core."

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“I believe harp playing is a great lesson in progress.  As we strive to express our passions through beautiful sounds we learn to be patient, to preserve, to create, to be spontaneous and experience lots of joy.”

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We always look for a talented teacher for Irish music enthusiasts.  AnnaLee Driscoll is just the ticket!  She was already playing in the Pacific northwest as a Certified Music Practitioner and Hospice palliative music volunteer when she auditioned and was accepted by the Irish Harp College.  

She studied for two years with Dr. Janet Harbison, one of the world’s premier Irish harpers and the driving force behind the resurgence of Irish music for harp. While studying at the Irish Harp College AnnaLee earned performance distinctions and was certified as a music teacher by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the traditional Irish music society.

She performed and toured through Ireland and Europe with the Irish Harp Orchestra.  AnnaLee was also a staff musician for weddings and receptions at a four-star hotel; she played in castles, concert halls and cathedrals; performed sacred music for church services, and provided palliative music in hospitals, nursing homes and centers for developmentally disabled.  She also won the 2010 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Senior Harp Competition.

AnnaLee brings a bubbly energy and relaxed teaching style that really “works” for you, even beginners, at the Southeastern Harp Weekend!

At the last Southeastern Harp Weekend, a participant  said, “There is a vendor here who should be a presenter, and she may be the best you’ve ever had.  It’s Kathy Bundock Moore.”  Another harper came to me, and with HUGE eyes said, “I just had one of the best experiences of my LIFE.  I had a 30 minute lesson with Kathy Bundock Moore, and I have NEVER learned so much in 30 minutes!!”

So she’s coming!  Kathy is one of the most experienced teachers in a university setting that we have ever had.  She can hear a tune once and then sit at the harp and play a beautiful self-made arrangement, and she will teach us the steps to develop the same.  She has some of the best theory books out there and the most amazingly lovely arrangement of “Beauty and the Beast” you can imagine. 

Kathy has played the harp since the age of 9.  She went to school at the Eastman School of Music to earn her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, then earned her Ph.D. at Michigan State University. Dr. Moore recently retired from teaching Music Theory and Harp full-time at the University of Northern Colorado.  She is active as a performer; playing in several orchestras throughout northern Colorado. She also has played many weddings, receptions, funerals, parties and other gatherings.

She has collaborated with numerous fine musicians and now works with Jackson and Almeda Berkey, members of the group Mannheim Steamroller.  She has worked with Mason Williams, whose song “Classical Gas” was a big hit in the late 60’s.  He asked her to arrange his music for solo harp.

Dr. Moore is a judge for national American Harp Society competitions, the music theory editor for the American Harp Journal, and performs and teaches master classes all over the country. She has published 17 books and arrangements.  They call her Dr. Moore for a reason.  Here with us, she’s Kathy, with her sparkling enthusiasm and endless knowledge to change your life!

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“Southeastern Harp Weekend is wonderful event, even for beginners. I was intimidated thinking my skill would not be up to par, but everyone made me feel welcome.”  - Janice Young

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“I believe that music calms the soul. There is nothing prettier than the sound of a plucked string! “

kathy bundock

moore

joanna mell

And a special appearance, teaching a Tuesday all-day class:

“Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow!”

kate tamarkin

Described by Leonard Bernstein as "extremely musical, a vivid personality, and a strong performer," Kate Tamarkin has achieved a distinguished international reputation as a conductor of orchestras at many levels: as Associate Conductor of the Dallas Symphony under Eduardo Mata, and as music director and conductor of the Monterey Symphony, the East Texas Symphony, the Vermont Symphony, and the Fox Valley Symphony (Wisconsin).

She is currently the Music Director of the Charlottesville & University Symphony and a professor at the University of Virginia. Kate has guest-conducted some of world's leading orchestras and has been profiled on CNN and NBC's Today Show.

Her conducting credits include a command performance for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; engagements with the National Philharmonic of Moldova and the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Edmonton (Canada), Nashville, New Mexico, Tucson, Dallas, and Oklahoma City.

Kate has a special interest in the relationship between music and healing, and is a Certified Music Practitioner on the harp. She is the Program Coordinator for a new initiative at Hospice that offers live music to soothe hospice patients and their families. We are excited about bringing new perspectives from a symphony conductor to Southeastern Harp Weekend!

Virginia Schweninger has been a free-lance harpist for over 35 years. She has performed as principal harpist with symphony orchestras and played with major celebrities such as Sammy Davis, Jr. Kenny Rogers, Sandy Patty, Melissa Manchester and Jack Benny.  She also played in the big hotels and for weddings. She continues with weddings, and loves her brides and their moms!  Her  CD, "Somewhere in Time", was voted the Third Best Solo Instrumental CD for 2006-2009 by the JPF Indy Music Awards.

Virginia delights in sharing the touching and often hilarious stories of her life behind the harp. She particularly enjoys teaching the harp and has very busy harp studios at Sweet Briar College, the Music Emporium in Charlottesville and at home in Nelson County. 

Virginia had hand problems so severe at one point that she had to stop playing the harp. With the help of surgery followed by Alexander training, she was able to develop a whole new style at the harp allowing her to play with ease and joy! She brings you essential knowledge of how to overcome physical issues, develop your technique and create beautiful tone while preventing injury.  Welcome, Virginia!

“As a lifelong musician, I am delighted to have discovered the wonder of the harp, both as a personal hobby and as a tool to promote healing.  To use the gift of harp music to ease the suffering of others is more rewarding than I ever imagined. “

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“The talent of the instructors and performers is superb. It doesn't get better than this.” ________________________