Somerset Folk Harp Festival

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Presenters

Martha is ‘gracious and gifted’ and plays with ‘joie de vivre,’ and is ‘an absolute gem of a performer." In 2003 Martha was invited to tour the US with the Chieftains, and along the way garnered plenty of applause just for herself. Touring the US on her own under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, she has also competed in the Annual Edinburgh International Harp Festival on a Special Opportunities Grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts. With a deep background in many forms of music from classical to rock and roll, Martha has a BA in Music and is an experienced teacher and avid advocate of arts-in-ed and has presented programs for k-12 integrating music, history, Shakespeare, poetry and physics. Martha, who also sings, has numerous CDs, among them the intriguingly titled, The Wild Harps of Ireland and Songs from the Stones (which does not cover the Rolling Stones!).

Presenter website: The Adirondack Harper

Blues Harp: Walk on the Wild Side
Level: Any Type: Hands-on When: Sat. 3:30pm More Info

Create & Give a Stellar Performance
Level: Any Type: Hands-on When: Fri. 1:30pm More Info

Improvisation & Inspiration I
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Sat. 9:30am More Info

Improvisation & Inspiration II
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Sun. 9am More Info

Melinda Gardiner

For Melinda Gardiner the harp is more than a musical instrument, it is also a partner in healing. Executive Director of the Music for Healing and Transition Program, she is trained as a holistic nurse as well as being a CMP (Certified Music Practitioner). Melinda uses harp music to diminish pain, aid sleep, restore balance, harmony and peacefulness for patients in a variety of stressful situations: pre and post-surgery, birthing, drug-infusion, ICU/CCU, Alzheimer's and dementia and for hospice and palliative care. For each patient’s needs and situation she can choose just the right harp, from the wire-strung harp of Scotland and Ireland, to a small Gothic harp or a large, resonant lever harp. In her home area of the Albany/Hudson/Berkshire area, Melinda provides vocal and harp music for special ceremonies and celebrations and she is also a cantor and liturgical musician. With Bruce Gardiner she has created of retreats featuring Centering Prayer and Taize sung-prayer. In a joint collaboration with Mona Peck, CMP, Melinda has published Shadow's of the Living Light: Songs of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, six songs, with Gregorian and modern musical notation for ease of comparison and study.

Presenter website: Music for Healing and Transition Program

Gregorian Modes & Psalm Tones
Level: Any Type: Hands-on When: Sat. 9:30am More Info

Therapeutic Harp Jam
Level: Any. Type: Hands-on When: Fri. 3:30pm More Info

Nic Gareiss

nicgareiss
Described by the Irish Times as “the human epitome of the unbearable lightness of being,” and, "the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene,” by the Boston Herald, Michigan-born dancer Nic Gareiss has performed as a featured soloist with traditional music luminaries The Chieftains, Solas, Darol Anger, Dervish, Liz Carroll, Bruce Molsky, Alasdair Fraser and Martin Hayes. His work re-imagines movement as a musical activity, morphing dance into a medium that appeals to both the eyes and the ears. Nic draws from many percussive dance traditions to weave together a technique in service of his love of improvisation, traditional footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration. Nic holds degrees in anthropology and music from Central Michigan University and recently completed his MA in ethnochoreology at the University of Limerick. He will be performing with Maeve Gilchrist in her concert set.

Presenter website: Nic Gareiss

Dance the Tune
Level: Any. Type: Feet When: Fri. 3:30pm More Info

Maeve Gilchrist

Maeve Gilchrist thrives on innovation and improvisation - what she fondly calls "my musical patchwork quilt." Steeped from an early age in both classical and traditional music, Edinburgh-born Maeve Gilchrist discovered jazz in her late teens which she pursued at Berklee School of Music in Boston where she also studied voice, percussion and Latin American music. Maeve has stretched the traditional boundaries of the harp and has been credited as an innovator of the Clarsach (Scottish Harp) due to her chromatic style of playing and improvising. Currently based in Boston MA, Maeve is touring regularly with her own project and giving workshops worldwide. Performance highlights include the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, The World Harp Congress, and the Celtic Connections Festival. A couple of years ago, Maeve met Nic Gareiss while both were teaching at the Shasta Fiddle Camp in Northern California. They continued their musical relationship with spontaneous collaborations at festivals and chance and have emerged as innovators in their fields. The percussion and drive of Nic's footwork combined with Maeve's melodic and improvisational sensibilities make for an explosive duet that delights both the ears and the eyes. She has two CDs, Reaching Me and Song of Delight.

Presenter website: Maeve Gilchrist Music

Blazing Levers
Level: Adv. Type: Hands-on When: Fri. 1:30pm More Info

Contemporary Scottish Music
Level: Int-Adv. Type: Hands-on When: Fri. 9:30am More Info

Elements of Jazz & Improvisation I
Level: Int-Adv. Type: Hands-on When: Thurs. 1pm More Info

Elements of Jazz & Improvisation II
Level: Int-Adv. Type: Hands-on When: Thurs. 3pm More Info

Dennis Gormley

Dennis Gormley is a talented multi-instrumentalist who has been a fixture on the Philadelphia folk music scene for over 40 years. He has been performing traditional Irish music with his wife (the festival's director) Kathy DeAngelo as McDermott's Handy since 1978. He is a well-respected teacher of traditional music and regularly teaches classes for the Delaware Valley chapter of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann as well as co-teaching at the young musicians session at the Irish Center in Philadelphia. He and Kathy anchor NJ's longest continuously running Irish session, now at the Treehouse in Audubon NJ.

Presenter website: McDermott's Handy

Try the Tinwhistle
Level: Beg Type: Hands-on When: Fri. 1:30pm More Info

Try the Tinwhistle II
Level: Beg Type: Hands-on When: Sat. 9:30am More Info

William Grant

bill grant Like many of the presenters at the festival, William Grant wears many different hats in the harp world. You’ll see him at the festival wearing his harp technician hat. He has been certified as a harp technician with Lyon & Healy and Salvi Harps and has been doing harp regulation and repairs for 15 years. Bill is also a harpist who has performed as principal harpist with the Bergen Philharmonic, The Ridgewood symphony and the Society of Musical Arts in New Jersey; as well as the Broadway Bach Ensemble and Musica Bella in New York. He performed with the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra in Mexico and played the Nutcracker Ballet with the Danbury Symphony Orchestra for 3 years. He currently lives in the Big Apple, sometimes known as New York City.

Do It Yourself: Harp Maintenance
Level: Any Type: Hands-on When: Fri. & Sat. at 11:30am More Info

Gráinne Hambly

grainne In Zen Guitar, the author talks about finding the silence between the notes. Even when playing a reel full stop, Gráinne Hambly, exhibits such poise, authority and skill that every note has its moment giving her music a depth that is hard to describe. Velvet wrapped around steel, might get close! Her style of playing and her accompaniments while firmly traditional, incorporate and celebrate contemporary rhythms with amazing dexterity and flawless taste. Her accomplishments are many. She is popular in many countries and she tours around the world, has three solo CDs, two music books and two CDs with William Jackson. With a master's degree from Queens University in Belfast and years of workshop experience, her teaching skills match her playing; she is patient, clear, and sharp-eyed. She teaches at most of the major summer schools in Ireland and is in much demand here when she's on tour. She is also on staff at You Gotta Have Harp's Harpers' Escape Weekend. For the advancing student, eager to take on challenges, (warning: she makes it look easy!) Gráinne is a great choice.

Presenter website: Gráinne Hambly

The Carolan Marathon
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Sat. 3:30pm More Info

Slides & Polkas & More Irish Dance Tunes
Level: Int-Adv Type: Hands-on When: 9:30am More Info

Therese Honey

grainne An early fascination with the harp, deepened into a focus on Medieval and Renaissance harp after an encounter with early music at a Historical Harp Society Conference. Drawing from such diverse sources as the music of Hildegard von Bingen and the Faenza Codex, Therese also plays Renaissance vocal and dance music and continuo with Baroque ensembles. Superbly well-informed as well as having an intuitive feel for the music of the period, Therese Honey’s performances, utilizing historical harps appropriate to the music, evoke ‘another time and place’ with ‘entrancing virtuosity’. A dynamic teacher, Therese inspires and motivates her students to learn more about the harp, its technique, repertoire and history. She performs & records with the Texas Early Music Project in Austin, Texas and tours with Istanpitta; she has also has recorded solo CDs and published several harp books.

Presenter website: Therese Honey

Act Like a Pro
Level: Any Type: Lecture When: Sat. 1:30pm More Info

Arranging Renaissance Dances for Harp
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Fri. 1:30pm More Info

Left Hand Toolbox
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Sat. 9:39am More Info

Medievel Improvisation
Level: Any Type: Hands On When: Sun. 9am More Info