(This was originally sent to my email newsletter subscribers – you can become one by signing up here).
Hi all,
It’s been awhile since I wrote! I had a fantastic time at One Harp World in Toronto this summer – it was wonderful to connect with so many people as well as seeing old friends – thank you to everyone who came to say hi! I performed a program of my own music very early on in the festival and then got to sit back and take in the rest of the event. The next World Harp Congress is in Berlin in 2029 – can’t wait :)
After Toronto I spent some time in Nova Scotia with good friends, caught the solar eclipse outside of Madrid, spent ten days on Tenerife, and about 18 hours in Iceland on my way home – lots of adventures! Now I’m settled back in Victoria and enjoying the autumn.
I’ll be touring Europe from the end of February through most of April, more on that later (and if you’d like to have me come do a concert or workshop where you live, feel free to reach out), but today I want to tell you about the Galiano Island Harp Retreat!
Spearheaded by Mary Greenwood, who lives on Galiano, this is a three day event that offers a chance to enjoy a weekend of music and workshops at a 4 star resort on beautiful Galiano Island!
A Friday welcome reception and jam session, front row seats at my solo concert on Saturday, a bunch of workshops, and a beautiful and inspiring location – join us on April 23-25, 2027!
Galiano is one of the gulf islands, located between Vancouver Island and Vancouver. It has some stunning scenery and is going to be a great setting for this event. You can find out more here. Limited spots available, early bird special ends January 31, 2027.
OneHarpWorld Harp Tuesday episodes:
While I was in Toronto I had the chance to film a few Harp Tuesday episodes there. I’ve posted two of them so far, starting with this fascinating look at the Konghou (Chinese harp) thanks to Nathania Ko:
And an interview with German harpist Silke Aichhorn – she is filming and posting a 60 second excerpt of a piece for every day of the year… (A great resource for finding inspiration for a new piece to learn, as well as just to enjoy the music).
I have a couple other interviews I filmed that will get posted soon but in the meantime I’ve been busy with some other Harp Tuesday episodes:
Ep. 320 – some thoughts on whether a dedicated iPad stand is worthwhile or if a regular music stand works just as well:
Ep. 321 – Learning an Irish tune (Ar Éirinn Ní Neosfainn Cé Hí). This was a fun episode – I hunted through thesession.org for a piece that I liked and used that as an example of how thesession.org can be a great resource for learning trad tunes!
Ep. 322 – An exercise that helps with a harp placing rule!
Ep. 323 – I’ve been putting new strings on my harps and it prompted me to do a review of the Dusty Strings “String Buttons“. If you’re a harpist you probably know about them already, but if you haven’t seen them they’re worth checking out. They have the potential to make putting on new strings much easier and less stressful!
I’ll close with a couple recent photos. Thanks as always for reading and I will write again soon!
Cheers,
Josh
