Happy New Year!

I’m a bit late in wishing all you lovely visitors to my website a prosperous and fruitful new year but here I am and I’m ready to make 2020 a musical year to plucking well remember. Just a few words tonight as I’ve got a lot of practice to be getting on with. Music makes me so happy and I love playing my harp at every opportunity! I wanted to share a couple of videos I’ve recently recorded of two songs that are very popular requests for weddings, but due to my slight lack of competence in the technical department, here are links to my Facebook and Soundcloud pages, where I’ve just uploaded two new wedding songs for 2020 and beyond.

My aim is to record a new track once a week. Last week was my take on the main theme from Out of Africa by John Barry. This week was my version of Ed Sheeran’s lilting love song, Perfect. You can also view videoclips on Instagram if you use it. Eventually I’d like to be able to produce basic videoclips (without having a complete technical meltdown) of me actually playing with the best sound quality I can achieve outside a studio.

As always, do let me know what you think and if you’d like me to make a short video or soundclip just for you! In the meantime, my focus is on the ppp’s - practice, practice and, you guessed it, playing! I’ve got some very exciting performances coming up this year - watch this space…

A blooming marvellous wedding

A perfect position to play Pachelbel’s Canon in D

surrounded by a few of my favourite things - books and blossom, and my Camac harp of course

I played for Emily and Josh’s gorgeous intimate wedding at Wortley Hall yesterday. I met Emily at a wedding fayre at Wortley Hall last year which she attended with her mum and her sister. A beautiful friendly dark brunette, Emily looked stunning in her amazing dress. She appeared magically at the wooden double doors before walking down the aisle after her bridal party.

I spy

That’s lovely Laurie at the far end. A key member of the Wortley Hall wedding team, there she is, efficiently ensuring everything’s in place before the ceremony

Emily wanted a combination of pop music that’s been featured in films like Twilight and Disney animation, as well as traditional classical music for her civil ceremony. This took place in the lounge, which was ornately decorated with gloriously oriental blossom trees. Her guests entered the room and I played some atmospheric background music as a backdrop for conversations between Emily’s family and friends as they awaited her arrival. The harp is the perfect choice if you want unobtrusive wedding music that’s soothing and uplifting.

For her entrance, Emily chose the timeless classic, Canon in D by Pachelbel. It’s an excellent choice to walk down the aisle as it’s calm and ceremonious, solemn yet rousing.

After the official ceremony came the signing of the register and the photos. It was the perfect opportunity for me to play Emily’s requests, A Thousand Years and Beauty and the Beast. You can listen to clips of all these pieces of music and more by clicking here:

The ceremony drew to a close and I played Allegro Maestoso by Handel for Emily’s exit with Josh. Celebratory and joyful, it’s a great choice as an exit piece. It was also performed at Princess Diana’s wedding so it’s got to be a good tune! It’s a significant moment, the first part of their journey as husband and wife, and choosing an optimistic upbeat piece of music is a good move. They walked out of the lounge directly onto the gardens, which looked like this:

Is it any wonder I love playing here?

The gardens are in full lush technicolour bloom right now. Doesn’t that giant shrub look a bit like a cake?

Beautiful dahlias

in the carefully tended gardens

Hearty artichoke plants

in the well stocked borders

Congratulations to the newly weds - wishing you every happiness for your future together!

It’s Down to Business - A Clean Slate

Rhian Evans Tourist

It’s all go here at Rhian Evans Harpist HQ. I had a great holiday and although it was all too brief, I’m still feeling inspired and stimulated by my time away in Sardinia. It’s said that a change is as good as a rest and I’ve returned reverberating resonant ideas around my business. The day before my departure I had a positively fruitful meeting with mentor, business advisor and friend, Gareth Boot. A man of many talents, he’s just the person to help me gain some much needed clarity, focus and motivation. Find out more about Gareth here:

Technically challenged

Gareth putting his creativity to good use on my first video shoot

Drop him a line if you need help with your challenges, be they professional or personal. Our meeting helped get me on point and get my priorities straight for the next trimester. It’s with this meeting in mind that I’ve decided I need to streamline and simplify the many facets of my offerings as harpist, educator and writer. I’ve tidied up my website and you may have noticed I now have a News/Blog page.

This may well be the last blog post I write here for some time. I’ve reached the conclusion that I simply must devote more time to practicing and learning new music. Writing has to take second place for the time being. I have some musical projects lined up for the next few weeks that won’t go well or happen at all unless I sit down and do my work. As you might know, I love writing so this isn’t an easy decision, but I love making music and playing my harp more and I genuinely miss time sat studying my scores and exploring my instrument. It’s my haven and my therapy and I need that as much as I need food and water!

My aim now is to use this page to let you know about any engagements, performances and promotional events I’m doing so you can listen to my harpbeat! I’ve left the most popular creative blog posts up as well as a few posts that are close to my heart. Most importantly there’s still a lot of information about weddings.

If you’ve enjoyed reading my blogs, do let me know, especially if you know someone who might even pay me to do some writing for them!

Thank you for reading and have a great Summer!

Rhian

La Dolce Vita

Enjoying being in holiday mode. I really could get used to it! Anyone need a travel writer?

Choosing Your Wedding Music

“Are you feeling confused about your choice of wedding music? Perplexed at the overwhelming array of options available to you? Here are a few tips on one of the most important aspects of your celebrations which sets the tone throughout your day”

I really love playing for weddings and it's a privilege to be closely involved in your special day.  Music is such a vital part of any celebration and especially the celebration of a loving relationship.  Over the years I’ve played at countless ceremonies and weddings and I know first hand the powerful impact the right piece of music can have.  My role is finding out which piece of music makes you tick and then adapting it to make it sound great on the harp.  To do this well and to give my own unique spin on a piece of music you love can take a while. From first listening to it to downloading a printed version online to making the piece yours can be a pleasantly time consuming process.  This means that you get your very own version of the song that has such significance for you.  This could be the first song you danced together to, or a song that was popular at the time you met.  

I recently met a couple at a wedding event who liked my playing and my music and they want a reggae classic for the bride's entrance music.  Intrigued, I asked if they could send me a link to the song to see if I could make it work.  Having listened to it, I know it’ll work and I feel quite excited about it.  With great lyrics, it's a lovely loving tribute from bride to groom, and most importantly I think it will sound gorgeous on the harp!

Thanks to technology and the internet now, the possibilities are endless.  I played for a civil ceremony in March and the bride was due to come and hear her request at a wedding event.  I was disappointed to find out at the last minute that the venue had decided to have a pianist instead without letting me know, putting me in a slightly awkward position with the bride-to-be who had planned to come and hear me play.  I got my thinking cap on and arranged a video call with her.  My lovely client was delighted with the end results! If you can’t meet me at a fayre, there are ways around this.

It's worth bearing in mind not everything works well on the harp and I'm happy to guide you in your choice of music.

If you're considering having live harp music at your wedding, here are some of the options I can offer:

Civil Ceremony

I’m set up and ready to play from 30 minutes before your ceremony and I play soothing background music from my repertoire list while guests await your arrival.  One of the key moments musically is your entrance.  It's important to get this one right so have a good think about this. You may have a specific piece of music in mind or you may need some ideas - either way I can help you choose the right piece for the mood you want to portray.  I then play for the signing of the register and while you have your photos taken, and finally I play a piece of your choice for your exit together.  

Registrars and venue staff are always delighted when you engage professional musicians - it takes the pressure off them having to press that button and it ensures the smooth running of your ceremony.

Drinks Reception (1 hour)

After your ceremony I can provide background music for you and your guests as you all enjoy your drinks and have your photos taken.  Please note that due to the unpredictable British weather, I don't play outside.  Some harpists do. I don't. The heavens could open either way at any moment and the worst things for my harp are direct sunlight or water.

Wedding Breakfast

Having live music can make a world of difference to the atmosphere while you have your meal, and again I can play from my broad selection of tried and tested pieces.

Church Ceremony

I love playing in the sacred and slightly more solemn setting of a church.  I set up well in advance of your ceremony time and I can play while your guests congregate.  A bridal march is appropriate and I have also played other requests in church.  

I can perform your hymns. Usually the church organist plays them - it goes with the setting and tends to rouse more singing!  I can play suitable background music while you sign the register and have your photos taken.  I can also play your exit music, or again you could have the organist play.  It all comes down to your personal preference.

I can offer a combination of the above options, although I don't do more than 2 elements. For example, Ceremony and Wedding Breakfast is fine but I wouldn't play for your Ceremony, Drinks and Wedding Breakfast - you can have too much of a good thing in my opinion.

The Money Question!  

My prices start from £250.  If you think this sounds like a lot, bear in mind the basic running and development costs of my business - website construction, hosting and updating, advertising, publicity photos and promotional materials, transport costs, harp strings, insurances and maintenance, buying sheet music, appropriate clothing and footwear, practice and training time, the dreaded tax bill, the list is long...  These expenses all contribute in providing you with the best wedding music experience I can possibly offer.

The easiest way to find out more about your choice of wedding music is by attending a wedding fayre, showcase or event and I do as many of these as I can.  If you have any questions you can get in touch by using the link to my Contact page above.  

I have plenty of wedding pieces in the Music section on this website and I update these on a regular basis. You can also view my videos here:

and listen to other sound clips here:

If social media is your thing, you can find out more about wedding fayres and my work on these platforms:

And if you see me looking quite intense and focused as I play at an event, do hang around for a chat - I occasionally come up for air and I'm much friendlier than I look when I play!

“I look forward to meeting you soon at a wedding fayre near you!”

To Hull And Back

Humber Bridge - am I the only one who sees harp strings?

It’s been another busy week here at Rhian Evans Harpist HQ. It was great to get away last weekend and be in orchestral harpist mode once again for a couple of days. I made a guest appearance with the Hull Philharmonic, playing the harp part for the hauntingly beautiful and challenging Viola Concerto by William Walton.

Velvet toned violist Tim Ridout took centre stage with authoritative humility. His performance featured some beautifully poignant characterful playing. The sturdy musician-ship of the Hull Phil was ably steered by Andrew Penny and it was an exciting performance. I realised I haven’t performed with orchestra since February and I felt a bit disorientated at first. I gradually allowed myself the spaciousness to absorb the multi-sensory experience of working within an unknown ensemble of musicians in the stately splendour of Hull City Hall. Feeling more relaxed by the second rehearsal, I really could get used to that role again, one I fell in love with at the tender age of 15 when I first played with Clwyd Youth Orchestra. Those were the days!

I had quite a scary moment at the end of the rehearsal when I couldn’t find my car keys despite emptying all my bags and pockets thrice. I dashed down to the security desk where Nick, the super friendly security guard handed them to me with a knowing look. The bench provided wasn’t adjustable so I went to the car to get mine. I was already in harpist mode and, preoccupied by thoughts of music, left my keys in the car door. Lucky me! Hull City centre on a Friday evening isn’t such a bad place after all!

Duck plant

Garden bed-side at Wortley Hall

On Sunday, the wedding fayre I’d been looking forward to didn’t quite go as I’d intended. I’d hoped to meet dozens of clients as excited and enthusiastic about my music as I am. My morning started well, with two sets of clients I met at the most recent Wortley Hall wedding fayre, who had come to finalise their music choices. Other than a little interest for 2020 and 2021, it was a bit of a damp squib despite the glorious weather.

Wisteria hysteria

at Wortley Hall. Artichoke plant in the foreground

People drifted past as I played to my harp’s content, and my music seemed to have little or no effect on them. Perhaps they’re drafting their enquiry emails as I type. Or maybe I need to buy a guitar and take singing lessons. I know from experience these things can take time and I’m optimistic I’ll get a couple of bookings eventually.

Idyllic car park

Wortley Hall just visible through those amazing trees

It was lovely to work with Wedding Fayres Yorkshire again, who ensured proceedings ran smoothly as always. I’m extremely grateful to Paris Tyrell of WFY who, with lightning speed, generously filmed and uploaded a short videoclip of me playing A Thousand Years to Instagram. I then shared it to Facebook so I’m learning slowly but surely. It might eventually make its way to YouTube. It hasn’t gone viral yet but it certainly looks like I’m down with the millennials. Well, as down with them as a 40 something harpist can be.

I’m generally an optimist and I prefer to look at the bright side, but I admit I’m struggling musically at the moment. I have no paid playing work until mid June, a thought that worries me. I’ve sat down and done some rough calculations and as it stands, I’m not breaking even with my harp performance work. I’m afraid I’ve lost a bit of motivation too, possibly due to this. I’m a teeny tiny individual trying to integrate a gigantic competitive hungry industry, and therein lies my problem. I don’t have the business acumen or financial backing necessary to kick start my wedding business in this day and age. This has led to me losing my musical mojo momentarily. I’m not commercially driven in the slightest. I love to play, and trying to build my business has taken me so far away from my playing that I scarcely practice anymore, let alone play for my own pleasure. I haven’t touched the harp since last Sunday, and I don’t like that one bit. I’ve taken on an additional 10 hours of shop work this week to secure June, and having that work is an absolute blessing. It keeps me sane and in the black.

Obsessed with music

Bloody rusty wrought iron treble clef from a recent walk run

One thing I’ve found to be an excellent substitute for performance and sharing my music is exercise. It must be the adrenaline and the endorphin rush that follows. In a similar way to practice, it’s awkward and uncomfortable at first, but after a while I find my rhythm, and there are even moments I enjoy feeling my body jiggling about, my feet slamming the tarmac vigorously. Having been told I don’t have a runner’s physique, I’m honouring the rebel within. I love the freedom, power and independence running offers me. Besides, it’s far healthier than some other options available!

Next week I’m off and if I have time, I’ll be putting my version of an out-of-office sign up here. I’m going AWOL and I can’t wait. I desperately need a change of scene to gain some clarity about my situation and perhaps some inspiration regarding a way forward. So there’ll be no blog post next week as I’m turning off my laptop and letting it gather dust for a few days.

See you again in June, and remember to keep loving live music! And maybe even living love music - think about it…

Wortley Hall skyline

Creative unblocking

Playing

Today is Thursday, and it’s music day! Thursdays are usually free days and I try to fill them with as many notes as I can fit in. Today, dear readers, I just haven’t been in the mood. I’ve succumbed to several seductive distractions and I’ve felt very tired, a feeling I’m convinced is down to the meteorological conditions. The weather outside is frightful, don’t let it snow. (There’s almost always a tune or twenty going on in my head!) I try to fight my fatigue by urging myself to practice. This usually follows a walk, or a bit of a run or some sort of time spent outdoors, but I don’t like getting wet and cold! Jumping in the pool for my aquafit classes ticks that box and provides the bracing boost I need to infuse my day with positive energy. I don’t have time to go to the pool every day, so I can’t wait for some sunshine so I can feel the embrace of the great outdoors again.

I have a busy weekend ahead with more playing than I’ve done for quite some time and my fingers are a bit sore. In an instinctive mood this morning, I played through two steadfast cornerstones from my solo repertoire slowly from memory to warm up and was reassured that it didn’t all sound hideous. Interestingly, the pieces sounded quite fresh. A note to my students reading this - practice has a knack of doing that! You can work like the devil and it may feel like your playing’s getting worse, but great music takes time to mature. I can convince myself that I’m the worst harpist ever if I haven’t racked up a certain number of hours’ practice during the week, which can lead to a downward spiral of no practice at all or a negative approach. Cultivating a healthy sense of responsibility is a useful tool here. So for example, I’ve got a performance/lesson coming up - how do I want to feel and what’s the process I need to implement in order to feel that way? Used well it can provide a healthy motivation. Used poorly it can be a tool for self flagellation and guilt. It’s our choice.

I have a LinkedIn account and I get email notifications from them on a regular basis. This morning’s email opened like this - “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. Those words fill me with sorrow and I’ll be deactivating my account as soon as I have time. I genuinely believe the best advertisement is word of mouth and from recent experience, the word of the mouth of the moment, social media, is no great shakes, at least not the way I’m doing it! There has to be a better way and I’m working on it…

I gave an interesting lesson on Monday. It reminded me how fortunate I am to have an abundance of knowledge and experience, and I’m determined to put my skills to good use. I have a very creative mind which can run riot if I’m not careful in channelling it. I think most creatives are wired similarly. The trick is harnessing that energy by becoming attuned to its ebbs and flows.

I played for an ultra chic wedding last weekend at a spectacular venue. It was like something out of a luxury bridal magazine. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos to show you here as I had quite a lot on my mind. My car exhaust broke late on Friday afternoon, and I got it back just in time for my departure on Saturday morning. My Satnav won’t update so I was trialling an app on my mobile while carefully keeping half an eye on my Satnav, switched to silent, for some form of visual guidance. Needless to say, I arrived at my destination with plenty of time to spare - I’m always aware that incidents like the M62 drama yesterday can happen at any time. It reminded me of a wedding I was playing at a few years ago. I went to pack my car which looked lopsided. I soon realised I had a flat tyre. With the clock ticking, I called my breakdown company, and the mechanic came quite quickly considering it was a Sunday morning. My tyre was fixed and I got to the wedding just in time. I’m often criticised for leaving super early for professional engagements and this is precisely why. I’d rather be there with time to spare for a nap in my car and a coffee than be rushing or, heavens forbid, be late. There ought to be a name for this phenomenon, like Freelancer’s Fear. There probably is, I just don’t know about it. If I’m late or I don’t arrive, I won’t get paid!

This weekend I’m climbing back into the old orchestral saddle and although I feel underprepared by my standards, I’m really excited about playing a beautiful orchestral work and being part of a bigger group of musicians again. Preparing for it has reminded me of my love and passion for orchestral playing and I do feel some sorrow and regret that fewer opportunities come my way these days. I’m on an exciting journey! I’ve enjoyed the discipline of the preparation and the immersion into the music that’s required for a solid performance. I’m nowhere near where I’d like to be with it but I know it’ll be more than good enough. Like one of my teachers Germaine used to say, “On ne peut pas être au four et au moulin”…

Wishing you a great weekend, hopefully with a few more radiant rays of sunshine. Perhaps I’ll see some of you at the Wortley Hall Spring Wedding Fayre on Sunday. I can’t wait to share my harpbeat with you!

Me, Rhian Evans Harpist

at Wortley Hall. Image - John Steel Photography

Anneleen Lenaerts

Image - Marco Borggreve

Anneleen Lenaerts is one of the major names in the harp world today. A laureate of numerous major international competitions, she truly is at the forefront of a sparkling generation of harpists.

Imagine my delight when I saw she was coming to the RNCM in Manchester to coach Eira Lynn Jones’ Young Harps project, give a public masterclass and recital, and finally teach a class. I haven’t heard Anneleen play in public for at least 10 years. Dark, demure and petite, she’s still the unassuming, gentle, warm person she was back then. Her prestigious title, Principal Harp of the Vienna Philharmonic hasn’t gone to her head - gracious is a great word to describe her.

She delivered a relaxed informative masterclass with ease and generousity, offering valuable pearls of advice. I can’t wait to massage my strings, words she spoke to all 3 students who were fortunate to work with her.

When improvement is noticeable to an audience, the teacher has truly done her job, and the change in each student’s playing was evident in a remarkably short space of time.

After over 2 hours’ coaching, Anneleen went on to play 4 demanding solo pieces on an unfamiliar harp. I’ve had a lot of lessons on that harp, and like countless other RNCM graduates from Eira’s firmly established department, I’ve spent hours sweating blood, and the odd tear or two, over that instrument. Believe me - it’s a real challenge to make it sound well. A conservatoire war horse having survived thousands of hours of relentless rigorous plucking and pedalling, Anneleen coaxed and cajoled from it a surprising spectrum of soundscapes.

Her wisely chosen warm up piece was Fauré’s Impromptu, which elevated her to her comfort zone. She breezed her way through a juicy programme, bringing frissons of delight to an audience entranced by her musicality and the intricate refinement in her playing. The piece that stood out for me was Joseph Jongen’s Valse, a work that isn’t performed very often, at least I wouldn’t describe it as a stalwart of the harp repertoire. It really was an inspiring colourful performance of a well written work by the Belgian composer. Anneleen is of Belgian origin, which might explain her natural affinity with Jongen.

Anneleen is a prime example of what’s expected of a professional harpist at the apex of their career. She’s an exemplary role model. A tireless traveller, she had just come over to the UK from the States, and I’ve seen on social media that she was in France following her visit to Manchester. She’s also recently released a CD of music by Nino Rota, including some heart wrenching music from the classic film, The Godfather.

I get the feeling Anneleen will waltz onwards to become one of the godmothers of the harp world. Catch her performing in public if you can. And you can check out her musical activities and her whereabouts here:

Wedding Wednesday means Wedding Fayres

Here’s a reminder of the wedding fayres and events I have coming up. Attending one of these events is one of the best ways to meet me and find out more about having emotional live harp music on your wedding day. I add events to the list all the time so keep checking this website and my social media. You can find the links at the bottom of the homepage of this website.

Sunday 31st March, 10-5 - Standedge Tunnel and Visitor Centre, Huddersfield, Spring Wedding Fayre

Sunday 28th April, 11-3, Storthes Hall Park - The Venue, Huddersfield

Sunday 12th May, 11am, Wortley Hall, Sheffield (Wedding Fayres Yorkshire)

If you’d like me to come and play at your promotional event, do get in touch, and if you’re thinking of having a harpist playing at your wedding, click on the contact page and drop me a line - I can’t wait to hear from you!

Photo Blog Post - Comic Relief

I’ve run out of written words this week so I thought I’d somewhat appropriately do a photo blog post for a change. It gives me the opportunity to shout about another one of my local heroes, photographer John Steel. I’ve known John since 2015. We met when I was playing at a wedding fayre in the village, and we’ve collaborated on several projects since. Working with giant John is always a pleasure. His photos are vivacious with a generous dash of fun and he captures rare moments, emotions and personalities. His style is unique, imaginative and artistic - if you like pretty posed portraits, then he’s probably not for you. If you like poetic, poignant, memorable (I ran out of p-words) images, he’s your man. Think brides jumping out of windows, newlyweds bouncing around on space hoppers, men sipping tea up a hill, and even a harpist with her harp on a boggy moor, and you’re there. Despite his stature, he’s discreet and professional, and he offers a personalised service to suit your requirements. Talk to him about skateboards and offer him a brew (milk, no sugar) and you’ll make him a very happy man. His creative work is fabulous and you can check it out by clicking on these buttons:

I asked John if he’d take a few photos of the goings on at Sainsbury’s on Red Nose Day and he was willing to help out. Let me know what you think of the results:

Manager Gina

Using her mobile as a microphone, and Grant from Wedding Fayres Yorkshire making a live video recording of the incredible pie eating contest

Pie face

Manager Ryan

Those lovely Sainsbury’s Local ladies

With an unsuspecting customer

Bizarre and slightly surreal

You don’t see this kind of action every day at your local shop

Just one more wafer thin squirt of cream…

Selling scratch cards for a good cause

Well aisle be

Sainsbury’s Local Holmfirth sure know how to give a warm welcome

The final tot up in my fundraising box was £107!

Thanks to everyone who came to support. You’re the stars!!

Make 'em laugh? Comic Relief 2019, Sainsbury's Local Holmfirth

I’m often told my playing makes people cry. I think this is a good thing. In an age where many of us are numb to an environment in which we’re bombarded with stimulation, having the ability to stop people in their tracks with my music can feel liberating and empowering. With music, I can help people slow down and take a few moments out from their day to pause, listen, hear and watch. And maybe feel. Escape. Music is therapeutic. It’s healing. It feeds the soul.

This was my experience last Friday. I was invited to play for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day activities at Sainsbury’s Local in the idyllic town of Holmfirth. I started working there part time in January. It’s a great little supermarket with a lovely team of staff who have welcomed me as one of their own. Although it’s been a steep learning curve, I derive immense pleasure from being able to help customers and I love taking a few moments to engage with them if they have time. The shop gets busy very quickly and by the same token, the quiet lulls in traffic are blissful oases to catch my breath during my shift.

I decided I’d use this opportunity to test out a few pieces I’ve been learning to gauge audience reaction. They went down well so they’re keepers and are coming soon to Soundcloud or a similar platform. Apart from a 30 minute break, I was “on duty” from 11-5. It was a long shift. I had a bit of a slump at 3.30 and HAD to sample just a little bit of the shop’s incredibly appetising array of chocolate. I plumped for 2 bunny shaped goodies which gave me a much needed bouncy boost of energy. I rarely eat very sweet chocolate preferring small amounts of the extra dark stuff. I discussed the merits of veganism with one of my students this week and we both concurred that vegan is all very well but sometimes, you just need a bacon sandwich.

I was delighted and relieved at the positive public reactions on Friday. I didn’t know what to expect and there were some magic moments. One man told me his daughter would be disappointed to have missed my playing. He told me he was Welsh and did I happen to have Calon Lân? As chance would have it. Off we both went, me sing-playing along without a worry in the world. It was reminiscent of carefree times in chapel.

I’ve included a couple of video clips if you want a clearer idea of events on the day. There’s another clip of me playing the theme from Love Story. “For Comic Relief?” I hear you ask. Well, yes. I decided this year that I’m going to play music I love and enjoy playing at promotional events. I mean, if I’m enjoying myself, there’s more chance my audience will, right? Yes, I play all the standard wedding music, the Ed Sheerans and Twilights, the Disneys and the Yourses. Is that the music I listen to at home? No it isn’t, and the customer is king so for weddings, if it can be played on the harp and I can get paid, I’ll play it!

Some of my lovely Aqualadies came to support which was fantastic. I’m surprised they recognised me in my ruddy disguise. A colleague told me I looked like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. “Nice!” I thought to myself. She then reminded me what Julia’s job was in the movie. Anyway I’ve checked and her wig was blonde, so no resemblance whatsoever. Phew. I tried wearing the nose but that together with the wig was a step too far. I’d asked my photographer friend John Steel if he’d come down to take a few of his fab photos, which he did in his own unique quirky invisible giant photographer style. Soon after John turned up, I was pleasantly surprised that Allan and Grant, the men behind ace wedding fayre organisers Wedding Fayres Yorkshire made a special guest appearance. I reckon the three of them were after a bit of pie.

I was touched by the support everyone showed and I have some great content for my website and social media for a while. After the tot up, there was £107 in my box. That definitely made me laugh!

Listen to my Ha-ha-ha-harp!

Me, Rhian Evans Harpist, having a laugh

I’m just a bit excited at having been invited to play at Sainsbury’s Local in Holmfirth for their Comic Relief event. It takes place on the 15th March, times to be confirmed. The main reason for my excitement is that it’s a charity event and I’m really looking forward to playing for an audience that might never have heard a harp or seen one up close before. I’m going to decide on the delicious harp music I’m going to play this weekend, and it will be music on the lighter side which I love, played from the heart as always. As for what to wear, well that’s easy. If you follow me on social media, you’ll have seen that I’m not shy about fancy dress and neither am I ashamed to admit I’ve got a wig collection (2 to date, watch this space…) I’m also willing to accessorise my harp. Anything could happen!

This little Sainsbury’s in the heart of Holmfirth is lovely and I started working there part time in January. The managers and other staff have been so kind and patient with me as I’ve been learning the ropes of a job in which I have no skills or experience other than those I’ve gained from being a musician. They’ve not been much use for working tills or taking a delivery (or doing the blasted lottery) but slowly and surely I’m improving and gaining confidence. The shop has saved my sanity in many ways as I try to keep my harp work closer to home in order to avoid too many motorway journeys. I don’t mind driving but I’m trying reduce my mileage as I approach the big five-0.

Next week, I’m going to contact the local press to see if they’d be interested in featuring the store’s endeavours for Comic Relief. They’ve planned it really well with all sorts of activities going on to raise money for this important charity and I’m really touched they’ve asked me to take part. The red noses, banners and all things Comic Relief are already by the tills. I wonder if they’ll be getting those red noses for cars so that I can put one on my harp. Or maybe my head. Hmmm.

If you’re in Holmfirth on Friday 15th, do pop into Sainsbury’s and donate some money to Comic Relief. And come and say hello and listen to my ha-ha-ha-harp beat!

The Lowry - a Photo blog post for readers that aren’t on Facebook

I saw some spectacular sights before work last night:

Imperial War Museum

from the Lowry

Those dark eyes

watching over me one last time

Imperial War Museum

with a flood of poppies

Those dark eyes again

Gotta take the rough with the smooth

My BRITTEN Lesson

23 October

The pedalling passage

11 November

I feel a bit embarrassed about putting this messy picture up but I’m suspicious of people with pristine sheet music! Here is the page above with added creative process. Given another couple of days I could have easily played from this score but I ran out of time. People say my parts are unreadable. To me they make perfect sense - by that stage of learning, the reflexes and muscle memory have been programmed. The notes would have become part of me and I could have played it with my eyes shut

I realise that by writing with utter honesty here, if a fixer or colleague reads this it may jeopardise my chances of being offered orchestral work but I’m willing to take that risk. I see images and reports of perfect performances online (let’s face it, nobody wants to admit to a performance that’s below par) and I wonder how perfect these are. What about the f**k ups? What about dealing with difficult situations? I always aim to play all the notes and forget this isn’t always possible, especially when rehearsal time is brief. Sometimes a plan B is called for and as a tenacious perfectionist, I’m not always great at resorting to plan B.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing and there’s an opportunity to learn and not beat myself up. I thought I’d share some of my experience learning Britten’s War Requiem and what I gained from it. If I was doing work like this all the time and not trying to reboot my life it would have been easier - I haven’t had to learn a particularly challenging new piece this year so my process isn’t as well honed as it used to be.

I have a very specific sound in mind when I learn a new piece. Take Tosca for example - it demands a Puccini sound that’s often full and lush. If I approached Britten’s music with that style it would sound wrong. This makes life harder but I’ve never been one for just playing the notes, occasionally to my detriment.

My biggest enemy these days is time. If I’d had time I would have taken a clean photocopy of the original page and marked it up again without all my workings out leaving the bare minimum of markings. Ideally I would have enlarged this page and maybe put it on Sibelius if I had it and knew how to use it. Again I realise the majority of my work is last minute which has a knock on effect on everything else. I’ve never been a strong sight-reader so now, with my increasingly poor eyesight, I need to learn difficult pieces thoroughly to feel confident about playing, watching the conductor and listening to my colleagues.

This short and relatively simple section needed to be memorised

I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to learn and perform War Requiem and it puts me in good stead if it comes round again or if I’m asked to teach or coach it.

This week is busy again with two big programmes over the weekend, including a couple of works I’ve never played. Everything else is familiar which is reassuring and the new pieces aren’t particularly challenging. There’s even a piece which brings a smile to my face! I commit to practicing slowly and calmly with curiosity and doing 4 hours on my quieter days, and making more time to listen to recordings of the pieces I’m working on. I also commit to finding a way of recording myself at home, mainly to log my own process and progress and to get used to recording. I commit to getting my eyes tested next week. Oh and I commit to believing in myself again, and in my love for music and my passion for sharing it.

Another tricky passage

Plan B

Ripon Cathedral

Pride of place - my lovely position beneath the poppies in the cathedral

I recently got back from tonight’s concert and a long day rehearsing in Ripon. The piece was Britten’s War Requiem which I mentioned a few posts back. I didn’t play very well. I feel out of sync with everything and I’m sure that’s how my playing sounded. I hate feeling like that. There was one pedalling section I was dreading which seemed to have worsened since the rehearsal. I got out with the others and got back on track a few bars later. I think what I need to focus on is right there in that sentence. I managed to recover and play most of the piece to a decent standard for a first attempt. Those who know me will know I have very high standards for myself. I pride myself on being super prepared especially for a concert of this nature, but I seem to have spent this season chasing my tail. I had to resort to playing quite loud music in the car on the way home to try and drown out the negativity. I do keep saying it though - my orchestral days are numbered. I’m just not enjoying it anymore, and I’m tired. So exhausted. That’s difficult to write - my passion for a very long time has been orchestral playing, and I almost felt that passion again once this season. Almost. Once.

Ripon looked poignantly beautiful festooned with poppies in all guises. Ceramic, fabric, paper, plastic, you name it. Walking up the path from the changing facilities, the cathedral was bathed in red light which gave it an eerie blooded quality. Seeing the crowds of people from far and wide congregated in silence to pay their respects outside the cathedral was breathtaking and humbling and there were some amazing installations in and around the building. I caught a glimpse of the thought provoking Fields of Mud, Seeds of Hope earth sculpture. At the end of the day what I need to remember is the reason I was in Ripon tonight. Remembrance. Would all those who made such unthinkable agonising sacrifices a hundred years ago have minded my pedal mishap? I doubt it. Maybe even conscientious objector Britten would have been having a laugh about it.

Festooned

The street opposite Ripon Cathedral

Life on Tour - week 2, Hull

I had a fantastic time in Hull and it certainly wasn’t dull. I love combining pleasure with business, even more so when it involves being near water. After a cold rainy start on Thursday and a smooth drive past Goole towers, Friday was glorious. Waking a bit later than usual meant rescheduling my intended trip to Withernsea beach. I settled instead for a bright brisk jolly welly yomp around Humber Bridge Country Park to dust off the cobwebs from travelling and quite an intense performance of Tosca on Thursday evening.

Park art

Smile with your eyes

I always arrive early for a performance, especially at a new venue. I haven’t played at Hull New Theatre for at least fifteen years so I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t even find where to unload my harp so I called for assistance. Chris Ladds deserves a medal and is one of the many unsung heroes of Opera North. He’s the orchestral operations manager. I know he’s only a quick call away when I need to get my harp in, and he invariably has useful advice about parking and other inside information. Chris has quite a challenging job in that he has to satisfy the rehearsal and performance needs of sixty or so musicians, no mean feat when we want to do our jobs to the best of our ability.

Olde and new

The pub near the theatre. The modern building is Hull History Centre

Each pit presents a different set of problems and as I learnt, the Hull pit is no exception. The only position available for me was in front of the doors, at the business end of four horns. With a half hour seating rehearsal, a tentative panoply of options and scarcely enough time to settle in, I didn’t realise how loud it would get. I had earplugs and fingers for the louder moments and I was provided a screen. However, my main problems were my distance from refreshingly passionate and expressive Dutch conductor Antony Hermus, and having a much reduced sightline to him as I was on a lower level than the bulk of the orchestra. I played two short sections in the rehearsal, insufficient time to work out that it would be a difficult position and do something about it. It was an edgy performance and I was glad to have my Pilates mat with me and a bathtub to iron out the creases. I felt no guilt whatsoever at indulging in my hotel room pop up spa the following morning.

Room with a view

These days I tend choose quiet hotels with a bit of greenery whenever possible and Hull was no exception. Hessle is a hassle free fifteen minute drive from the city centre and a generous stone’s throw from the iconic Humber Bridge and its Country Park. I was in room 101 with bridge and tree views as well as wildlife.

Unexpected avians

Peacock plethora in the hotel gardens

Golden gateway

San Francisco? Nope, Hessle

Using my time wisely on tour can be tricky. Playing isn’t an option as my instrument can’t easily be moved from the pit and I feel uncomfortable about practising when there are technical rehearsals in the theatre. My harping wouldn’t be a welcome accompaniment. For this part of the tour I decided to get physical in the morning, so I got a brisk walk under my belt on Friday and a long Pilates session on Saturday. It seemed to work as I felt quite calm. Meditation is daily and non negotiable and helps with learning to manage anxiety.

Precarious

Sliding tree

On Saturday I met up with Patti from the wardrobe department. One of a set of triplets with an older sister, she’s a beautiful bohemian Basque woman from Bilbao and she lights up the corridor as she breezes by. She’s very passionate about her work and I could sense that after a year of living on the road without a base, she’s ready to settle down to pursue a stable job. She says touring and freelancing is very exciting but difficult and tiring at the same time.

Patti

Creative, quirky and funny

We met at Trinity Market over coffee and cannoli and chewed the fat freely. Quite literally in my case after Patti returned to her digs to do her own laundry. I brought enough healthy home cooked food for the first two days meaning I’d earned a bit of a Saturday splurge. I don’t often eat out and when I do I try to choose something I wouldn’t make at home. I went the whole hog, plumping for meltingly tender pork belly, black pudding, smoked egg yolk and sauerkraut coleslaw on flatbread with a side of chips. I didn’t eat the bread - double carbs?!! Within twenty minutes the somniferous food took effect and I headed to my car for my siesta.

Filthy

Saturday special treat

I love that warm open expressive freedom innate to many Mediterraneans and southern Europeans and I miss it from the time I spent in France. I feel uncomfortable around people with stiff upper lips and Patti and I were in agreement that we Brits can be difficult to decipher. Why can’t we just say what we mean? Why do we feel the need to sugar coat everything?

Running out of time and steam from our express conversation, I earmarked the Maritime Museum and the docks for my next visit to Hull. I love ports - the atmosphere and aromas there are intoxicating, a sweet vivid reminder of unforgettable childhood trips with my Dad when he worked on the ships.

The beauty of the beach

without having to get in my car and drive

After an emotional performance of Tosca, my get out was swift and smooth thanks again to Chris’s willingness to protect my harp from the sudden strong gusts of wind. Llwyd welcomed me home with open paws, well, open packets of food strewn across the doormat actually. It’s her favourite expression of protest at being left home alone other than getting herself temporarily rehomed.

Next week is Nottingham and it often snows on this leg of the tour at this time of year, so I’m having my winter tyres put on next week just to be on the safe side. I’m braced for what the season heralds. And I still haven’t met elusive Welsh truck driver Huw - is he hiding from me? Maybe next week at the Lowry…

Structure

Looks like a sci-fi elephant

Interpretation and expression

Familiar

One of Britten’s characteristic markings. It made me laugh when I once found a Britten harp part where the bracketed Italian words had been replaced with the words “Aren’t they all?!”

At the beginning of this week I received the harp part for a work I’m performing next month, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. It’s a renowned choral orchestral piece and I’ve never learnt it. It’s completely unfamiliar. I’ve never even heard it performed. It got me thinking that this would be the ideal opportunity to share some insights from my learning process.

After leaving the music to ripen further in the envelope for 2 days as I didn’t have time to start looking at it, out came those notes enshrined in mystery yesterday morning. I’ve worked on quite a few of Britten’s harp parts and they are at times fiendishly difficult. His harp writing was strongly influenced by his friendship with male Welsh harpist Osian Ellis who was I suppose Britten’s harp muse. Ellis was a technical whizz in his heyday and this is obvious when you study Britten’s often complex writing.

I scanned through the music yesterday morning and was relieved to find that nothing made me wish I’d received the part sooner. Time will tell. This evening I started looking in more detail and seeing patterns in his writing. I recognised the meticulously precise indications and articulations specific to his style.

My next step will be to go through the part very slowly exploring each element and making sense of them. Much of my work will be done away from the harp with little playing. If I do play sections, they won’t sound great, much like a first draft or a sketch. I rarely like to listen to a new piece before I investigate it myself, mainly out of curiosity to see how near or far from the mark I get to the general interpretation. I will then research the piece and work out the roles of the harp within the orchestral texture. After I become quite familiar with it I’ll start listening to it, both with and without the printed music. With 3 busy weeks to learn it, time is of the essence and I’m trying to cut myself a little slack. It probably won’t be perfect this time. Marking up is a long and vital part of the process, and I’m often adjusting and making corrections a few days before a performance and, best of all, afterwards if there’s a repeat performance. Then I can go to a deeper level. There is only one performance this time, so hopefully I will have the opportunity to do it again. It’s a lot of work, which I enjoy immensely.

There’s an arid coldness to some of Britten’s writing and I often find his music can seem quite angular, stark and impenetrable at first, and by the same token there is so much beauty, such warmth and spine tingling emotion. His violin concerto is a scorcher, his operas masterpieces. One of my all time favourite Britten works is the Lute Song from Gloriana, so simply stunning I’ve added this sound clip.

The fact he almost always writes for the harp in his works means Britten is a force to be reckoned with and the challenge of learning one of his pieces is an opportunity for enrichment.

Draft pedalling

This will need work to make it work

I digress. Great pedalling is an art form and it’s very important to find a system that works. If you’re a non musician or lever harpist, the harp has 7 pedals, one for each note, with 3 positions - flats are at the top, naturals in the middle, and pressing the pedal right down sharpens the note. Accidentals (flats, naturals and sharps) basically make the note sound higher or lower. Looking at my feet, the pedals are in this order: D, C, B / E, F, G, A. I’m a left foot over right foot kind of girl. This means I write my pedals with D, C, B on top. There’s no right or wrong here but consistency is key.

Brownie points

if you can tell me why I need to edit this page

Choosing a good fingering can only really be done at the harp so that you can hear the results. To some extent, you can do this away from the instrument but you have to hear and feel the result and like pedalling, the fingering I choose might not work for another harpist. I think it’s down to morphology and how my brain functions as well as technical ability. I know some harpists would laugh at my imaginative fingerings but if they work for me and the music, it doesn’t matter. I try to choose my fingering according to the articulation and the musical intention and Britten is very precise in his demands. The small arrows in the passage above mean staccatissimo, very very short, and ppp means pianississimo - very very quiet, so this can be quite tricky especially if it’s fast. Articulation is like talking. Imagine someone talking in a monotone way, you soon stop listening. It’s the same with music.

Analysis is essential in understanding the piece, so this means working on key signatures, time signatures, harmonic progressions, basic structure and so on. It’s like baking a cake - knowing and understanding the ingredients you’re putting in. It’s way less boring than it sounds - it can be a vividly colourful discovery.

Visual memory is so important. I feel reassured if I can see the pages in my mind away from the harp and the more detail the better. Learning a new piece is like putting information into a computer. Input it any old how and any old how is what you get out. This doesn’t stop me from making it a fun, indulgent, imaginative and creative learning experience. This may seem silly but listening is important! Sometimes I’m so busy with one particular aspect of the music that I feel daft when I realise I’ve stopped listening. I pay attention to the various voicings in each hand. Germaine, my teacher in France taught me this, to define each line within a chordal left hand part for example, to connect the notes and hear and SING the individual lines. I can still play many of the pieces I learnt with her mostly from memory. This brings me to muscle memory, a vital element in practice and performance. What I mean is feeling the gaps between the fingers (inversions), the jumps, left and right hand coordination, how to remember the music by encouraging the body to FEEL it. It is physical and emotional work. And it’s as much fun as I make it.

The metronome soon becomes my close ally again and sets me on the right track. Slowly but surely I will get there and my aim is to feel as though the music belongs to me, that I know it intimately. I often get discouraged during the learning process - this is normal and I know I just have to keep going, or take a break and let the music in. When I feel like this, I remind myself to focus on how I want to feel in the rehearsal and concert, to focus on the music and the performance. Visualisation and meditation are really useful here. I’ve suffered from performance anxiety in the past, and sometimes I still do. It passes as soon as I get into the music. I’ve learnt to manage it and it isn’t destructive anymore. It helps if I have practiced well and offered myself plenty of anchors in my preparation to keep me from going adrift.

Time for some practice. Not on the piano.

Speed Blog

Shades of Blue - offstage position

I haven’t blogged for some time. It’s been busy and I’ve started three blog posts but haven’t had time to finish them. So this morning I thought I’d try something new - speed blogging! Sounds like some kind of dodgy online challenge doesn’t it? My longer blog posts don’t take too much time to write and they can be spread out over a few days, or weeks as is the case at the moment. What does take time is the photos and editing, which can go on for a few days after publishing a post.

Blogging can be a great way to attract traffic to a website and to please that search engine, and I love written expression. It feels like a safer way for me to communicate as a lot of the time I can’t articulate my thoughts into sentences fast enough. I used to avoid saying what was on my mind but blogging has taught me to better express myself.

This week is one of the busiest so far this year and is the polar opposite of how my life was a year ago. Tonight I’m playing offstage harp for Opera North’s Tosca in Leeds, so I leave at 4pm, play around 2 minutes worth of music and I get home just before 10. It seems crazy that that minute moment of music involves so much time and effort. Tomorrow is a lunchtime chamber music recital at St Paul’s at Huddersfield University followed by a Q&A session around being an orchestral musician, chamber musician and freelancer. It will be an interesting challenge to push myself out of my comfort zone. I’m not a natural public speaker (see above) and I’ve even volunteered to introduce our last piece, Pastorales de Noël by Jolivet. Then I can come home and be ill for an hour as I’ve got a cold, and we get into preparation for Friday, which is the really big one this week - playing the pit part in Tosca.

Debut

In the pit this Friday night

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve always wanted to play Tosca and I set an intention not so long ago to do that. Here we are, the moment has finally come. Saturday and Sunday I get to cover Merry Widow by Lehár, that’s less stressful as I did it when I was in Cape Town and had a decent amount of rehearsal on it. I was hoping for a quiet day off Monday but I might have a rehearsal now. That’s as far as I can go in my head without it imploding.

Warming up

Enjoying a few precious moments with my harp before the shoot

It’s great to be busy. If I could change one thing, it would be the amount of practice time - I would like to quadruple that! My phone stopwatch is ticking and I need to add photos and edit this. I’ve also vowed not to revisit this post and tweak it - my next challenge is learning to let go.

Selling Myself - Good Things Happen in Threes

The first thing you’ll notice about the photos in this post is the quality. That’s because I didn’t take them! Like most introverts, self promotion doesn’t come easily. I love playing the harp and most things about my amazing instrument fascinate me, but the business aspect of my job is not one of my strongest points. It’s Monday morning and as I sat looking through my lists and checking my website and my social media, well, the only social medium I use, I realised that I’ve got about an hour most mornings this week to catch up on one of my favourite things, a bit of writing. It’s been a full on hectic fortnight interspersed with bouts of sporadic sleep and there’s been a delicious abundance of notes on my music stand and, thankfully, there still is.

The main project was my video and photo shoot. I had my trusted creative team on board, photographer John Steel and the indefinable Gareth Boot. John is a fabulous photographer who I first met at a wedding fayre at Durker Roods Hotel in our village in 2015. He asked if he could take my photo and despite thinking he was a bit odd, I was delighted with the artistic result he came up with of me playing in the hotel reception area. His work stood out. There was something special about it, and I loved how he made my harp look. There’s definitely something about me and chandeliers.

Just over a year ago, I received some social media training with Esther Orridge at Social Progress in Honley. She put me back in touch with John and he made my publicity shots on top of the local moor an experience that was fun and occasionally too exciting. I found out that he isn’t odd, he’s just quirky and introverted, a bit like me. Picture John with all his photography gear, and me in a 1960’s Berketex heavy velvet dress (£25 from the local antiques shop), winter coat and walking boots trying to find even ground where it was safe to balance my harp in the August evening chill. My harp trolley was useless. He lost his shoe in a peaty bog trying to find the ideal purple heathery ground. We both agreed to try somewhere else, which resulted in some unique breathtaking shots with my harp and a paradisiac sunset.

Magical Moorland

August evening shoot just up the road. Passers by slowed down and turned their heads at the sight of spotlights and a harp

Compromise doesn’t sit well with John - he questioned my sense of adventure when I suggested doing the shoot from the safety of the car park. I’m glad he did.

I could feel his disappointment when I refused to take my harp outside at Wortley Hall on the 10th of the 9th, 2018 - the sky was ideal for outdoor photography but it was a cool damp day and I had nightmarish visions of it being engulfed in the murky water of the fountain or the two of us slowly sinking to the sombre depths of the nearby pond. Maybe next time if it’s warmer. Not the water shots, obviously. I think the results of our shoot for my website and social medium are pretty cool to say the least. It took place in the appropriately named National Association of Women room, a calming tranquil room tucked away at the back of the hotel, as well as the stunning Foundry Dining Room. I’m a huge fan of John’s work - his creative imaginative style and his attention to detail are outstanding and his editing is seamless. There’s a vivid realness to his images and they ooze life and emotion. When he’s not behind his camera or at his computer, or even on his skateboard, he’s devoted to his two daughters and I love emailing him and getting his out of office reply telling me he’s spending time with his little ones. My one disappointment is that I can’t show you every single one of his fabulous shots here.

Straight on Insta?

My expression reflects exactly how I feel about social media

First came the bit I was really dreading - the video shoot starting at 9am with three hand claps (see photos below). I’d experimented with video at Easter with my close friend Sali and came to the conclusion that the only way to do video was with friends and people I felt comfortable with. Cue another close friend, Gareth Boot, a man with a fervent sense of curiosity and a mind blowing interest in everything, especially technology. I met Gareth thanks to John when I was in quite a dark despondent place in my life a year ago. I was trying to find someone to help breathe life into my old website which I’d never had updated, and after meeting a few website designers, I had a brief phone conversation with Mr Boot. Maybe it’s his background in sales or perhaps his reassuringly broad Yorkshire accent, but I knew immediately he was the right person to help me get my website and my business up to date. After his initial design and the addition of John’s striking photos, I had a website I was proud of which reflected my personality and showcased the services I provided, with the additional bonus of being able to update it myself.

Wisdom and learning

The initial discomfort of seeing myself in action

When I met Gareth, nothing seemed to be going well in my life and with very little work, I was struggling to find any motivation to just get up in the morning. With his firm but fair support and using his CARE system (he’s written a book called TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF - The Four Non-negotiables of Achievement, described as “a personal development book for people who don’t read personal development books”), I started to turn my life around, stopping smoking last December and subsequently giving booze the finger a month later. I haven’t smoked or had a drink since and I’m exercising regularly for the first time in my life so he’s doing something right. Even though things aren’t quite bouncing yet, my outlook on life is significantly rosier than it was 12 months ago. Armed with his knack and penchant for technology, his dogged perfectionism and his creative passion, I knew GB would be the right man for the task.

I had some sound clips recorded a year ago which helped with the process of planning the videoclips. I limited myself to 3 non stop takes of each selected excerpt, a good way of managing my niggling perfectionism. I chose 3 outfits reflecting different aspects of my performance work as well as the styles of the music I played and my personality. I asked if I could use the NAW room at Wortley Hall as I once spent a long break during a wedding in there and spent an hour in utter peace and quiet, so I was almost certain there would be no noise pollution and that we could work undisturbed. Being in a room that represented the suffragette movement also felt significant in this process of finding and owning my voice again and expressing it, both behind my harp and without the comforting reassurance of its towering protection. It was a very positive experience and as you can see, there was quite a lot of laughter to accompany the serious professionalism.

You can check out John Steel’s fabulous images on this website and at johnsteelphotography.com The results of my video shoot with Gareth Boot are on the See Hear page, and you can find out more about Gareth at garethboot.com I have a YouTube channel - Rhian Evans Harpist. I also have a Facebook page, imaginatively called Rhian Evans Harpist. I am incredibly grateful to Laurie and all the staff at Wortley Hall for their assistance and support and for being willing to open up such a stunning weighty venue for my project. Sincere thanks to the couple at the hotel who were curious about what John and I were up to in the dining room with my huge harp. They happily engaged in conversation with me, resulting in some relaxed looking natural shots. The posed ones looked, well, posed.

Clapping

There was this thing where he had to clap three times to sync the sound - obviously nobody else could get a clap in edgeways

Like this?

The art of clapping

Showing us how it’s done

Opinionated

Gareth isn’t the only one who enjoys expressing himself

Exasperation

I think I won him round in the end

Don’t give up your day job GB

Like I said, he’s interested in everything

Intention

It's a funny old thing intention, as I'm discovering.  At the end of last year, when I was starting to face some major changes I needed to make in my life, I set a few intentions out of curiosity, just as an experiment.  I was mildly cynical but willing to give anything a go.  At the time I was receiving some coaching around my business which blurred into my personal life too as I realised I had quite a few matters to address across the board.  The coaching helped immensely and my life started to take a more positive direction as I felt my empowerment surge upwards.  One of the intentions I set myself was to perform Tosca once in my life.  I was listening to a lot of music at the time which comforted and reassured me and helped with the deep sense of loneliness I felt.  I listened to a lot of Puccini, one of my favourite composers.  His harp parts are refined and carefully crafted with such intricate detail and he always writes beautifully for my instrument.  His music is a joy to study and any opportunity to plunge my fingers into his generous fistfuls of notes is a delight.  Puccini's score is vibrant with passion.  In it, he explores a full spectrum of emotions, the colours of which are exposed in his exquisite writing.  The pacing of Tosca, both musically and theatrically, guarantees a great night's entertainment for audience and performers alike.  

Powerful imagery

Those dark eyes from the Opera North brochure

I've been invited to play in the offstage band for a season of performances of Tosca with Opera North starting this month.  I've played this role before, about ten years ago.  It's a sweet simple Gavotte for flute, viola and harp which comes at the beginning of Act 2, soon after the soberingly spiritual Te Deum which closes Act 1.  It's a lovely moment that vanishes like the twinkling of a star.  In so many ways it's a great gig as there's no need to tune my entire harp, which I do anyway because of the resonance, and I don't need to put my orchestral blacks on.  I don't even need to wear make up as I'll be invisible to the audience.  In theory, when you play in the pit, you're invisible too but I always feel there's something missing unless I've got a slick of lipstick or some eyeshadow to bolster my confidence.  After a minute or so playing, I pack up quietly and leave.  I always felt musically deprived and hungry for more when making my exit from the backstage area to those delicious sounds that continued without me.  An unfamiliar Puccini heroine, I'm looking forward to getting to know Tosca intimately.

You can imagine my bemusement at realising that I'm about to fulfil one of the intentions I set myself at the end of 2017, and far sooner than I imagined.  I've been invited to perform the pit part for two performances of Tosca in Hull in November.  Hmmm.  Interesting.  I'm seeing there's a lot to be said for intention.  I'd better go and wash my dishes.  I've given myself this morning off before continuing to cram - my first rehearsal has been moved forward to tomorrow.  Six hours of Puccini on a Monday.  What a great start to the week!

Edinburgh International Festival

                                       Siegfried - 8/8/18

I'm just back from a couple of days in Scotland performing with the Hallé at the Edinburgh International Festival.  I had my first experience of this iconic event last Summer when I was one of six harpists involved in a concert performance of Berlioz's sublime operatic masterpiece The Damnation of Faust given by the same orchestra under their inspirational music director Sir Mark Elder.  It was a memorable performance with some spectacular singing.  Sir Mark has a knack for sourcing outstanding vocal produce and this year, Siegfried was no exception.  After a stonking show in June, our memories rejigged from a rehearsal in Manchester, my musical exodus started on Monday afternoon when I drove up to Carlisle after the morning session.  With a 2.30 rehearsal on Tuesday afternoon at the beautiful Usher Hall in the heart of the city, and in light of having to "take" that motorway again, I booked a night at a hotel to minimise the risk of arriving late.  

The good, the bad and the downright ugly

I got to my car just before it got towed.  Luckily for me, Scottish traffic wardens are remarkably human and humane - it was just a caution, and still only £30 if I got stung, maybe cheaper than parking?  No wonder I need dark delights and I can safely say these prunes get 9 out of 10

Last year's experience was made slightly traumatic when I couldn't find parking by the hall after unloading my harp and I struggled to negotiate the narrow downward spiral of the claustrophobic multi storey car park through tears of frustration despite arriving very early for a sectional rehearsal with the man himself.  Not this year.  Oh no Edinburgh, I was onto you.  Being early and well tuned and prepared is a must in a scenario involving five other harpists and a knight.  There was no sectional this time, and despite a tight get in window (it busily boasts the status of international festival with good reason), I was on time, rested, fed and caffeinated.

The luxury of driving

means I can pack quite a lot of home comforts including my Pilates mat and bands and 2 days worth of food.  And my cherished pillow

My heart plummeted when I arrived at my halfway hotel.  Despite requesting a ground floor room when I booked, I was on the first floor with no lift.  The helpful apologetic receptionist ran me through my options - I was early enough to be moved to a ground floor room.  Anxious at the thought of being separated from my harp for all of 12 hours, plan A was ditched after I saw the disused leisure centre that had enjoyed a previous life as an important hub within the brand consistent hotel.  There was a pool!  It looked enticing in its state of disrepair.  I was told there was also a sauna and steam room.  Reception and I agreed that it could be the Tebay of UK hotels with a travellers' spa but as is often the case with dream projects, it's complicated.  I'm not sure if it's the thought that it might have been humid in there, or if it was a bit of jealousy at imagining Kite having a better time than me plunging pedals first into cool water followed by a session sweating it off swathed in nothing but a towel, but I couldn't bring myself to abandon her even though it seemed secure.  Besides I like sleeping with my harp occasionally.  She's surprisingly quiet and low maintenance - she'd only inaudibly popped her top G by the time we got to Edinburgh.

My scenic drive up from Carlisle through the imaginatively named villages of Carlops and Dolphinton kept my mind from boredom and was uneventful.  I passed Manor Garage which I managed to get my car to when the exhaust broke on that very same stretch of road a few years back on my way to work in the big city.  They miraculously fixed it while I waited and I was on time for the seating rehearsal.  Needless to say, I pulled over as soon as I could to book its service for next week.  My sister suffered the misfortune of a blown engine recently after forgetting to check the oil.  I'm paranoid about checking my tyres, and I can now add oil to my list of concerns.

Dicky!

showing off his jauntily creative side with a clever selfie angle.  People - the brighter side of touring.  

After a non stop busy day, my body a bit achy and in the mood for a quiet night in, I headed away from the festival bustle to the nearest pub for a slap up dinner.  I felt like part of the crowd ordering their stiffest Virgin Bloody Mary and coughed reassuringly at the kick of heat to the back of my throat.  My tastebuds were tantalisingly teased and tickled by salt and pepper squid and Kaarage chicken and I tried Katsu sauce and mooli for the first time.  9 out of 10 for the food, and being on my own wasn't an issue either.  The waitress and I were soon creased with belly laughs as we compared notes on our sugar addictions.  An attractive svelte European blessed with a stunning sparkly smile and a personality to match her looks, her poison was a cookie, lots of them by the sounds of it.  Each to their own.  If you're in Edinburgh and want some excellent food away from the madding crowds, I can recommend the Salisbury Arms very highly - great service and no funny looks for dining solo.

Narrow escape

After 2 delicious starters including the delightfully named Kaarage chicken in a nice pub by the halls, the waitress insisted on showing me the dessert menu.  Was she trying to kill me?  I narrowed it down to three and didn't have any.  They didn't open until midday so I definitely couldn't go back and have them for breakfast

The 20 minute rehearsal and subsequent 5.5 hour performance flew past, well it would as we harps were only in Acts 1 and 3.  I felt the urge to be social but, having had a scant 4 hours' sleep, the urge to honour an appointment in my car for a snooze was stronger, and I made my polite excuses not to join my harp colleagues for dinner.  Fortunately I woke up in time to eat my healthy chicken and kale rainbow salad, a workout for my mouth taking the best part of twenty minutes, that's how much fibre was packed into that plastic container.  Can you imagine going all the way up to Edinburgh and missing Act 3?

Baby tubas

My turn to get creative with those horns.  Most things look artistic through harp strings

There was a really good energy in the hall, a Festival vibe if ever I felt one, and I relished people watching when I wasn't engrossed in the indulgent magnitude and intimacy of Wagner's epic music.  The rapt expressions I glimpsed in the audience reflected the quality of the pared down production and world class singing.  Christine Goerke made for a beautiful bellowing Brünnhilde filling the hall with her powerful soprano, and my guess is she must have sung that role quite a few times - how else could she have embraced the challenge of such terse rehearsal and given a display of vocal wizardry with grace, ease and a warm generosity that captivated our audience?  Simon O'Neill was as good as he was back in June in Manchester, and I noticed he occasionally referred to an iPad, a sign of the times.  A hearty robust rambunctious Siegfried with the stamina of an ox, it's a role that suits him perfectly. The rest of the cast, conductor and orchestra were on top form too, playing with endurance, vibrant passion and élan.  A special mention goes to the Woodbird's gold sequinned white denim jacket ornate with eye catching sparkles that would have hypnotised a magpie.  I shook my head with disbelief several times at the sheer beauty of what my ears often couldn't register.  Some truly outstanding musicianship took place that night.

Comforting symmetry

My view when I turned around in Usher Hall.  There were quite a few Wagner fans sitting in those cushionless classroom pews for around 4 hours.  I considered myself heroic for lasting an hour and a half on a piano stool in Act 1

No sooner than you could say Siegfried, it was time to up sticks with the controlled dash that packing a huge orchestra into a truck and two coaches entails, and before I knew it, I was on the road again.  Unwilling to negotiate another round of parking, lifts and corridors only to decamp again a few hours later and lose a whole day travelling, I didn't spend a second night in halls.  

Right under Arthur's Seat

Great name, location and breakfast.  Bloody minded canteen attendant

Best coffee in Edinburgh

My best efforts couldn't get me a decent coffee on campus at 7am.  I got some exercise walking to the local shop where I was warmly served my hand stirred brew in my travel mug by lovely Ali shivering in front of his fridges 

Right under my nose

The Commonwealth Pool, closed until 14 August, so no early morning swimming session

Having carefully planned my route the old school way and avoiding the long drive involving a ferry crossing to Ireland which my satnav humorously initially suggested, I finally got some sense from it and went down the East side of the country, not quite the coastal route and I had the roads to myself as I crossed the rivers of Tyne, Tweed and Blackadder.  No kidding.  Google it.  After just over an hour I started drifting even though I was fuelled by an energy drink.  Sensing danger, I blearily parked up in Coldstream and tried to get in the zone for a quick nap.  Fifteen minutes later I set off again only to be overcome by another strong bout of insomnia after half an hour.  This time I stopped in a lay-by in deepest darkest who knows where.  I hacked away at my imagination's most ghastly ghouls and zombies crawling up the bonnet of my car to rudely peer in at my slumber before eventually getting a decent amount of shuteye in the tranquil pitch black setting.  That got me just past Newcastle with greater ease but I started to drift again. Back in civilisation, I stopped at the services and had a good hour of deep sleep under my blanket supported by the comfort of my pillow.  If you've never slept with a harp in the back of your car, I can tell you it's quite an art to cosy up.  A few spine and leg stretches in the facilities helped get my circulation going again and there's something to be said for 24 hour services and the friendliness of the people who make them happen.  Maybe they get extra money for doing the early shift.  Probably not, but they should.

First breakfast

taken at 4.29 am and washed down with a strong flat white, it kept me tapping my feet and gently headbanging intentionally to Ben Folds down the A1

Boosted by even more caffeine, off I went accompanied by the lively strains of Ben Folds.  A fabulous pianist, lyricist, vocalist and tunesmith, I can't recommend Best Imitation of Myself strongly enough as a great soundtrack for a long drive.  His songs are quite literally food for thought.  Check out Philosophy below which is worth watching for all of almost 6 minutes if only for his witty repartee with Jools:

I wouldn't want to tune his pianos.  With too many catchy numbers to list here, there's also Gracie, a most poignant father/daughter tribute.  Rockin' the Suburbs is a tongue in cheek number with a few swear words thrown in for good measure.  I was The Luckiest (another BFF classic beauty) when I had the good fortune to be part of the orchestra for a Ben Folds concert in Bristol a few years back.  A previously unknown entity, I was immediately hooked by his dazzling dexterity as he more often than not stood up to play his beloved piano.  His professionalism and the energy of his performance resonated with me as well as his engagement with his loyal audience - he  held them in the palm of his talented hands as they sang along with us.  Ben came to France with me when I drove there and back a couple of years ago so he's really made the distance and I know I can count on him for future journeys.  Rufus is overdue an airing, though the track for my next long car trip will probably involve some work related Puccini - I love combining business and pleasure.

At 4.29 the cones were just being lifted after they'd closed part of the A1.  A near miss.  At 5.17 I passed Temple Newsam and knew I was on the home stretch.  It was a doddle from there.  Slightly jet-lagged and hyperactively exhausted from my Scottish sojourn, I realised that almost all I've written about in this post is driving and car related.  Unfortunately it goes with the territory.  The time I spend with my harp actually enjoying my music is all too rare these days and I intend to change that during the next few months.  A promise I made myself in Scotland was a week off, which is swiftly dwindling to a few days as more distractions start flooding in, some of them welcome, others less so.  One of the biggest challenges we freelancers face is time management, and planning holidays is something I need to learn to incorporate into my life.  So if it's silence from me for a few days, I apologise but I have to create some breathing space.  Another promise is to dip my toes in sea and sand.  I always keep my promises.

Balancing act

All six of us closet sugar fiends, we were each offered a gift by Principal Harp Marie from the most amazing macaroon shop in the city, Madame Macaron.  Sugared out from the 3 I oohed over after lunch (pistachio, beautiful blue lavender without a hint of Zoflora, and peanut butter and chocolate), I saved mine for my post dinner ritual on Thursday night.  It tasted even better garnished and for travelling all the way from Scotland

Detox

In an attempt to manage my anxiety, I'm going coldish turkey next week.  If it helps, where can I get decaf coffee beans?

Welcome home!  The sky at 6.23 on the morning of my return to Yorkshire.

A beautiful heroine

Missing from this week's performance - I would have loved to see her and she would have LOVED Siegfried!  We shared the same inspirational teacher, mentor and close friend and like minded ally, Eira