Sculpting Sound

This afternoon I had the pleasure of attending my first workshop with Pamela Bruner. Although she offered workshops last year, I didn't get to attend one. Pamela is a great teacher, and quickly adapted to all the different skill levels of the people attending the workshop. I think it's safe to say that everyone left with an urge to get back to their rooms and work on the techniques she taught.

The technique that I learned the most from was improvising in a pentatonic scale. It really is a soothing sound, and it's nearly impossible to sound bad! (I'll certainly be doing more improvising...)

This workshop made me think of a quote that's in The Harp Gathering program: Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something. (Frank Zappa) The pentatonic scale brings that quote home for me.

At dinner I enjoyed the company of a harpist I met last year (Janice), her teacher and another new friend. It was great to hear about Frank Voltz's first workshop. I really wish that I had a clone so that I could attend all the workshops...

Tonight's concert will feature Tapestry (Denise & Michael Grupp-Verbon) and Frank Voltz. I really enjoyed them last year, and can't wait to see what they'll be playing this year.

Also, I'm looking forward to looking at all the harps in the Exhibition Hall after the concert. Last year I didn't try any of them out, because I had my Webster McFall on order. This year I want to try as many as I can!

I have a couple of photos I didn't post earlier due to lack of time. First is a shot of the lobby. The sound of the harpist carried beautifully due to the high ceiling.

The next photo is the interior garden outside of my room. There is a waterfall and coy in the pond.

I'm off to freshen up before the concert. I'll post again soon.