Welcome to 2019! Another year begins. Time to think about and plan for another year at the harp!

Becoming what we will be this year often starts by looking back. And looking back at this blog, we see that we have been here since 2009 – that means we will celebrate ten years of sharing about harp, travel to Scotland, musicianship, and more (hence the ten heavy title for this week).

Wow.

It seems like only yesterday that we began. I started the blog to share my excitement about creating the Harp in the Highlands and Islands trip with my dear friend David. I had dreamed of going to Scotland with my harp and playing so many great tunes right at the places they commemorated, in the air of the history they chronicled, in the peace of the glens, along the gentle sweep of the waters, and in the majesty of the mountains.  But a chance conversation made it become real.

What’s not to be excited about!?!

In that time, the trip has had some amazing guests who really made each outing an adventure. And David and I have had a blast getting to gather new friends each year (“a true pleasure” just doesn’t manage to capture the joy, fun, and interest we’ve been able to enjoy at each trip!). We are so fortunate! We have honed each trip and every year brings something new. We are excited to be trying something new this year with the Harpa Retreat! We’ll let you know more about that as it develops but it will bring together the professionals of the Harpa trips to a slower paced, creativity focused week together – with the customary Harpa performances for charity mixed in – because, after all, we are performers – we l-o-v-e to perform! The perfect vacation!

But early on in writing the blog I realized that as much as I love to share the travel and the music, there was more to share. Although I look forward to going to Scotland, planning to go to Scotland, preparing to go, developing tunes to teach, helping travelers plan (and pack!), there was more to share. And while the trip is a week or so, we’re harp players for the other 50-some-odd weeks of the year – and that stuff needed to be said too!

We’ve talked about technique and ergonomics (based on my career as a Human Factors and Ergonomics professional and experience teaching specialized lessons to prevent or ameliorate problems or injury), elements of musicianship and professionalism – from practicing to performance, from planning to anxiety, from prepping for a thorough and satisfying lesson to assuring you have everything you need in your gig bag, and more.

And still there is even more. You’ve mentioned things you’re interested in (and I’m always glad to hear from you – you have great questions and insights!). Sometimes I have an answer at hand – and sometimes I have to do some homework, but I’m jazzed to learn something new.

And I do view this time with tendresse and look forward quiet tenty! Ten years is certainly something to celebrate. And through the coming year we will do exactly that! One thing we’ll be doing is migrating away from BlogSpot to my website (if you want to do that now, subscribe to receive the blog by email ). You can also follow me on Facebook. There will be “birthday presents” (giveaways) sprinkled lightly throughout the year. And of course, content laden posts!

Thank you for following me this far – let’s see where we get to! Leave me a comment – I l-o-v-e (and hearing from you!) – especially if you have good ideas for the coming year! See you next week!

* defined as fondness (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tendresse )

** defined as attentive (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenty)