HISTORICAL HARPS ONLINE
Virtual Events of the Historical Harp Society
Present Ann Heymann Workshops
October 9, 2022
Session I (PowerPoint Lecture)
Early Harps of Ireland, Scotland and Wales
An Interpretation of Evidences Crucial to their Performance Practice
Session II (Hands-on Playing)
The Proof of the Form is in the Pudding
An Immersion into Selected Examples of Gaelic & Welsh Harp Music
TIME
EST 1:00-2:15pm / Break 30min / 2:45-4:00pm
CST Noon-1:15pm / Break 30min / 1:45-3:00pm
PST 10:00-11:15am / Break 30min / 11:45-1:00pm
This is a FREE EVENT for members / non-members in celebration of the launch of HISTORICAL HARPS ONLINE!
TO REGISTER: Send your email to historicalharpsonline@gmail.com and the zoom link will be sent to you prior to the event.
ABOUT ANN HEYMANN
Ann Heymann is widely considered as the person who brought the old Irish harp back into a living tradition. With a background in piano and organ, Ann “found” traditional Irish Music in the early 1970’s as a member of a ceili band, led by Roscommon button accordion player Martin McHugh. A chance encounter with Edward Bunting’s Ancient Music of Ireland (1840) fascinated Ann—and eventually she acquired an early Jay Witcher “Castle Otway” harp. Having studied Bunting, she pioneered the historically accurate performance practice of holding the early wire-strung harp on the left shoulder and playing with long fingernails.
As an independent scholar, Ann studied the original Bunting manuscripts, which led to developing the instrument’s first tutor, “Secrets of the Gaelic Harp”, in 1988. Her solo CDs include: Queen of Harps and Cruit go nÓr • Harp of Gold. Touring widely with her husband Charlie, through the years Ann has collaborated with notables Alison Kinnaird, Alan MacDonald, Barnaby Brown, Talitha MacKenzie, Altan, the Chieftains, and the Rose Ensemble. In 2012 she received a Moore Foundation Fellowship for independent study at the University of Ireland, Galway, to “Explore the Role of the Cláirseach in the Performance of Bardic Poetry”.
A sought-after presenter, Ann has served on the faculties of the Ohio Scottish Arts School, Hent Telynn Breiz (Brittany) and Scoil na gCláirseach/Festival of the Early Irish Harp (Ireland). In 2008, she premiered a reconstruction of the medieval Welsh telynn rawn, a horsehair strung harp, in an historic concert at the Brecon Cathedral in Wales. In 2021 Ann was the recipient of two Lifetime Achievement Awards, from the Somerset Harp Festival (USA) and The Historical Harp Society of Ireland. In recognition of Ann’s lifetime contribution to the Early Irish Harp, Sandy Pereira has presented a charitable donation to the Historical Harp Society in Ann’s name. In this spirit of generosity, we offer these Oct. 9th workshops to the global harp community free of charge.