WEBVTT 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:20.440 Hi there, and welcome to Notes From the Stage, 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:22.500 a show from the musicians of the Calgary Philharmonic. 00:00:22.699 --> 00:00:24.260 We're the people playing our hearts out every 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.219 week of the orchestra season. I'm Adams Innatelli. 00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:29.559 Usually I play first trumpet in the Calgary Philharmonic, 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.480 but today I'm your host, and I'm here with our 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:33.700 brand new principal harpist, Emily Melendez. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:37.380 Hi, Emily. Hi. How are you? I am happy to be 00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:40.140 here. Great. We're happy to have you. You've 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:42.399 just gotten to Calgary, and you've just started 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.799 your very first season with the orchestra. How 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.109 has it been? It's been fantastic. The orchestra 00:00:48.109 --> 00:00:51.049 has been really welcoming and friendly and there's 00:00:51.049 --> 00:00:53.909 been lots of fantastic repertoire and I really 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:57.670 love the stage and the hall in general and it's 00:00:57.670 --> 00:01:00.229 just a beautiful area and I like the city a lot. 00:01:00.789 --> 00:01:04.189 Excellent, excellent. So orchestra jobs for harpists 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:06.870 are hard to come, they're hard to come by for 00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:10.090 everyone, but there are so few positions for 00:01:10.090 --> 00:01:13.609 harp that I mean, how did it feel when you won 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:15.459 your job here? Is this your first? Full -time 00:01:15.459 --> 00:01:19.840 orchestra job? Yeah, it is. Well, I was very 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:21.939 excited, first of all. You know, there's a lot 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:24.640 of, I think all harpists have a lot of feelings 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:28.140 about auditions and orchestra jobs, namely because 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:31.019 there's just so much that we deal with in an 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:33.140 audition that other instruments don't. Yeah, 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:34.980 that's really interesting. Tell us a bit about 00:01:34.980 --> 00:01:37.900 that. Well, I think the biggest thing is that 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:39.519 nine times out of 10, you're not playing on your 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.739 own instrument when you audition. Yeah, that 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:44.579 seems... Incredibly challenging. It's incredibly 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:46.859 challenging and it can make an audition incredibly 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:50.200 unfair in that some people are going to have 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.519 almost, you know, like a 90 % advantage over 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:55.500 other people. Are harps very standard and, you 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:58.260 know, like string spacing, the way an instrument 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:00.239 feels? Even the spacing is different? Sometimes, 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.060 no. I mean, there was an audition, boy, maybe 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:07.400 six or seven years ago on the East Coast where 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.210 they provided us with a large spacing harp on 00:02:11.210 --> 00:02:14.469 the top octave. Only on the top octave? Well, 00:02:14.689 --> 00:02:16.849 that's when, yeah, they, they used to make harps 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:19.129 that had a little more variance. And so if you 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:21.469 get an older instrument that has wide, wide spacing 00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:25.110 at the top and you have a small hand, everything 00:02:25.110 --> 00:02:27.069 that you've prepared that is up there in high 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:29.590 is going to be completely different. Wow. So 00:02:29.590 --> 00:02:32.569 yeah, it can, it can really throw you for a loop. 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:36.849 So honestly, winning an audition for harp is 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:40.240 A lot of it is just luck and timing. Yeah, I 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:41.780 always say when people ask me about auditions, 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:44.580 I say you have to be really good and you have 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.719 to be really lucky. Yep. Yep. So, you know, there's 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:53.300 about probably 50 people in the harp world, at 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:56.219 least in the US that I'm that I'm familiar with. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.520 And I've seen these same people on and off for, 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.580 you know, 10 years and we'll all get together. 00:03:01.659 --> 00:03:03.659 We'll go out for dinner afterwards and we'll 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:07.080 hang out. And it's kind of a a stressful and 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:10.360 sad party. Yeah, yeah. But we all know each other. 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:13.860 And I think we're all really happy when somebody 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:17.120 gets the job because we all know how rare it 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.300 is and how difficult it is. And just that, you 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:22.280 know, you could wake up and eat the wrong breakfast 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:24.719 in the morning and just have a bad day. And then 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:26.580 there you go. There's your thousand dollars to 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:28.639 get to the audition and pay for your flight and 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.879 pay for your lodging and pay for your food, gone. 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.099 Yeah. And so it's a hard world. You know, I've 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.020 been lucky in that all the auditions I've been 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:40.939 to I've had really great friends and colleagues 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:44.319 that are there with me and that will you know 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:48.620 celebrate each other and Will have fun despite 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:52.300 the circumstances which again can be really Not 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:55.060 fun. Yeah, so I'm someone who sits on audition 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:57.120 panels and you know, you'll sit on audition panels 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.639 You know later in your career the harp is an 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:02.379 instrument where you can guarantee at a harp 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:06.740 audition nobody Voting on the audition plays 00:04:06.740 --> 00:04:10.159 the harp. Nobody knows the harp as well as someone 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:11.879 who plays the instrument, you know, you know, 00:04:11.939 --> 00:04:14.840 I can do as much homework as I want. I can listen 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:16.540 to recordings and listen to the excerpts and 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:18.519 I can look at scores and things. But as far as 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.379 like the actual realities of playing the instrument. 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:24.310 For a trumpet player, you know, there's probably 00:04:24.310 --> 00:04:25.709 going to be at least one other trumpet player 00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:27.589 on the panel There's certainly going to be other 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:29.730 brass players who can you know who have a basic 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.290 understanding of how it works But truly no one 00:04:32.290 --> 00:04:35.089 but the harpist knows what the harp really is. 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:37.029 Yep and that's one of the biggest disadvantages 00:04:37.029 --> 00:04:41.389 that we face because Often what sounds good really 00:04:41.389 --> 00:04:44.009 close up to a panel is not going to project in 00:04:44.009 --> 00:04:47.470 a hall so oftentimes there'll be circumstances 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:50.610 where somebody playing something perfectly and 00:04:50.610 --> 00:04:53.810 delicately and softly the panel is like oh my 00:04:53.810 --> 00:04:55.949 gosh that sounds just like a piano it's perfectly 00:04:55.949 --> 00:04:59.889 even it sounds amazing and then you get into 00:04:59.889 --> 00:05:03.410 maybe a later stage and they hear it from a distance 00:05:03.410 --> 00:05:06.829 and it's inaudible so that's another struggle 00:05:06.829 --> 00:05:09.790 that harpists have to deal with and a lot of 00:05:09.790 --> 00:05:11.470 times the volume can also depend on the instrument 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:13.509 they've given you if they give you a bad instrument 00:05:13.509 --> 00:05:17.370 to play you're gonna be you know super soft or 00:05:17.370 --> 00:05:19.750 super uneven because the harp is uneven and it's 00:05:19.750 --> 00:05:23.569 just yeah but panels in general have no idea 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:25.689 what we're doing and a lot of times they'll get 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:29.089 complaints about tuning and it's like well you 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:30.569 were in tune in flats and then when you went 00:05:30.569 --> 00:05:32.290 into sharps it was out of tune well that's not 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:34.550 us that's the harp it's not in regulation and 00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:36.170 that's the harp you provided for us and there's 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:38.089 nothing we can do about it nothing we can do 00:05:38.089 --> 00:05:40.350 about it right so that regulation is the term 00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:42.230 for servicing a harp and making sure that the 00:05:42.230 --> 00:05:44.930 intonation is correct as you change? Okay, so 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:47.129 for a total layperson, this is a general audience 00:05:47.129 --> 00:05:52.009 podcast, the harp is not a fully chromatic instrument. 00:05:52.730 --> 00:05:55.029 Every other instrument in the orchestra, in the 00:05:55.029 --> 00:05:57.670 modern orchestra, can sort of freely play whichever 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:01.649 of the 12 notes we want. Whereas on the harp, 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:05.050 the logistical reality of the instrument is different. 00:06:05.089 --> 00:06:07.149 Can you just explain that in basic terms for 00:06:07.149 --> 00:06:09.930 us? So in basic terms, the strings that you see 00:06:09.930 --> 00:06:12.290 on the harp are like the white keys of a piano. 00:06:12.569 --> 00:06:15.350 that is the basis. We only have the notes that 00:06:15.350 --> 00:06:19.230 are the white keys of the piano. Now, because 00:06:19.230 --> 00:06:21.910 most orchestras have, well, all orchestras have 00:06:21.910 --> 00:06:24.769 double action pedal harps in them, I can change 00:06:24.769 --> 00:06:27.449 that single white note on the piano to be a half 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:31.050 step above or half step below its base, right? 00:06:31.269 --> 00:06:33.910 And when you do that, how you said pedal action? 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:36.029 Right, pedal action. So I have seven pedals, 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.910 one for each note of the scale, and each pedal 00:06:39.910 --> 00:06:42.709 will change every single octave of that note. 00:06:42.970 --> 00:06:47.569 Right. So I have seven -ish, six and a half really 00:06:47.569 --> 00:06:51.569 octaves. So one pedal will change sometimes six 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:54.129 notes. So all of my Cs will change at once. Yeah. 00:06:54.649 --> 00:06:57.470 And the harp is tuned to flats. So it kind of 00:06:57.470 --> 00:06:59.730 looks like my pedals look like they have a little 00:06:59.730 --> 00:07:01.970 step ladder in the bottom. They're like positioned 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:03.170 at the bottom of the harp and it looks like a 00:07:03.170 --> 00:07:04.670 little step ladder and I have a groove I'll put 00:07:04.670 --> 00:07:07.569 in. So it'll be in flat in the top groove and 00:07:07.569 --> 00:07:09.430 then natural in the middle groove and sharp in 00:07:09.430 --> 00:07:12.850 the bottom groove. If those little levers at 00:07:12.850 --> 00:07:15.149 the top of the instrument that actually tweak 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:18.230 the strings, if they are not perfectly tightened 00:07:18.230 --> 00:07:20.990 and aligned in the right place, the harp is going 00:07:20.990 --> 00:07:23.629 to sound out of tune and natural in sharps, even 00:07:23.629 --> 00:07:26.750 if I tune it perfectly in flats. And most panels 00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:30.110 don't understand that at all. Right. So this 00:07:30.110 --> 00:07:32.509 is a great opportunity for me as a non -harpist 00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:34.389 to learn about the instrument and maybe dispel 00:07:34.389 --> 00:07:36.350 some of my misconceptions about the instrument 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:38.430 and how it works. So stop me if it's getting 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:41.529 irritating. Oh, no, please. So the way that the 00:07:41.529 --> 00:07:44.730 instrument works, I think for a composer who 00:07:44.730 --> 00:07:47.250 maybe hasn't thought things through, might seem 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:50.209 like a bug. It might seem like a problem to be 00:07:50.209 --> 00:07:53.750 overcome. But to a great composer who knows the 00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:56.629 instrument really well, does this become a feature? 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:00.470 Absolutely. Especially, and you see this a lot 00:08:00.470 --> 00:08:04.490 in Debussy and Ravel, they know how to do inharmonic 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:07.129 things on the harp. So basically an inharmonic 00:08:07.129 --> 00:08:09.579 for... Anybody listening who doesn't know, it 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:12.139 means you're creating a note with a different 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:16.519 spelling basically, right? So the note B sharp 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.519 and C natural, it's the same thing. So I can 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:24.220 push my B sharp pedal down and have my C natural 00:08:24.220 --> 00:08:27.379 pedal set, and I'm playing two strings that sound 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:29.879 exactly the same. They have the same pitch. They 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:33.080 have the same pitch. Yeah. So somebody like Debussy 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:36.330 is going to use that. in like La Mer, I'll have 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:38.529 a glissando and it's going to be a pentatonic 00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:40.649 scale. So it's going to only, I'm going to be 00:08:40.649 --> 00:08:43.309 playing all seven notes on the harp as I run 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:44.690 my finger up and down the strings, but you're 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:47.090 only going to hear five because of how I have 00:08:47.090 --> 00:08:49.169 my pedal set. That's amazing. And La Mer is on 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:51.570 later this season in the spring. That's one of 00:08:51.570 --> 00:08:53.289 my favorite pieces to play. It's a gorgeous piece. 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:57.639 WC is a fantastic uh harp writer and so is Ravel 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:00.440 and they they made great use of the harps pedals 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:02.940 and what it can do it wasn't a bug for them at 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.100 all yeah there's a lot of amazing french music 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:08.019 on this year's program la mer uh escale by jockey 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.940 bears on that same concert holy moly that's an 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:13.059 amazing piece yeah uh we're playing alberada 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.720 del gracioso a more great harp writing great 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.159 virtuosic writing for the whole orchestra uh 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:19.980 Ravel piano concerto is up pretty soon at the 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:23.340 end of this month lots of great stuff yeah really 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:26.019 really fun things So I think we're used to hearing 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:28.960 about kids starting on the violin or the piano 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.940 or the cello or singing. How do you find your 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:34.240 way as a young, you know, young musician? How 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:37.340 do you find your way to the harp? My road was 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:40.139 a little untraditional. I just wanted to play 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:42.480 the harp when I was three and I started pestering 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.179 my mom and she didn't know what that was. First 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:48.139 of all, she asked a lady she knew that played 00:09:48.139 --> 00:09:50.299 the piano in church or something. And this lady 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:52.000 was like, well, she has to start on the piano. 00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:54.990 I did not want to play the piano, but they made 00:09:54.990 --> 00:09:57.250 me. So when I was six, I started playing the 00:09:57.250 --> 00:09:59.429 piano and I just kept pestering and pestering. 00:09:59.909 --> 00:10:02.490 And eventually my mom brought it up to a lady 00:10:02.490 --> 00:10:05.269 that was teaching me choir. And this lady happened 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:08.110 to know a harp teacher in my town. And so when 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:10.230 I was eight, I got to start on the harp, but 00:10:10.230 --> 00:10:13.669 it was, it was not something that was inspired 00:10:13.669 --> 00:10:16.070 by a moment or a concert or anything. I just, 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:19.570 I think I must have. seen like Christmas angels 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:21.590 with harps or something like nobody really knows 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:24.289 it was one of those strange things so amazing 00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:27.169 amazing and where is home for you home is wagashaw 00:10:27.169 --> 00:10:30.029 wisconsin it's a little outside of milwaukee 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:31.649 kind of between milwaukee and madison if you 00:10:31.649 --> 00:10:34.269 know the states at all so the shortest available 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:37.730 route to the harp for you right but then i wasn't 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:39.830 really content with just learning the harp i 00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:41.289 kind of wanted a piece of everything so then 00:10:41.289 --> 00:10:43.070 i started learning the flute and then the violin 00:10:43.930 --> 00:10:45.830 So I played all four instruments through high 00:10:45.830 --> 00:10:47.730 school. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. It's hard enough 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.610 to be good at one instrument. Well, I wasn't 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:53.309 good at them. But I did enjoy playing them and 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:55.590 I was good enough that I could play the violin 00:10:55.590 --> 00:10:57.129 in my youth orchestra when there were no harp 00:10:57.129 --> 00:10:59.429 pieces, which was really fun because I got to 00:10:59.429 --> 00:11:01.169 play stuff that there are no harp parts on like 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:04.649 Beethoven and Mozart. So that was very fun for 00:11:04.649 --> 00:11:07.470 me. That's great. And the flute flute is a natural 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:09.250 pairing with harp. There's tons of repertoire. 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:11.649 So having a bit of a working knowledge of that 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:13.990 instrument must come in handy sometimes. It does. 00:11:14.070 --> 00:11:18.129 And I appreciate flutists a lot because I can't. 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:20.029 I can't control my breath for anything in the 00:11:20.029 --> 00:11:23.250 world and so I'm constantly in awe of wind instruments 00:11:23.250 --> 00:11:26.149 like yourself that you know everything has to 00:11:26.149 --> 00:11:29.610 come out of your lungs and it's like I'm sitting 00:11:29.610 --> 00:11:31.730 playing the harp you know chewing on some gum 00:11:31.730 --> 00:11:33.409 or a cough drop I'm like thank goodness I don't 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:35.289 have to worry about this oh yeah but at the same 00:11:35.289 --> 00:11:38.070 time right like you've got so much going on right 00:11:38.070 --> 00:11:40.970 to anyone who sees the harp you know from from 00:11:40.970 --> 00:11:42.850 the audience might think like oh it's so beautiful 00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:45.710 it's a very visual instrument as well I don't 00:11:45.710 --> 00:11:48.870 think everyone really sees the madness that is 00:11:48.870 --> 00:11:52.330 going on at your feet. True. Because sometimes, 00:11:53.190 --> 00:11:54.929 like, a harpist's feet are like, you know, you're 00:11:54.929 --> 00:11:57.190 working them like an organist almost. I think 00:11:57.190 --> 00:11:59.169 organ and harp are probably the only instruments 00:11:59.169 --> 00:12:02.850 where you really are using hands and feet in 00:12:02.850 --> 00:12:05.629 coordinated, pitch -related motion at all the 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:07.629 time, you know? Well, here's the thing though, 00:12:07.629 --> 00:12:09.950 it's often not pitch -related on the harp. On 00:12:09.950 --> 00:12:11.909 organ it always is, right? Because you're actually 00:12:11.909 --> 00:12:14.399 playing a note with your feet. funny there's 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.679 a lot of organist harpist crossovers out there 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.639 um garagini who was a harp composer he also was 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.120 an organist and wrote for the organ as well and 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:26.860 i can think just one of my friends is a fantastic 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:29.460 organist and harpist and yeah parker rams he 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:32.340 was at sound atlas yeah yeah here in town we 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:34.120 went to school together oh that's great but yeah 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:36.879 so but with the harp you know i'm changing pedals 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.720 that i'm gonna need maybe two bars later but 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.419 because of the timing of the piece I have to, 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:45.120 you know, if I have to change seven pedals and 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.220 three bars, I have to do that ahead of time. 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:49.379 So I'm hitting notes that have no relation to 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:50.879 the chord that I'm playing or hitting pedals 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.879 that have no relation to the chords that I'm 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.600 playing. Yeah, like so even while you're still 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:57.600 playing, you're preparing pedals for, you know, 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.179 something that's happening down the line. Exactly. 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:03.120 So there's no chord pitch relation at all. I 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.500 guess that. The timpani also has to do that as 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:07.279 well, you know, to think about that, you know, 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.419 adjusting the pitch, using pedals for things 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:11.399 coming up so it's there when you need it. Exactly. 00:13:11.659 --> 00:13:14.039 And both the timpani and the harp, you're also 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.279 sometimes doing it on the fly as you go, right? 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:22.159 Indeed. So moving a harp sucks, I assume. Depending 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:27.399 on the place you're moving it into, stairs suck. 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:33.669 Elevators, fine. Snow, not ideal. But it depends 00:13:33.669 --> 00:13:36.090 a lot on the, you know, what kind of a dolly 00:13:36.090 --> 00:13:37.809 you have. If you have a good dolly, it's not 00:13:37.809 --> 00:13:40.730 so bad. If you have a nice, you know, car that's 00:13:40.730 --> 00:13:42.950 easy to load into, it's not so bad. So there 00:13:42.950 --> 00:13:45.370 are ways you can make it not horrible. But in 00:13:45.370 --> 00:13:47.330 general, it's, I mean, it's not anybody's favorite 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:49.409 thing to do, but we all do it. Harps are around 00:13:49.409 --> 00:13:53.090 85 pounds, so. Yeah, that's that's significant. 00:13:53.110 --> 00:13:55.889 And let alone a case if you're moving it, say, 00:13:55.929 --> 00:13:58.850 like if you're. putting it on a truck or if you're... 00:13:58.850 --> 00:14:02.210 Oh, the case that looks like a... Oh, you never 00:14:02.210 --> 00:14:05.070 want to fly with a harp. You would ship it. Really? 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:07.350 Well, you know how airlines treat everybody's 00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:10.789 luggage. Yeah, it's not ideal. So yeah, but the 00:14:10.789 --> 00:14:13.850 transport cases, they look like giant black coffins. 00:14:14.029 --> 00:14:16.549 It's pretty funny. This is the second giant instrument 00:14:16.549 --> 00:14:18.129 coffin we've talked about our notes from the 00:14:18.129 --> 00:14:20.269 stage. See our previous episode with Matt Heller, 00:14:20.370 --> 00:14:23.769 bass player. Oh, yes. So here in Calgary, you 00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:24.970 know, you're going to be practicing at home, 00:14:25.129 --> 00:14:26.909 I would assume. Yes. And you're going to be playing 00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:28.649 at the hall. Or is that two different instruments? 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.049 Yeah. So I have my own harp at home and then 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:35.409 the orchestra has a harp. And hopefully soon 00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:37.409 the orchestra will have a new harp. That would 00:14:37.409 --> 00:14:39.029 be very exciting. That would be very exciting. 00:14:39.110 --> 00:14:41.029 It's nice to have some input into that, I would 00:14:41.029 --> 00:14:44.179 assume. Yeah. You know, the ball has not really 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:47.279 gotten rolling yet, but I know that it's kind 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.139 of time for that to happen. Harps only have a 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:52.779 certain amount of years that they have, you know, 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:54.799 really good sound. They have a lifespan. Oh, 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:57.539 that's interesting. Why is that? It's because 00:14:57.539 --> 00:15:02.179 harps have so much pressure on them. Like mechanical 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:04.779 tension? Well, yeah, tension from the strings. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.929 So I think it's... I always get this mixed up. 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:10.850 There's, I believe, a thousand moving parts and 00:15:10.850 --> 00:15:13.450 two thousand pounds of pressure. Holy moly. It 00:15:13.450 --> 00:15:15.470 could be swapped, but I believe that's correct. 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:19.549 And so eventually that pressure warps the neck 00:15:19.549 --> 00:15:22.629 because it's just wood and it warps the neck 00:15:22.629 --> 00:15:26.049 and it pulls up the soundboard. So a harp that's 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:28.409 played a lot has about 25 years before it needs 00:15:28.409 --> 00:15:31.669 some type of a rebuild or re -riveting or something, 00:15:32.029 --> 00:15:35.299 some kind of major repair. Wow, I mean... That's 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:37.659 a lot of moving parts. I mean, a trumpet has 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:41.620 like under a dozen. Yeah. So when you need your 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.600 harp maintained, like, is that something that 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:46.539 you do yourself or is that something that you 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:48.899 would send it to a specialist for work every 00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:51.580 few years? Well, the regulation that it would 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:53.919 undergo every year, which is making the notes 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.360 all in tune, natural, sharp and flat, that is 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.279 done by a regulator. You can learn to do it yourself 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.019 as a harpist. I haven't. It's a very in -depth 00:16:03.019 --> 00:16:07.200 training and you have to get certified. It's 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.480 a whole thing. So usually there are traveling 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:12.559 regulators that go all around the country and 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:14.279 into Canada. They have different regions that 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:16.399 they service and you find your favorite regulator 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:18.940 and you get your harp regulated once a year. 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:21.039 But any major repairs, it would need to be sent 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:23.419 to the factory. So my harp and the orchestra's 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:25.159 harp are both line and Healy's. Those are made 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.419 in Chicago by Line and Healy Harps. And so you 00:16:28.419 --> 00:16:31.059 would ship your harp to the factory and get it 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:34.019 worked on. I've been very lucky that I'm living 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:35.700 in Milwaukee. I've been close enough to just 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:37.799 drive my harp down whenever it needs repairs 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.820 or anything. So that's been really nice. So when 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:43.139 you're not playing the harp and you're not spending 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.419 time with your dog, who you are petting as we 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:47.879 speak, what do you like to do with your spare 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:54.179 time? Well, I'm kind of an introvert, so I don't. 00:16:54.250 --> 00:16:56.850 Go out that much or at least I haven't in the 00:16:56.850 --> 00:16:59.690 past. Maybe I'll get better being more extroverted. 00:17:01.110 --> 00:17:03.549 I Like to take pansy on a lot of walks. We're 00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:06.089 big walkers I have a little bit of asthma so 00:17:06.089 --> 00:17:08.710 I don't run even though I would like to but I'm 00:17:08.710 --> 00:17:11.650 I it always prevents me so I just like to walk 00:17:11.650 --> 00:17:16.589 and I like a good TV series. Oh, yeah, what have 00:17:16.589 --> 00:17:18.369 you been watching recently? Well, it's what I'm 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:21.400 going to be watching now that I'm finally settled 00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:22.960 in and have some time. I haven't watched the 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:24.579 second season of House of the Dragon yet, and 00:17:24.579 --> 00:17:28.299 that is very much on the list. I've been waiting 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.299 all summer. I've been too busy to devote time 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:32.759 to it, but it's one of those things you don't 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:35.920 want to rush into. You want to have time to be 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:37.619 just like, I'm going to sit here and enjoy this. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:42.279 So I've avoided all of the spoilers. So yeah, 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:47.829 I like good. TV series HBO is a is a favorite 00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:50.670 for me. Just most most of what they put out is 00:17:50.670 --> 00:17:54.130 excellent. I also love books. I like oh, what 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:59.170 do you love to read? Well, it's it's either high 00:17:59.170 --> 00:18:02.430 fantasy or sociology and there's like no in between 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.710 interesting. It's very strange. That's very interesting 00:18:04.710 --> 00:18:07.950 Well here as we sit you can see some of the bookshelves 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:10.230 in my house here. There are many so you can see 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:12.690 that there's a lot of high fantasy in there as 00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:15.190 well that I really enjoy. I noticed that, I did. 00:18:15.569 --> 00:18:17.089 Yeah, when you first showed me your studio, I 00:18:17.089 --> 00:18:19.190 was like, oh yeah, these are great. Okay, okay, 00:18:19.190 --> 00:18:22.230 so what jumped out to you? I'm curious, I'm so 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:24.650 interested in your taste. Lila Gwynne did, and 00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:27.210 only because she, I have, my sister sent me a 00:18:27.210 --> 00:18:28.910 whole bunch of her books for Christmas, but I 00:18:28.910 --> 00:18:31.029 haven't gotten into her yet. She's my favorite 00:18:31.029 --> 00:18:34.029 author. I'm undergoing a long -term project to 00:18:34.029 --> 00:18:36.250 read her complete works. Okay, yeah, my sister 00:18:36.250 --> 00:18:38.890 sent me like the two volumes of her complete 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:41.660 works, and I just haven't Delved into them. Yeah, 00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:43.519 but you're gonna be so thrilled She's one of 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.720 the few who writes amazing science fiction and 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.279 amazing fantasy and see you see that's a really 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:50.559 rare combination It's either really good fantasy 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.940 or really good sci -fi So I read all of the Game 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.440 of Thrones books in grad school on the subway 00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:58.660 in New York You know what when I was in school 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:02.259 in Toronto? Uh, a feast for crows was coming 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:05.119 out and I realized it was coming out in the UK 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.059 before it was coming out in North America. I 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:10.700 ordered a copy from the UK and I got it like 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:12.420 a month before it came out here and I was reading 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:14.940 it on the subway in Toronto and someone like 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:16.640 ran up to me and was like, where did you get 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:21.019 that? That's amazing. Well, that's yeah. Yeah. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.400 So I, you know, it's, it's hard sometimes. Oh, 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.740 sorry. That's my dog's tail banging the cord. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.059 It's hard to find time to read books like that 00:19:31.059 --> 00:19:33.299 for me because I never want to wait to finish 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:36.740 them. So it's difficult to start and then have 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:40.640 to do other things. But I've found that audio 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.759 books are great for that. So I've been reading 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:48.250 an audio book called... Fields of Blood, Religion 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:50.009 and the History of Violence. Okay, interesting. 00:19:50.289 --> 00:19:52.349 That's my new favorite and I've really enjoyed 00:19:52.349 --> 00:19:54.150 it so far. That's on the sociology side there. 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:55.890 Right, exactly. So there's no in -between. I 00:19:55.890 --> 00:19:58.150 don't really read historical fiction. I don't 00:19:58.150 --> 00:20:03.250 really read biographies. Yeah, I just have like 00:20:03.250 --> 00:20:05.450 two genres I enjoy. That's very interesting. 00:20:05.609 --> 00:20:08.170 That's very interesting. Oh, you're gonna enjoy 00:20:08.170 --> 00:20:11.049 Le Guin so much. I'm so excited for you. What's 00:20:11.049 --> 00:20:13.230 a good one to start with for her? If I were to 00:20:13.230 --> 00:20:15.069 make a recommendation of where to start with 00:20:15.069 --> 00:20:17.430 Le Guin, I would start with A Wizard of Earthsea. 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:21.230 OK. It's the first of a... Well, it was originally 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:22.809 three and she said she was done, then she wrote 00:20:22.809 --> 00:20:24.869 a fourth and then she said she was done. Then 00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:27.490 there's a book of short stories in that universe. 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:31.549 And then there's a final book. OK. And if you 00:20:31.549 --> 00:20:33.230 look over at the shelf there, there's a beautiful, 00:20:33.549 --> 00:20:36.170 big, thick doorstop. I see that. I know. It's 00:20:36.170 --> 00:20:39.029 The Complete Earthsea, which contains a short 00:20:39.029 --> 00:20:42.210 story that I've never read before. at the very 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:45.230 end of the set. And so I'm saving that for when 00:20:45.230 --> 00:20:48.450 I actually reread the whole set top to bottom, 00:20:48.769 --> 00:20:51.430 and I can enjoy that new -to -me short story 00:20:51.430 --> 00:20:55.170 at the end. But Earthsea is really, really magical. 00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:58.670 I mean, it's magical and it's magical. But it's 00:20:58.670 --> 00:21:01.109 a great place to start. None of the books are 00:21:01.109 --> 00:21:03.990 very long, so it's not like diving into A Song 00:21:03.990 --> 00:21:06.390 of Ice and Fire or something like that. But they're 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:10.430 just wonderful, wonderful books. If you're interested 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:13.589 in a start into the science fiction of Ursula 00:21:13.589 --> 00:21:16.750 Le Guin read Lathe of Heaven. Oh, OK. It's a 00:21:16.750 --> 00:21:18.789 little novella. It's it's pretty short. It's 00:21:18.789 --> 00:21:22.349 an amazingly creative story. It's it's wonderful. 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:25.109 Some of the bigger ones are I mean, they're all 00:21:25.109 --> 00:21:26.509 everything that I've heard from her. I just I 00:21:26.509 --> 00:21:30.150 just love so much. But something bigger like 00:21:30.150 --> 00:21:33.109 The Dispossessed is going to be a tougher way 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:36.029 in. I think that's what I started. The Dispossessed 00:21:36.029 --> 00:21:40.690 is it's a lot. Yeah. And I found it very dry. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.059 Really interesting, but but very dry, probably 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:45.539 the driest of her science fiction. Left Hand 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:48.680 of Darkness is much more approachable and really 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:52.039 great and really interesting in in today's society, 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:56.380 I think. Oh, yeah, I have to admit, I so I never 00:21:56.380 --> 00:21:59.140 finished the Silmarillion. I started that. So 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:01.660 dry writing and I are not. We don't get along 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:05.299 too well. Yeah, the Silmarillion, I think maps 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:08.099 help a lot with that one I found and actually 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:10.630 on Tor .com, you know, Tor. the science fiction 00:22:10.630 --> 00:22:12.829 publisher. Okay. They had a great, you know, 00:22:12.869 --> 00:22:15.230 like these days there's like a podcast about 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:18.309 like, you know, episode by episode of a TV series 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:22.250 or something on tor .com. I remember reading 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:24.910 a chapter by chapter set of articles about the 00:22:24.910 --> 00:22:26.789 Silmarillion that had a lot of diagrams with 00:22:26.789 --> 00:22:30.670 family trees and things like that. And that made 00:22:30.670 --> 00:22:34.170 it a lot easier to soak in. Oh, that's good to 00:22:34.170 --> 00:22:37.029 know. I don't know if I'll ever. ever go back 00:22:37.029 --> 00:22:40.130 to that, but it's good to know if I want to. 00:22:40.809 --> 00:22:42.069 You know, Emily, you've only been here for the 00:22:42.069 --> 00:22:44.109 better part of a couple of months now, but we 00:22:44.109 --> 00:22:46.650 get to hear our great colleagues play and make 00:22:46.650 --> 00:22:49.490 wonderful music on stage every day at work. Has 00:22:49.490 --> 00:22:51.910 anyone's playing particularly caught your ear? 00:22:54.009 --> 00:22:58.130 Well, I guess the playing that is most in my 00:22:58.130 --> 00:23:00.890 ear would be our lovely French horn colleagues 00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:03.650 who usually are right behind me. So I've been 00:23:03.650 --> 00:23:07.380 really enjoying them. They're fantastic. I actually 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:11.980 knew Nikki, who's our principal horn. About 10 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:14.920 years ago or so, we met at New World. We were 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:17.079 roommates together for a week. That's New World 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:20.160 Symphony in Miami. She's actually the only person 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:23.819 I knew coming up here. And I really enjoyed her 00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:25.880 playing and the rest of the horn section. They're 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:28.839 just fantastic. There's been a lot of a lot of 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:31.269 fresh blood in the horn section. Recently actually 00:23:31.269 --> 00:23:33.250 this year for the first time in a long time. 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:35.490 We have a fully staffed horn section of five 00:23:35.490 --> 00:23:39.269 players Which is amazing. Yeah, Nikki is relatively 00:23:39.269 --> 00:23:41.549 new Peter Clark. Our second horn player just 00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:44.690 started along with you this year He's gonna be 00:23:44.690 --> 00:23:47.049 our guest on the next episode of this podcast 00:23:47.049 --> 00:23:51.369 Max Stein started not too long ago and Heather 00:23:51.369 --> 00:23:53.769 Wooten our fourth horn is retiring at the end 00:23:53.769 --> 00:23:56.349 of this season We'll be featuring her later this 00:23:56.349 --> 00:23:59.269 season. I hope later this season of the podcast 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.519 and Jennifer Frankumana has been in the orchestra 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:07.799 one year longer than me. So she will be the longest 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:10.720 -serving horn player in the section as of next 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:14.220 year. Wow. Yeah, a lot of turnover, but that's 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:18.420 how it goes. Yeah. Wonderful. Well, Emily, thank 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:21.200 you so much for sitting down with me and for 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:24.019 bringing your great dog over. Yeah, you're welcome. 00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:26.000 Now that we're finished, she's finally laying 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:30.000 down and being calm. Great. Well, I'm sure that 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.259 she and mine will hang out much more in the months 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:36.059 to come. Yes, I hope so. Thank you for having 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:58.880 me. Thanks so much. Let us know what you think 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:00.680 of the show and check out our concert calendar 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.079 at CalgaryFilmmusicians .ca to see what we're 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:05.059 all up to outside of our regular performances 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:08.500 at the CPO. On our next episode in two weeks, 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.579 I'll be talking with another new arrival, Second 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:12.599 Horn Peter Clarke. Talk to you soon!