HARP ENSEMBLE led by harpist/harp teacher Stephanie Bennett Above: Stephanie conducts adult student harp ensemble in a holiday concert at an assisted living residence, December 2011 At the urging of my students, in 2011 I formed a student harp ensemble, with the goal of going out to perform EASY harp-ensemble music for an appreciative audience. We rehearse in Northridge, CA once a month from February through June to prepare for a performance every June. My own students spend a part of their private-lesson time learning their ensemble parts, and the rehearsal is then involved with coordinating the various parts together, learning to follow a conductor, and getting used to playing in an ensemble. Playing in an ensemble is WONDERFUL for your listening and counting skills, to say nothing of the fun of getting together with other harp hobbyists! Other harp hobbyists (other than my own private students) may now join the ensemble. Ensemble rehearsal is NOT a substitute for private lessons: we will not be covering harp technique, or teaching you your part, adding fingerings etc, so you must be able to learn your part either by yourself or with your harp teacher.  (If you don't have a harp teacher yet, see: private lessons with Stephanie Bennett.)  It's optional whether to bring your own harp to rehearsal or use one of the studio's harps; you must bring your own harp to the performance.      My cat loves listening to my students play... rehearsals in the Northridge studio may not be ideal for you if you are deathly allergic.   Ensemble rehearsal FEES: each student pays $35 per 90-minute rehearsal, once a month.  Pay online. Q. Do I have to have my own harp? Do I have to have a pedal harp? A. You have to bring your own harp (it doesn't matter whether you own or rent) to the performance.  For the rehearsals, you may either bring your own harp or use one of the Harpworld harps. You don't have to have a pedal harp; all sizes of lever harp are also welcome and included. Q. How hard will the harp parts be? A. The parts for the Harpworld ensemble concert are especially selected and designed to be relatively EASY so that you don't have to drop all the other music you're learning. Parts are included for intermediate harpers as well as for the very beginning harper.  Q. How much music will I have to learn? I'm busy with other music. A. You may participate in as little as ONE piece with the ensemble, or as many as four or five pieces. You don't have to play on EVERY piece.   Q. Will you teach me how to play my parts? Will you teach me how to read music? A. Not at the rehearsal; rehearsal is not a substitute for a private lesson.  You are expected to learn how to play your parts on your own time, then rehearsal is spent coordinating the various parts together. If you don't already have a private harp teacher, you can book harp lessons separately from the rehearsal.  Q. Why pay a teacher to have an ensemble rehearsal? I could just get together with other harp hobbyists and have a 'harp circle' for free. A. Indeed you could.  The students who participate in this ensemble feel that to get together with other beginning-to-intermediate harpers and try to learn some music together would be 'the blind leading the blind'.  They prefer having a professional musician/music teacher at the helm who can direct the rehearsal, make informed suggestions based on years of experience, know exactly what happened when something doesn't sound right, know what needs to be done to make it sound better,  etc. etc. See also: Private harp lessons with Stephanie Bennett.

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