Modern Music on the Harp

One of the things I enjoy most about the harp is surprising my audiences with the repertoire that can be played on the instrument.  Recently, The Harp Column, a national magazine for harpists, published an article on modernizing our performance repertoire.  I was interviewed for the article about the music I have adapted for the harp:

"Love Story" and "You Belong With Me", by country music sweetheart Taylor Swift, are recent additions by Devon Haupt.  "Every couple of months, I'll go over the Billboard charts and see what has had some staying power and has been on the top 10 for over a month or two," says the South Bend, IN, harpist.  "If a piece seems like it might work on the harp, I buy a piano arrangement from musicnotes.com, and just play from that with a few changes to make it work better on the harp."

In the last few months Haupt has also added "Clocks" by Coldplay, "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce, "So What" by Pink, "You Want to Make a Memory" by Bon Jovi, and "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.  Most of the songs Haupt picked herself, rather than waiting for a client to ask for them, but has been happy to discover that "I'm Yours" (a 2009 Grammy Best Song nominee) is a popular request for Spring 2010 weddings.

In addition to the pieces listed in the article excerpt, other recent additions to my repertoire include:

• Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something
• Teardrops on My Guitar by Taylor Swift

Check my website for a list of other popular and jazz songs I can perform for your event.  If you have a special request, I'm always happy to do my best to make it sound beautiful on the harp!

2010 Studio Recital

On Friday, March 19th, we held our annual formal studio recital.  Students of all ages from beginners to advanced performed on the piano and harp.  The program included:

• Merrily We Roll Along (Traditional)
• Down by the Station (Traditional)
• I'm a Little Teapot (Traditional)
• Grandfather's Clock (Noona)
• Pirate's Life (Leaf)
• Chanson de la petite gardeuse d'oies (Traditional)
• Wooly Mammoth (Leaf)
• Miniature Sonatina (Kuffner)
• Jazzy Saints (Faber)
• Concert Etude (McDonald)
• Blue-zy Blues (Mrozinski)
• Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)
• Little Song & Polka (Kabalevsky)
• The Green Dog (Kingsley)
• The Syncopated Clock (Anderson)
• House of the Rising Sun (arr. Faber)
• Romance (Naderman)
• Ghost Waltz (McLean)
• Scherzetto (Hudelson)
• Gavotte from Petite Suite Classique (Grandjany)
• Clown Rag (Costley)
• Sonatina in C (Clementi)

 Congratulations to all of the students who performed an excellent recital!