At the registration table, no one demands to see my credentials. My sense of imposture diminishes slightly. To my delight, he recognizes the maker’s name. He drops one of the dreaded questions: do you have a harp? Why yes, I say. Nearing a stairwell, I merge lanes with a gentleman who also appears to be in search of a registration table. It’s nearly 7PM, and I’m wandering the halls of the Lincoln building trying to look like I know where I’m going.
#Lyon healy harp tuner full
My harp teacher had been urging me to connect with other harp students for months, but for a dyed-in-the-wool introvert with a full time office job whose harp practice was an excuse to take a break from people, connecting through music was an overwhelming prospect. Surrounded by pedal harpists (would a lever harp student fit in?). A harp event coming to Portland? Yes, please! I went online and registered with mild trepidation about being The golden ticket (read: flyer) to Harptacular 2018! As luck would have it, I received a flyer from Lyon & Healy in the mail. A lack of defined goals, a disorganized approach to practice, and isolation were the culprits, but I wouldn’t have been able to identify them as the problem if you had asked me. Although my enthusiasm had carried me through nearly two years of weekly lessons, around the two-year mark I began experiencing frequent bouts of frustration and the sense that I was spinning my wheels without making progress. I began taking harp lessons about two and a half years ago with the vague goal of learning to play, but the motivational power of that goal was rapidly losing steam. In September I had the exhilarating opportunity to attend the Lyon & Healy Harptacular event in Portland, and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Lyon & Healy originally posted this photo on Facebook and I am sharing it here with their permission. Sasha Boldachev performs at the Lyon & Healy Harptacular event in Portland, OR in September 2018.