I got into harp, of course, by complete serendipity through my obsession with Harpo Marx. The moment I learned of Mildred Dilling, his occasional “harp teacher” (you won’t find her in his autobiography), I contacted her and soon met her in Chicago for an interview during her one-day master class, where my life was changed forever. During lunch, the then-85-year-old ball of fire walked me a few blocks to the office of one of her ex-students, whom she mentioned had a used pedal harp for sale. This was a fool’s errand, as I was ill-prepared to afford such an instrument, even had I imagined entering the professional harp-playing world (which I hadn’t remotely entertained). I had exactly $3250 in the bank, saved up over my 24-year-old life, never used for college. This was in 1979, when his 1957 Style 17 Gold harp was listed at $12,500 new. I asked how much he was selling it for, and I swear he answered “3,250 dollars.” A week later, it was in its trunk in an old Chevy van on the way with the rest of my belongings to Los Angeles – land of Walt Disney, the Marx Brothers, and the music industry!

The first piece in this informal recital (I literally just turned on a cheap cassette recorder while practicing one day, in order to share with my parents) is noteworthy, in that it is a piece by Henrietta Renié, the creator of the “French method” of harp playing, and Ms. Dilling’s teacher. I met Mildred a final time when I took her two-week master class at UCLA that very summer of 1979, my first-ever harp lessons. (It was a surreal whirlwind where she let me work on Harpo’s solo from Horsefeathers, “Everyone Says I Love You,” which I one day found myself demonstrating for one of her close friends – musician Bill Marx, Harpo’s son!) Anyway, at the end of the two weeks, it seemed I was potentially going to become SOME sort of harpist, so I asked about teachers in the area. She recommended nearby JoAnn Turovsky, who had studied under Susann McDonald, one of Renié’s prize pupils.

I would study with JoAnn on and off for five years. (I also did sporadic lessons with jazz harp legends Gail Laughton and De Wayne Fulton.) I believe this program was for the second of JoAnn’s home recitals, where her students would play for family and friends. Though I vividly remember that I was blown off the stage by a then 10-12-year-old Marcia Dickstein (of later Debussy Trio fame), I have absolutely no recollection of this piece, nor having learned it! It’s kinda nice, though, I think.

Next is the well-known second Gershwin Prelude, from a Salvi Pop Series arrangement by Mimi Allen. A pedal puzzle, which would baffle me today.

The final piece is by Marcel Grandjany, another French harpist and once-Renié student who went on to create his own distinct playing technique. I very much like this impressionistic piece, though again, I have no memory of playing it and only vaguely recognized the musical phrases I created over thirty-five years ago.

These are all considered “Intermediate” pieces, and probably about as far as I ever progressed. I was soon compelled to quit music completely in 1989 for two years while I worked in aerospace by day and co-ran a vintage Disney animation art auction company at night. Struggling back to music, no sooner had I managed to record the two 1995 “Christmas Collection” pieces by sheer willpower than I had to give up harp again! In 2003, I found myself sporting acrylic nails in order to focus on steel-string harp guitar for the next twenty years.