An acclaimed B.C. holiday phenomenon launched its 30th anniversary tour in Sechelt early this month.
But musical roots of the Winter Harp ensemble stretch back centuries before its founding in 1993. The seven-member group performs contemporary and medieval melodies on classical and celtic harps plus an array of antique instruments unknown to modern orchestras: the hurdy-gurdy, the concertina, the pyramid-shaped psaltery.
“At the heart of it, the modes that we use and the arranging that we do — in order to find that medieval flavour — is what gives you that mood of Christmas,” said Lani Krantz, principal harpist for the Vancouver Island Symphony. Krantz has toured with Winter Harp for the last eight years. “It’s the sonorities and strings that actually affect you and make you feel calm and relaxed or make you feel excited.”
The Winter Harp ensemble plans a total of 12 concerts before Christmas Day, at venues on Vancouver Island and throughout the Lower Mainland. Its Dec. 2 performance at the Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt was sold out weeks before the event.
Winter Harp was founded in 1993 by musician Lori Pappajohn and storyteller Alan Woodland. Since 1984, they had been performing in small venues under the name A Candlelight Christmas. Their performances presaged the essential ingredients of Winter Harp: music on harp and flute accompanied by original stories and poems written by Woodland. In 1993, they rented a church in downtown Vancouver and settled on the name Winter Harp.
“To play a carol that is 300 years old is to recognize the beauty our ancestors gave us,” said Lori Pappajohn. “It is to recognize that something that touched people’s hearts 300 years ago can also touch our hearts. We aren’t that far removed from our ancestors and if we listen we can hear their breathing and feel their heartbeats. Bringing the past to life connects us all and celebrates the legacy of being human.”
With the addition of new members (including the longest-serving in the current touring ensemble, percussionist Lauri Lyster), the group has expanded to feature lavish medieval apparel and long-forgotten instruments. The guitar-shaped organistrum and two psalteries were fashioned by Vancouver-based master luthier Edward Turner.
On Dec. 2, Jeff Pelletier coaxed deep-throated melodies from the bass flute. Narrator Adam Henderson played the deep-droning organistrum. Celtic harpist Hayley Farenholtz demonstrated the ensemble’s newest addition: the melodica, a breath-driven keyboard. Fiddler Bruce Henczel performed an electrifying percussion battle with Lyster on the bass drum. Vocalist Sabrielle McCurdy-Foreman interpreted classic numbers like Ave Maria with spellbinding sublimity.
According to Pappajohn, Winter Harp has bolstered the harp in Western Canada during its three decades. “Countless numbers of both adults and children have become harpists after seeing the show,” she said. “Inevitably my phone rings with these star-struck hopefuls seeking lessons. And it is almost impossible to push a harp down the streets of Vancouver without someone stopping to mention they have seen the show.”
