For an instrument with over 2,000 moving parts, even getting 14 harps onstage is a logistical triumph, but under Jennifer Ellis' eye, it was an educational and artistic one as well.

Part of the Conservatory Pre-College's Summer@SFCM program, which this summer also included weeks with the bass clarinet and in the Technology and Applied Composition Department, Ellis' summer harp intensive marshaled an impressive range of instruments and players of all levels. The week culminated in a performance that included an ensemble performance and four students collaborating on a one-harp rendition of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," complete with harmonica.

Ellis herself recalls being drawn to the harp by the 1993 adaptation of the beloved children's book The Secret Garden. "My mom took me to the movie when it came out and there's this harp solo in the score, so that I started poking my mom and asking her what instrument makes that sound and that I wanted to play the instrument that makes that sound."

The SFCM Pre-College's Summer Harp Intensive.

After studying piano—her mother's condition—Ellis began harp lessons, and the instrument took her from the Bay Area and back, after studying with Jennifer Siegel, Alice Giles, Yolanda Kondonassis, and Joan Holland. From them, she began focusing on the ergonomics of playing the instrument, as well as the range of extended techniques available to players, particularly in contemporary music.

The first intensive was offered over Zoom; not only was Ellis trying to combat the lockdown-induced disconnect, she was trying to create a community of somewhat overlooked instrumentalists. "Harpists are by themselves, usually," she says. "A lot of them don't even necessarily play chamber music or in a harp ensemble. But it's rare for students of this age to play this much with other musicians: They're usually practicing on their own, they're rarely meeting other harpists."

The SFCM Pre-College's Summer Harp Intensive.

 
One harpist helping to anchor the program was SFCM Pre-College alum Hannah Chen, a national award-winning harpist who was on hand as a student worker for the camp and even conducted one of the ensemble performances.

SFCM summoned all of its available harps for the intensive, which included two masterclasses from Ellis and workshops on instrument care and maintenance, extended techniques, and "prepared" harp—which involves, like prepared piano, the introduction of "non-musical" objects like paper clips to coax new sounds out of the instrument. Destiny Muhammed, a jazz harpist from Oakland, gave a workshop on stage presence, and this year, Ellis included a morning practice intensive that helped students focus their practice in a supportive environment."

"They worked so hard," Ellis says. "Our hearts pumped up a little bit on all their solos. It was amazing to see how much the students got done in just a week. It just blew me away."

Learn more about SFCM's Pre-College, Summer@SFCM or studying harp at the undergraduate level at SFCM.