Harps at the Grafton Centre and Fête de la Musique

The summer always brings a mix of outdoor festivals, fetes and open-air concerts. There are at least two free events going on this weekend. On Saturday two young harpists will be playing at the Grafton Centre in Cambridge from 9am to 4pm (or until blisters permit!). Bonnie and Rosie, two of Rohan's pupils, will be raising money for Diabetes UK and will have two historic harps with them. One is a recently restored 200 year old Dodds pedal harp. They have a JustGiving site if you do want to support them.
Http://www.justgiving.com/harpsisters
Then the big event is in Saffron Walden this Sunday 21 June. The Fête de la Musique is a free festival that takes place on Midsummer's day in over 90 countries. This is the first time Saffron Walden has held such an event. The finishing touches are being added to the programme and final preparations are being made to the venues. The three main organisers Isabella, Pat and Louise are working non-stop to ensure the smooth running of the day. The publicity campaign has been building up and Pat has already mentioned me in a BBC Essex Radio interview, although not by name she hastened to add, having mentioned the sorts of acts that were on she said "we've even got a roving harpist!". I will add that to my C.V.

Preparation for my little performances are going well and I think I have decided on a running order. As well as entertaining the crowds of Saffron Walden I am aiming to get a couple of play-throughs of two of my grade 6 pieces and a piece I am hoping to play at a family wedding in August. I have to remember not to take them too fast, and to leave them until later in a set as my fingers need to have warmed up. I do think I have enough music to be able to go on for two half-hour sessions before I will need to repeat any of my programme so that is a step up from the last few events I have done.

I have three venues, starting at 12 in the Courtyard, then at 1pm I move to the Adnams Cellar. After conducting Walden Winds outside the Museum at 2:30 I have a break until 4:50 where I head to the Cross Keys so I finish my set in the local tavern. I couldn't have planned it better myself! I will be roving with a glamourous assistant as I have the support of one of the many volunteers, John, who will be helping me cart all of my gear from venue to venue.

There are plenty of other groups, all listed on the website, but I should give a special plug to the Grand Finale performance which will be in the Market Square from 7 to 8:30pm. The Reavey Brothers and Friends include Tom who plays in the band Mind The Gap! They were the final band to play at mine and Chris's wedding in August 2012. Dance along to a mix of soul, funk, disco, boogie-woogie and ska.

The programme and a map are downloadable from here...:
http://www.saffronwaldenartstrust.co.uk/fete-de-la-musique/

...and there is more information on the website about the day. I hope to see some of you there!