Diana Rowan - Harpist: Blog

Made it to Sofia, Bulgaria for the second installment of my PhD research.  I'm focusing on the compositional methods for traditional and non-pedal harps, such as kora, Celtic harp, Latin American harp, and more. 

Sofia is a completely different city outside of the dead of winter, when I last saw it.  People are strolling leafy boulevards and sitting in outdoor cafes - it's pretty idyllic! 

Tomorrow I head to Cyprus for 2 weeks of clinic playing healing harp (a first for Cyprus!), a couple of concerts at favorite venues, and a radio interview.  Most importantly, I get to connect with my greta friends and adopted family there.

Then it will be on to Poland for two concerts in historic venues, sponsored by the Irish government.  It'll be interesting to present entirely Celtic programs, for once ;)

Back to Sofia for many exciting events, including separate collaborations with two of Bulgaria's most accomplished harpists, a benefit for breast cancer awareness, a presentation to the music high schoolers, a presentation on Brigit, the great Irish goddess-saint, and of course more PhD research!

Finally on to Istanbul, where I get to convene with my beloved friends Anna Kallis and Cassandra Sciortino at the "Myths Revisited" conference hosted by Istanbul University.  I'll be talking about how mythology resurrected the Irish harp.

Heading back home Dec 1, in time for Revels rehearsals (the theme this year is Camelot!) Dec 2...more on that as soon as I hear the details!

Looking forward to hearing from you - being far from home is exciting but I miss everyone indeed!