PRESS
RELEASE
Run Through June 20, 2010
Contact: Beatriz Harley
info@HipHarp.com, 781-483-3556
Downloadable Hi-Res Photos for press at:
http://www.hipharp.com/publicity.html Honey
-- I Shrunk the Harp!
Deborah Henson-Conant
Grammy-Nominated Electric Harpist
Showcases
New Instrument
Sun.
June 20, 2010 – 7:30 pm
The Triple Door - Solo Show
216 Union St. – Seattle, WA 98101
TIX: $22 adv/ $25 day-of-show
206-838-4333 / www.TheTripleDoor.net
There’s
a new breakthrough technology coming to Seattle in June. Like many successful hardware devices, this one’s
built to interface with the human hand. Likewise, the newest
version is both smaller and more powerful than previous
models. But it’s not an iPhone, an iPod or even an
iPad. It’s a harp.
Grammy nominated composer, vocalist and harpist
Deborah Henson-Conant is the
world’s premiere electric harpist, and she’s been so instrumental
in the development of this new hybrid that the latest model on the international
scene, designed in France by CAMAC Harps,
is named after her: the “DHC-Blue-Light.”
“It’s taken nearly two decades to develop this instrument,” says
Henson-Conant, who features the harnessable carbon-fibre instrument in
a solo show Sun. Jun. 20 at Seattle’s ‘Triple Door.’ “My
concept was to take everything great about the concert harp and put it in an
interface
that’s more like electric guitar. The CAMAC company developed
this harp specifically for my shows, performances that combine
theater, music, movement
and stories in a solo format – a
kind of high-energy individual Nouvelle-Cabaret that requires a lot of
physical freedom, and a sound that can range convincingly from ethereal
ballads
to all-out distorted
Blues."
"I
think of it as spectacle-of-imagination, since
this style of performing relies on one person, a single
instrument, and some very obvious effects - rather than
sets, lights, costumes and a lot of technology - to generate
the sense of 'bigger than life.' That's just my personal
ethic. I love moving in and out of the sphere of imagination,
and to be constantly shifting the audience with me."
One of the few technical effects Henson-Conant uses is
a loop-pedal, which lets her orchestrate layered accompaniments
on the fly. “With these two instruments –
the harp and the looper -- I can create the impression
of a full ensemble – but because I’m
solo, I’m completely free to respond artistically,
to change the show spontaneously. And because of its size
and weight (the harp weighs only 11 pounds), it makes
touring much easier.”
Touring is a big part of Henson-Conant’s life. In the past
year, she's been half-way around the world, to New Caledonia,
as well as to Europe, and throughout the U.S. where she performs
both as a
solo artist and as visiting soloist with symphonies.
Her shows rely heavily on original music. (“It’s not like there’s
music already written for this instrument,” she says.) And
her style spawns storyscapes that range through musical styles like actors
pawing through a costume
box. Flamenco dramatizes a story of time travel in “Baroque Flamenco”,
Blues underscores the equation of bad food to moldy relationships in “Love
Gone Bad,” a brooding Celtic reel explodes into found-sound in “Cirque
du Lune” and in “Watermelon Boogie” she explores the
sexy side of her favorite food, and poses the idea that these vine-growers
invented
the
World Wide Web.
She
appears in a solo show at Seattle’s “Triple
Door”
Sun. Jun 20 (Father’s Day) 7:30 pm.
“Reshaping
the serenely Olympian harp into
a jazz instrument by warping it closer
to the Blues.” New York Times
“Born
to entertain … an unlikely combination of
dazzling harp playing, gorgeous jazz/pop singing,
comic timing and impressive songwriting.”
Austin American-Statesman
BRIEF
ARTIST BIO:
Deborah
Henson-Conant is a Grammy-Nominated composer-performer
and the world’s premiere electric
harpist. She sings, plays and tells stories in Nouvelle-Cabaret
shows that combine styles from Flamenco to Blues. She’s
toured internationally, debuted with the Boston Pops, opened
for Ray Charles at Tanglewood, jammed onstage with Bobby
McFerrin and offstage with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, and
starred in her own music special on PBS, “Invention & Alchemy.” She's
been featured on shows from CBS’ “Sunday Morning” and
NBC’s “Today Show” to NPR’s “Weekend
Edition” and the Food Network’s “Unwrapped,” and
interviewed by hosts and journalists from Scott Simon, Susan
Stamberg and Studs Terkel to Charlie Rose and Joan Rivers ARTIST
WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA:
• Website: http://www.HipHarp.com
• Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/HipHarp
• Blog: http://hipharp.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/HipHarpist
• YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/HipHarpist
For
more information on the carbon fibre 32-string "DHC Blue-Light"
harp:
http://www.camac-harps.com/camac-harps-eng/dhcbluelight.html
For
more information about Deborah Henson-Conant or to schedule
an interview:
Contact: Beatriz Harley, info@HipHarp.com, 781-483-3556
Hi-Res Images & More Info: www.HipHarp.com - Publicity
Page
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