Composer’s Spotlight: Rosanna Chiu plays ‘New Blues’

Composer’s Spotlight Series: Rosanna Chiu plays ‘New Blues’

In this interview, Rosanna shares her experience performing New Blues. She likes how fascinated her friends and family have become when they hear her play it with the harp. She also loves how she experimented with the piece when she was learning it during lockdown.

Do YOU want to play Deborah Henson-Conant's 'New Blues'? You can now learn to play the Blues in Hip Harp Academy at your OWN level - like you were born with it in your hands.

>> Join Hip Harp Academy <<

Rosanna Chiu

Rosanna is a harpist based in Vancouver, Canada. She works with orchestras and freelances throughout BC, Canada. She is the harp faculty at the Vancouver Academy of Music, provides 1 on 1 teaching, and leads the harp ensemble programs at the Academy for different age groups. In 2020, she published a harp-music-story book “Deep Sea Adventure with Harp” with her students’ compositions, and organised a fund-raising concert for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation in Vancouver Canada.

Rosanna currently serves for the American Harp Society. She is part of the Young Composer Project committee and leads the Youth Vlog @HarpingAround.

Continue reading below for the full interview with Rosanna Chiu

Watch Rosanna Chiu playing ‘New Blues’ in her living room during lockdown.

A Mini-Interview with Rosanna

How would you describe your experience of playing the piece?

fun, expressive, adventure, and blue (my favorite color!)

What do people say when you play this piece? Do you have favorite memories of people’s reactions to it?

I played it for my friends and they loved it! They didn’t expect harp music can be like this.  I played it for one of my student Abby and she likes it so much that she started learning it. 

What drew you to this piece – why did you choose to learn it?

I learned this piece during the lockdown in 2021 and I was looking for something fun and different than what I used to play. This piece introduced me to blues and its structure.  The 12/8 time signature was very helpful as a way to interpret the rhythm and to connect with the it internally.  The piece also offered a number of ways to explore textures and colors on the harp.  I also added a vibrato bent note at the end as a fun effect.

What does this piece add to your repertoire (and/or your life) that you didn’t have before?

I love playing this piece at wedding gigs and receptions! It is now in my “fun” repertoire binder!

What would you tell someone else who’s thinking of learning this piece that you wish you’d known before you learned it?

Make this piece your own adventure!

What do you think you can get from working directly with the composer of the piece that you can’t get from the sheet music?

Sheet music offers a great basis on learning the piece in an effective way. If I can work with the composer, I would love to ask about suggestions on adding variations and how this piece can be played in an ensemble setting.

Please follow this artist on social media and let them know what has opened up for your own self-expression in seeing and hearing their performance, and please share in the comments below.

YouTube: Rosanna Chiu
Instagram: @rosanna.chiu 

Stay tuned for more artists soon and check out my Composer’s Spotlight blog series, featuring other talented musicians who played my song! If you’re playing my music, apply here to be in the ‘Composer’s Spotlight’ blog series.