Leaving dear harp tugs at heartstrings

Oamaru musician Lynley Caldwell enjoys playing her harp. Photo by Sally Rae.
Oamaru musician Lynley Caldwell enjoys playing her harp. Photo by Sally Rae.
With Lynley Caldwell heads to France and Ireland in a few weeks, she admits it will be a strange feeling leaving her beloved harp behind.

Ms Caldwell, who discovered the harp while living in Ireland for three years, said deliberating whether to take it or not had been keeping her awake at night.

She made the decision to leave it in Oamaru, because it was so difficult to transport, and she will see if she can borrow a harp while she is overseas for a few months.

It has been a busy time for Ms Caldwell, who has just released a CD - Waiting for the Lark - featuring her singing and harp playing.

Her father, Jim Caldwell, also features on one track, playing the piano accordion, and her friend, Davy Stuart, from Christchurch, plays the guitar on others.

Recording the CD, in Mr Stuart's studio, was quite simple.

The most difficult part for her was having the cover photograph taken, featuring her playing the harp beside limestone formations near Duntroon, because that was something she was not familiar with.

After studying music, majoring in singing, Ms Caldwell trained as a teacher and taught for a year in South Auckland.

She returned to university and completed a diploma in opera before going overseas.

After returning to New Zealand, she worked as a singing teacher and studied jazz before heading back overseas and working as a singing teacher in Ireland.

She moved back to her home town of Oamaru at the end of 2005.

Ms Caldwell described the CD, which comprises Irish, English and Scottish folk songs, as a "musical photograph" of where she was at with her music.

"It's gentle music ... you can't not do gentle music with the harp.

"It's probably stating the absolute obvious."

While she believed the number of harp enthusiasts was growing, there still were not many and a lot of harpists did not sing.

She was thrilled with the CD, saying it was "major" when the copies arrived by courier.

"There's the recording part, the cover part, the factory to make them part.

"When it actually appears for real and it's done, that did feel good."

 

Add a Comment