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D.C. Festival of Harps
2007
D.C. Festival of Harps - Admission is Free!
Sunday, December 28th, 2008
Performances at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Location: Visitors Center, 9900 Stoneybrook Drive, Kensington MD
Directions: From the capital beltway, take exit 33 (Connecticut Ave North). Turn right on Beach Drive and follow that until you dead end at Stoneybrook Drive. Turn left on Stoneybrook and the Visitors Center will be about 1/4 mile on the left hand side of the road. Click here for a map quest map of the location.
The second annual D.C. Festival of Harps was held on December 28th, 2008 at the Mormon Temple Visitors Center in Kensington, MD. Many thanks to the volunteer harpists from the W.A.F.H.S. (Washington Area Folk Harp Society) and the D.C. Chapter of the American Harp Society who participated. We were very lucky to have 3 members of the Harrisburg, PA Harp Orchestra playing in our group this year. In all there there was approximately 32 harps this year. The concept behind this event was to organize a concert that would facilitate teachers of W.A.F.H.S. and the D.C./A.H.S. playing together with their students in a formal performance. I have been so pleased with the support that I received. Many thanks to W.A.F.H.S and the Virginia Harp Center for their generous monetary assistance. Also, thanks to Jan Jennings, Barbra Bradley and Judith Mostyn-White for allowing us to use their arrangements of Greensleeves, Medley of Carols, and Boogie Woogie Angels for this year's concert. I also need to thank Nicki Modaber for her assistance in keeping me on track and keeping this event organized.
The conductor for the group will be Ted Velkoff from Vienna, VA. I first met Ted many years ago at a HarpFest in Baltimore. He really impressed me with his skills and we are very lucky to have him with us this year. Ted holds a bachelor's degree in composition from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree in conducting from Indiana University. His performances at Indiana included Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and the Pachelbel Canon. He also has a master's degree in computer science and while he has worked as a programmer for twenty years, he still has fantasies of conducting an orchestra again. Ted is delighted to conduct the harp orchestra today and thinks there is no more beautiful sound in the world than a room full of harps all playing together.
Our flautist this year will be Judy Roos (daughter of harpist Wynne Roos). Joy Roos is a native of Boyds, MD. She has been playing the flute since she was six years old. She studied at East Tennessee State University under the instruction of Rebecca Lile Paluzzi. Joy has performed in the Washington, D.C. area, Scandanvia, and Italy. She is currently employed as a flute maker by Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc. in Maynard, MA.
The Trombonist this year will be Peter Caramella (brother of harpist Annie Caramella). Peter studied Trombone with Mike Wheeler in Burke VA. He is currently a sophomore at BYU in Provo, Utah where he majors in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic. He is part of the ROTC program and will be studying abroad in Jordan in the summer of 2009.
The vocalist will be Catherine Caramella (sister of harpist Anne Caramella). She has a lovely voice and comes from a very musical family. She is a 2008 graduate of Lake Braddock High School where she was the Drum Major for the band. She is currently a freshman at BYU studying Chemistry and Environmental Science.
