HARPING about strings

One thing that you think people completely misunderstand about the harp?
That the harp is only a light instrument. The harp can be used in so many more ways. There are people who play jazz, Latin American or experimental music on the harp!

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve used your harp for?           
I  was playing at a festival and sleeping in a tent but forgot to bring a mattress, so in the end I slept two nights in the harp case which I took into the tent – worked out pretty well!

The song that is playing on your iPod on loop right now?
Zoltán Kodaly’s Sonata for Cello solo.

If you could bring one dead musician back to life, who would it be?
Beethoven, he was a composer ahead of his time.

If there’s one musician from India that you would collaborate with, who it be? What do you hope to do?
I’m greatly interested in working with an Indian musician, who is familiar with the different kinds of Indian traditional music and see what kind of music we could create together.  In Switzerland, I had no exposure to Indian musicians, but was very fortunate to meet some during my stay in Bengaluru and I have already learnt quite a bit about ragas and the different kinds of rhythm.

What’s the one piece of advice someone has given you that has stayed with you?
Be open-minded and find something that is your own, where you are not replaceable.

If not for a musician, what would you have picked for your alternate career?
I  would have studied medicine.

One word that best describes Bengaluru audiences and musicians.
Curious in the sense that they are so open to new musical experiences, so interested in learning about things they don’t know; whenever I have performed in Bengaluru, at the end of the concert, people always come backstage to meet me and have so many questions about the harp, the music I play or my journey as a harpist, for instance. It is a joy to perform for such an interested and involved audience.