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 A personal note from Sylvia
Once again, this February newsletter is being sent just under the wire on the last day of the month. But this time, I think I have a pretty good excuse for the delay.
As I mention in the Kauai article at the bottom of this newsletter, I live in a 3-story condo. The kitchen and living room (with awesome views) are on the 3rd floor, my bedroom is on the 2nd, and my harp studio is on the 1st floor. There are a total of 28 stairs from top to bottom.
Last Wednesday I successfully navigated 27 of the stairs . . . but missed the bottom one. I fell down and broke the fibula in my right leg! Aarrgh! That is the first bone that I've ever broken in my entire life.
Luckily, I didn't break both legs, I didn't break my tibia, I didn't hit my head, there was no blood, and I didn't die. And the luckiest thing was that my friend Patti (who has been my best friend since high school) was visiting here from California. She took such good care of me. I couldn't have made it through this past week without her!
With some heavy-lifting-help from my ex-husband (who lives about a mile away), she has created a little "apartment" for me on the 1st floor, where I'll be living for a few months. They moved 10 harps upstairs to get them out of my way, and moved a small refrigerator and a microwave downstairs. Grab bars were installed in the bathroom, and a higher toilet was installed. I rented a walker, a knee scooter, and a hospital bed.
Since my harp studio / office has always been on this floor, one of my computers was already here, as well as all of the products I sell. Therefore, I'll still be giving my Skype and FaceTime lessons to my wonderful students. I can also continue to process all the internet orders. Since I can't easily leave the house, several of my neighbors have volunteered to take my packages to the post office. So, business will be "as usual," with perhaps an extra day or two of processing time.
As I said, Patti was a true angel. She averaged 40 flights of stairs each day, carrying things up and down to get me set up with everything I need (and want), and to make me self-sufficient. She flew home to California on Monday, but she left me fully-stocked and ready to continue on my own. I am also very blessed to have a group of good friends and neighbors who will be checking in every day, doing my laundry, shopping, and post office runs, and making sure I'm OK.
All things considered, I'm doing great. I move extremely slowly, and I'm stuck in just one room, but I'm not in pain. The next few months will be challenging, but I'm really grateful that it wasn't worse! So, please don't worry about me. I'll be fine!
Life is a series of adventures!
Aloha,
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New George Harrison arrangements by Sylvia
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When I wrote my
Lennon & McCartney book in 1998, I wanted to include George Harrison's
Here Comes the Sun in the collection. My request was denied, because, obviously, it wasn't written by either Lennon or McCartney. So I submitted a separate request to publish it as a piece of sheet music. Another refusal. Over the years, I have requested permission several other times . . . and they always refused.
So, imagine my surprise when a representative from Hal Leonard Corporation (the company that distributes all my books and handles the rights for a majority of all copyrighted songs) called a few months ago and asked if I wanted to arrange and publish any music by George Harrison! Well . . . duh!
I am very happy to announce that I have created new harp arrangements for two of George's classic songs:
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
The PDFs are available now on my website.
The sheet music versions have been printed and are in the mail to me. I should have them in stock by this Monday, March 4th. You can place your order now, and I'll mail it to you early next week.
This music is NOT part of this month's sale.
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Sunita Staneslow is our featured arranger this month. Here's what she has to say about herself and her music.
I was raised in a family that relished exotic food and loved to travel. And, of course, there was always music in our house. As a child, I would fall asleep listening to my mother practice the piano and the harpsichord. Music by Scott Joplin and Scarlatti were my lullabies.
Music, travel and adventure have always been part of my life. My father is a linguist and taught Hindi at the University of Minnesota. Sunita is common Bengali name. I traveled to India for the first time when I was only ten years old. I took lessons in ski jumping and competed before I could even carry my large skis up the slope. I also spent a summer with Outward Bound learning to rock climb in Colorado.
When I was eight, my parents bought a Troubadour harp from the front window of a music store. My first lessons were from a high school harpist who lived just down the street from us in St. Paul, Minnesota. And, one summer in my teens I studied the harp at Tanglewood.
While majoring in International Relations at Tufts University, I commuted once a week to Boston University for harp lessons with Lucile Lawrence. Then, during my junior year, I studied in Paris with Lily Laskine. After college, I headed to Israel and studied with Judith Liber, the harpist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. While there, I subbed for the Jerusalem Symphony. I was preparing for a career in classical music and never thought that my career would blossom by returning to the folk harp and playing folk music.
In the mid '80's I shared an apartment in Israel with musicians who were part of the vibrant Jerusalem folk music scene, and would jam for hours. I felt so limited because I didn't have the skills to improvise or join in. I wanted a harp part that was written for me that I could put on my music stand. I was more comfortable in the world of classical music. Learning to venture off the page and create my own arrangements was a gradual process that changed the course of my career.
I met a nice Jewish boy from Edinburgh in Jerusalem in 1985 and fell madly in love. Fred and I were married a year later and I dragged him to New York City so that I could study for my Master's Degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
On a trip visiting Fred's family in Scotland, we visited the harp builder, Jack Yule. A year later, I was a proud owner of a Scottish folk harp (clarsach). This is the harp Fred and I took on our yearlong trip around the world in 1989-1990. We financed our adventure by busking. I put together a show of some of the Jewish melodies I learned in Israel and Celtic music from books by Sylvia Woods and Kim Robertson.
The last stop of our adventure was Minnesota. We bought a house and our son and daughter were born in the Twin Cities. We kept traveling back to Israel during the cold Minnesota winters for several months every year. American harpists that needed Jewish music for weddings often contacted me. It was my husband Fred who encouraged me to publish my arrangements.
I continued to work with Israeli musicians during the winters we spent in Israel. Akiva Ben-Horin helped me find the rhythm and harmonies to accompany some of the melodies I have arranged for my Jewish music books. Mi Yitnani Of (Who Will Give me Wings) is a melody that I learned from Akiva and still perform today. It is in my Collection of Jewish Melodies book. I also worked with a Ladino storyteller. A Ladino folk song, Adio Querida, is in my Solo Harp book, and is one of my all-time favorite pieces. I got in at the beginning of the wave of arranged music for the harp and caught the attention of Afghan Press and Sylvia Woods. Sylvia Woods was one of the first publishers and distributors of my music. Thank you Sylvia!
During the summer of 2000, we took the plunge and moved to Israel. I have worked as a therapeutic harpist in a children's hospital near Tel Aviv since 2007. My relaxing and improvisatory recording, Sea and Sky was inspired by my work at the hospital. My book, Sea and Sky is a companion to my CD -- almost note for note.
In 2015, Fred and I decided it was time for another adventure. We cycled across Europe all the way to Shetland and circled back. It seems a bit crazy now, but since I had an indestructible carbon fiber harp built by Heartland Harps, we attached the harp to a trailer behind our tandem. I thought that I would have lots of time to arrange and compose, but learned that I really need to stay in one spot and focus on arranging. We fell in love with Shetland and found a rundown stone house in need of renovation. I plan to use this house in mid-summer as a personal retreat to arrange music. I am drawn to the power of sacred music, and last summer I arranged a book of Psalms based on Celtic melodies while I was on the isle of Unst in Shetland.
Combining touring with teaching and sharing many of the special places and people I have met seemed the natural next step. Fred founded a unique tour company in Israel and Palestine and it was time that we teamed up. Our 2019 Israel / Palestine Harp Adventure will be from October 24 to November 3. And our third Scottish Harp Tour will be from June 12 to 23. 2019.
I feel that I have come full circle. I love being part of the worldwide harp community.
- Sunita
Photos:
1. Sunita with her Dusty Strings harp
2. Sunita playing harp at the Dead Sea
3. Sunita and her harp, from a promo photo for her band Vida
4. Fred and Sunita with their tandem bike and her Heartland Harp
5. Sunita playing on the train in Italy with a gypsy accordionist.
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This month's sale
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This month's sale features arrangements by Sunita Staneslow. The code word is
Sunita.
To get the 15% discount on the products below,
enter the code word Sunita in the Promo Code box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code"
by March 11, 2019. For more information, see the
15% Off section at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Buildings on Kauai
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This article is part of my ongoing series about living on Kauai.
In early February, my friend Patti came to visit me from Santa Barbara. We spent one week on the island of Oahu, spending most of our time in Honolulu and Waikiki.
I've lived on the smaller Hawaiian island of Kauai now for over five years. The biggest difference that immediately struck me in Honolulu was the massive number of huge high-rise buildings. They are everywhere!
Here on Kauai, our "skyline" is completely different. By law, no building on Kauai can be taller than a palm tree. This means that our tallest buildings are four stories!
This is a photo of my 3-story condo. I have all 3 floors of this "tower." So, my home is one of the taller buildings on Kauai! You can see that it is just a tiny bit taller than the palm trees next to it. But these trees are shorter than many others on the island.
Another part of the Kauai law states that "no multiple family buildings, hotel or motel, shall be more than ten feet higher than any residential building located within thirty feet of the building."
I LOVE living on an island where there are no skyscrapers!
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15% off select sale items when you use the code word:
Sunita
Our newsletter promo codes are only redeemable online and can only be used for the items featured in the
sale section of this newsletter. They are not valid for phone or e-mail orders. This month's code word is
Sunita, and it is good for
15% off the select PDFs in the
sale section
above. Just because an item is mentioned somewhere in this newsletter doesn't mean that it is on sale. It must be listed in the
sale section
.
#1. Put the items you want to purchase in your cart.
#2. On the page where you view the items in your cart, type this month's code word
Sunita in the "Promo Code" box, and click on "Enter Code."
The actual price of the featured sale products on this page will then automatically change to reflect the discount. You'll also see a note below the Promo Code box saying the name of the promo code you entered, and the percentage amount of the discount.
REMEMBER: you must enter this month's code word Sunita in the Promo Code box
and click "Enter Code" on your shopping cart page by March 11 to get the discount!
If you forget, or if you have trouble adding it to your order,
email Sylvia immediately.
Offer expires at the end of the day on 3/11/2019.
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