I am deeply saddened to report that the harp world has recently lost one of its most distinguished and revered icons, Susann McDonald, who passed away on May 29, 2025, at the age of 90.

I was privileged to be one of Susann’s students and benefit from her vast knowledge and experience. When I began studying with her in 1972 at Cal State L.A., I had just purchased a used Lyon & Healy Style 17 pedal harp from a student of my first harp teacher, Marjorie Call. I had also recently traveled to Dublin where I bought an Irish harp from Walton’s. I was struggling to figure out which harp to pursue and what type of music I wanted to play. Susann encouraged me to explore a variety of genres and styles, follow my passion, and forge my own path. Fortunately, I took her advice, and the harp became my life’s calling. 

I often tell people that she was the best teacher I ever had in any subject. In just a few sentences, she could explain what I was doing wrong and precisely how to correct it. She was such an inspiration to me.

You can read the obituary written by the USA International Harp Competition on their website or in a Harp Column blog. Susann was the founder of the Harp Competition, and you can make a legacy donation to this fine organization in her honor.

Thank you, Susann, for everything you did for me and the entire harp world. May you rest in peace and play harp with the angels in heaven.

-- Sylvia

This photo of Susann McDonald is from the USA International Harp Competition website.

I featured Make Music Day in last month's newsletter. A few days later, I received this email and photo from harpist Jacqueline Pollauf.

"I have been playing at various libraries around the Baltimore area for several years to celebrate Make Music Day. These performances are open to the public, many of whom stop by and listen to some music for a while in the midst of their day."

If you and your harp participate in this year's June 21st festivities, please send me a photo and a brief description of your experience. I'll print some of the responses in a future newsletter.

Since so many harpists play in hospitals, hospices, and senior centers, I'd like to introduce you to Bread & Roses, an incredible nonprofit organization in northern California. Here is how they describe their mission on their website.

Bread & Roses Presents is a nonprofit arts organization with a human services mission that brings hope, healing and joy through live music and the performing arts to children, adults and seniors who are disadvantaged, marginalized, or otherwise isolated in diverse institutional settings in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Here is additional information that was kindly sent to me by Marian Hubler, the Vice President of Communications / Producer of Bread & Roses.

The late Mimi Fariña founded the nonprofit Bread & Roses in 1974 to bring hope and healing through live music to isolated audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2024, the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary -- a testament to Mimi's lasting legacy -- by putting the spotlight on the thousands of people and hundreds of social service institutions it continues to serve with free, high-quality entertainment. Mimi was inspired to name the organization Bread & Roses by a poem written by James Oppenheim in 1912, “Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses.” She strongly believed we all need art and beauty, the roses in life, as well as the bread...

Her enduring values continue to guide the organization today. As Mimi often said, "All we really have to do is show up and play, and the healing happens."

During 2024, Bread & Roses honored its remarkable history of presenting live music programs for isolated audiences. The organization reached an all-time high of over 600 annual concerts in 2019 and, post-pandemic, continues to present around 500 concerts a year.  The shows take place at varied institutional settings, including assisted living facilities for seniors, hospitals for veterans, recovery centers for adults, and special needs schools for children. You can support the organization by visiting: breadandroses.org/donate.  

If you would like to volunteer as a musician or other helper for this fine organization, check out their Volunteer webpage.

Bread & Roses presented their first acoustic Festival of Music at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California from October 7 to 9, 1977. At that time, I was touring the US, Canada, and Europe as a member of the group called Robin Williamson and His Merry Band. We were honored to be one of the many artists and groups that performed at the festival. Other participants included Mimi Fariña and her sister Joan Baez, Hoyt Axton, Boys of the Lough, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe McDonald, Maria Muldaur, Tom Paxton, The Persuasions, Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronk, and more! It was a fantastic weekend. We were also delighted to perform at the 1978 Festival the following September.

Here are some quotes from Marian Hubler's blog from June 19, 2020, entitled Marian’s Did You Know… that the Earliest Bread & Roses Festivals of Music Were All Acoustic?, which she agreed to let me include here.

The first Festival of Music at the Greek Theatre in 1977 was consciously designed to highlight the connection between artist and audience. The architecture of the Greek Theatre itself was the perfect arena for the natural amplification of acoustic music. 

The first six Festivals were held in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. They became instantly legendary as the iconic all-acoustic west coast music festivals with extraordinary line-ups of the top folk artists of the day who were also known for their unique collaborations with each other during their Festival performances.

"A Complete Unknown," the 2024 biographical film about Bob Dylan, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan), and Best Supporting Actress (Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez).

The movie brought back a special memory from my musical past that I'd like to share with you. Since this incident took place almost 50 years ago, my recollection may not be completely accurate, but I'm sure it is close.

As I mentioned above, we performed at the 1977 Bread & Roses Festival in Berkeley, California. At one point in the concert, the announcer said something like: "And now, here's someone who is not on your program but who needs no introduction: Bob Dylan!" Out stepped Joan Baez dressed as Bob Dylan. She played the guitar and harmonica and sang one of his songs. Her impersonation was so accurate that most of the audience thought it really was Bob. It was one of the first times Joan did a Dylan impersonation in concert.

We were lucky to see her prepare backstage, so we knew the secret. It was so much fun!

This photo by Leslie Cheryl Snitkoff of Joan Baez performing "as Bob Dylan" at the 1977 Bread & Roses Festival of Music is used here courtesy of Bread & Roses Presents.

Here are some of the PDFs I've recently added to harpcenter.com.

Douglas Beck

Introspection - Douglas says that these four original pieces were written "from my heart." You can watch him playing three of the pieces on the Introspection page.

Julia Hannelore Rosenberger

You can listen to mp3s of Julia's beautiful compositions on these PDF product pages: Children of the Earth, Once Upon a Time, Ostinato in Minor, and Spring Awakening.

Please note: The PDFs in this section are not part of the monthly sale.

Groovy Songs of the 60s

including 3 songs by Bob Dylan

arranged by Sylvia Woods

PDF or Book

15% off with Bread code

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50 Irish Melodies

including My Wild Irish Rose

arranged by Sylvia Woods

PDF or Book, CD or mp3

15% off with Bread code

------------------------------

22 Romantic Songs

including The Rose

arranged by Sylvia Woods

PDF or Book

15% off with Bread code

------------------------------

The Yellow Rose of Texas

and Home on the Range

by Louise Trotter

PDF

15% off with Bread code

------------------------------

Tango of the Roses

by Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni

PDF

15% off with Bread code

------------------------------

A Rose in Winter

by Sharon Thormahlen

PDF

15% off with Bread code

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California Gold

including Parade of the Roses

by William Mahan

PDF

15% off with Bread code

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American Heritage Harp #2

including Shortnin' Bread

by Louise Trotter

PDF

15% off with Bread code

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Fairytales on the Harp

including

The Little Gingerbread Man

by Anna Dunwoodie

PDF

15% off with Bread code

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15% off select sale items when you use the code word Bread

Our newsletter promo codes are redeemable online and are only valid for the products listed above in the monthly sale section. They are not valid for phone or email orders. This month's code word is Bread.

Here's how to get your newsletter discount at harpcenter.com:

#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 Bread in the "Enter Promo Code" box and click "Apply."

The actual price of the featured sale products on this page will then automatically change to reflect the discount. For example,

   Unit Price: $9.95 (the original price)

   Total Price: $8.46 (the discounted price)

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 Bread in the Promo Code box and click "Apply" on your shopping cart page by June 30, 2025, to get the discount!

If you forget or if you have trouble adding it to your order, email Sylvia immediately.  

This offer expires at the end of the day on 6/30/2025.

Sylvia Woods Harp Center

Lihue, Hawaii