by Kathy DeAngelo, Festival Director

Planning for the festival starts in earnest in November, believe it or not, and we start announcing presenters and workshops on January 1. Things really begin to pick up steam in March and then get really hectic as folks take advantage of early-bird pricing. You can stay up-to-date on the latest festival developments by followintg us on Twitter. If you're not already on our newsletter list, sign up using the bubble on the left. Each month I send out a newsletter with all kinds of information and stories on the festival. Get in on the "buzz!"

Festival Scholarships Expanded

For the fourth consecutive year, as part of my mission to expand the harp community and bring more young people to traditional music on the harp, the festival will be awarding full festival scholarships at two harp competitions. We are extending the scholarshiop program this year to include the Midwest Fleadh, to be held in Chicago on April 14. For the past 3 years we have awarded scholarships at the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil, which will be held in Parsippany on May 19. The prizes will be awarded to winners in the 12-15, 15-18 and over 18 categories. The competitions are independently adjudicated by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann and first and second place finishers are eligible to compete in Ireland for the All-Ireland honors. See the individual fleadh website for rules and schedules.

Besides supporting competitors in the Irish music competitions, the festival has also awarded prizes at various Scottish Games through the Scottish Harp Society of America.

Ever thought about doing competitions and wondered what's involved? Both teachers and students can learn a lot about the process from a workshop we are offering at the festival by Candyce Dunham called Competition Harp.
Pictured with me above are 3 of the winners from the 2011 Fleadh in Parsippany: Katie Ely, Kerry White and Caroline Kemper. Not pictured senior winner Chirstopher Rodriguez.

Alfredo Ortiz receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Commemorating his 50 years of playing the harp, the Somerset Folk Harp Festival made Alfredo Rolando Ortiz the first recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's festival. This was to be a surprise for Alfredo. He was enroute to the festival, when he fell at the airport on Friday morning, shattering his knee and going into the hospital in much pain. His wife Luzma had already set up the SilverLight booth at the festival and was awaiting Alfredo's arrival when she received the news of his accident by cell phone. It was only later in the day after his knee was stabilized that we spoke to Alfredo, still in the hospital, about the award we had planned to give him that evening. Luzma (left) accepted the award on his behalf (pictured above). (on right) Luzma after the concert.

Harp Groups and Circles can lead a jam, set up a meeting space
If you're a member of a harp group or harp circle and you want to reach out to potentially new members while you're at Somerset, we're going to make it easier to connect. Contact me to lead a "meet & greet" harp circle one of the evenings after the concert or perhaps during the lunch hour. We have plenty of space available for afernoon or late-night jams and we'll get your group's jam listed in the daily schedule of events. We'd like to have the friendly and experienced players among you coax along the shy and less experienced harpers or newbies wanting to connect up with people from their area. If you have a group that just wants to meet up, ask me to arrange a meeting space for you. I'm happy to do it.

We have a number of generous vendors who are making a small number of small harps available at no cost for the temporarily harpless. So if you're coming to the festival by plane or train and can't bring your harp with you, we will have a harp pool available. Come to the registration desk and sign out a harp for the day. Our friends at the Virginia Harp Center and Sligo Harps put quite a few harps in the pool last year as well as several on our staff who brought extra harps. How nice!