We are very excited to be presenting the first ever of its kind Harp and Story Festival.
Bringing the harp back to its traditional bardic roots, we’ve got sessions for you to be entertained, workshops for you to learn new skills and vibrant, fun engaging stories and workshops for children.
Spread between Lansdown Hall, St Lukes Therapy Centre, Selsley Common and The Prince Albert 1st – 2nd October, we’ve got storytellers and harpers from England, Scotland and Wales to entertain and enthral you.
Friday 30th September
Free
No ticket required
Saturday 1st October
This is a workshop on our unique Rainbow Harps, a chance for you and a loved one to work together to create your own piece of music.
No musical experience is needed, we have an innovative colour system for composition that requires no knowledge of crotchets or minims. And for an additional £10 (you can choose on the day), Morwenna can embellish your composition and send you a recording of it after the event.
This workshop is open to people with and without learning (or other) disabilities. Please let us know in advance if your child has specific learning disabilities that will need to be taken in to consideration.
One ticket per pair.
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An intermediate harp workshop with accomplished harper and harp teacher Heather Yule.
Heather will teach a couple of fun Scottish tunes with left-hand chords that students can take away and develop to suit their own style and level.
Heather Yule Bio
Heather grew up in the rich Scottish musical tradition, among Ceilidhs and traditional harping and storytelling. Her father is John Yule, the harp maker, while her mother took her to hear the renowned storytellers in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.
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Join Rosie and Tom from Star in the Apple Stories for magical, musical, seasonal storytelling. A journey through the seasons in song and story…
One free adult entry per child ticket purchased, and separate adults can buy their own ticket.
All ages welcome, check out https://www.youtube.com/c/StarintheAppleStories/featured for a preview.
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Finding joy in the simple things, Hannah Haynes weaves together a tapestry of words and music in celebration of pea-pods, robins, cats, migrating geese, kindness, castles and friendship.
A session of poetry, prose and melodious harp music, all inspired by the landscape and wildlife of Southern Scotland. Hannah has performed at castles, royal palaces, towers and stately homes across Scotland, and also aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. She writes poetry purely for pleasure, and because there seem to be things there, waiting to be written.
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UPDATE sadly Matt can’t make this event now, but Creag will be there to tell you about the story of Hands on Harps, how he got into harp making and a bit about how the harps are made.
It’s also your chance to have a go on a harp if you’ve never done that before, and hear about different ways you can learn to play the harp.
Free
No ticket required
Free
No ticket required
Alison Newsom will tell the story and Heather Yule will create some harp sounds and music for the story, and tell some herself.
The main story of Pymlumon gives the source of three rivers: Ystwydd, Wye and Severn. They are the daughters of the giant Pymlumon, with very different characters. Their tears form the source of three rivers: the first goes to Aberystwydd, the next is the Wye, and then the Severn.
Heather Yule Bio
Heather grew up in the rich Scottish musical tradition, among Ceilidhs and traditional harping and storytelling. Her father is John Yule, the harp maker, while her mother took her to hear the renowned storytellers in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. She is a vivacious storyteller who creatively brings the wonderful sounds of the harp into the stories she tells.
Alison Newsam Bio
Alison Newsam is a storyteller based in Wales who tells stories to children and adults.
A teller of traditional and non-traditional tales, she likes to use beautiful words and song to express the humanity in stories from Wales and the world.
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Sunday 2nd October
Sorry to cancel this, but it looks like it’ll be raining at sunrise tomorrow. We do this twice a year anyway, on the Summer and Winter solstices, so watch out for announcements about these on our Facebook page, or email info@handsonharps.com if you want me to send you an email when it’s happening.
Come and sit on Selsley Common and watch the sun come up, accompanied by Morwenna Louttit-Vermaat on the harp.
by donation
No ticket required
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Free
No ticket required
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