Since spring term 2003, I am teaching early harps at Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand, which has thereby become one of the few places in the world to offer a degree in early harps!
My first solo cd, 700 Years of Pop has been released in February, and is available through this website, as well as in selected stores around Wellington. International distribution is being worked on - suggestions welcome! Click here to order your copy!
It is a sad occasion that makes me write today: less than two weeks ago I received an email from my mother telling me that my cousin Kerstin, who lived in Toronto, Canada, was in the terminal stages of a long-lasting illness and the doctors had basically given up on her - they weren't sure how much longer she was going to be around, but it might be a matter of weeks only. So there was nothing for it, on receiving the message I phoned the travel agent and booked myself on the next available plane to Toronto.
I've always loved my cousin Kerstin - that may sound a bit gratuitous, since I actually got to spend very little time with her, seeing that she was living in Canada and I, not in Canada. But I remember how keen I was to meet her, when I was a child and we were visiting Toronto for the first time - I think even the fact that from an early age, I was keen to learn English, had a lot to do with knowing that Kerstin did not speak any other language.
Now my cousin Kerstin was a very special person - I do not know if any of you who read this remember a medication called Contergan - it is better known under another unpronouncable name - a tranquilizer which was sold in the early 1960's. What the people who had developed the medication didn't realize was that it damaged unborn babies - children would be born with their limbs not fully developed - they'd only have stumps for arms or legs, and some also had mal-formations of inner organs - those generally did not survive for long. The children that did survive, those with the stumpy arms or legs, are all in their mid-40's by now. It was one of the biggest scandals in medical history. And my cousin Kerstin was one of the children born with defects as a consequence of my aunt having taken that medication - she had been offered to emigrate to Canada on very short notice, who can blame her that she did feel a bit stressed out, what with being pregnant from some guy she decided it was better not to have sticking around, as well. So the thing my parents told us children gently and carefully was that Kerstin only had a pair of short stumps instead of proper arms. Also, her thumbs had never developed, so as a baby she had had an operation making her index finger into a substitute thumb by making it oppose the other three fingers. Consequently, she had only four fingers on each hand, and two big scars from the operation. But the worst thing was that her brain never quite developed the way it should have either - it kind of stopped at an intellectual level comparable to that of an eight year old child. By no means a stupid child, by the way - I think Kerstin has always been able to figure out quite a bit more of what was going on around her, than most people would give her credit for. But many things simply were beyond her comprehension.
Kerstin was always a very shy person - I think she felt very self-conscious about people staring at her all the time because of the way she looked. I also remember that she used to throw temper tantrums that many people found impossible to deal with - as a kid she would go on summer camps and outings, through an organisation similar to the one I work for now, and at least on one occasion we had to pick her up and get her home because the people at the camp wouldn't deal with her. But I guess she just wanted to be home - she didn't want to spent time away from her mother, really, I guess.
Kerstin always had a really close relationship with animals - perhaps it seemed easier for her to communicate with dogs and cats and horses, and at my aunt's house there were always several dogs and cats. Kerstin also was an excellent horsewoman, who went on to national riding competitions. That is, until she developed epilepsy at some stage in her thirties and it wasn't safe for her to go riding any more.
She also had a great sense of beauty, and was quite crafty with her hands - especially considering that she didn't have any proper arms! She used to send me things she'd made for Christmas and birthdays, and they were all of them beautiful. She also was a great fan of my paintings it seems, and it was strange to come to my aunt's house and see all these paintings around, most of which I had completely forgotten about.
The thing that eventually killed her, though, was diabetes - she was diagnosed with it some years ago, and she refused to let herself be treated - Kerstin was extremely scared of needles, and of doctors in general (which makes one wonder what they did to her when she was little...) and there was no way she would have regular insulin injections, as she should have. So eventually the illness affected her kidneys, and she died last week of an incurable kidney infection.
It turned out I got there just in time. I could only spare a week, and Kerstin died in the night of 12 November 2004, a few days after her 42nd birthday - I was on my way back to New Zealand by then, suspended over the Pacific somewhere between Vancouver and Honolulu. On coming home, I found a short bleak email from my mother, who had also come to Toronto from Germany, saying that they had put Kerstin to bed that night and she didn't wake up again - my mum wrote that she'd died quietly in her sleep.
Kerstin hadn't been told she was dying - out of what I think was a mistaken concern for her intellectual capacities, but wouldn't you be telling an eight year old and trust her or him to understand? - Anyway, I think Kerstin must have figured it out herself, for after all why would all these people suddenly come visiting? The last time I'd been there had been 10 years ago. The last few nights she would lie awake, crying that she didn't want to die. I didn't want to go against the wishes of my aunt and talk to her about what was happening, although I felt it would have been the better thing to do, and I wished I could have - but all I could tell her was that she shouldn't be afraid.
Kerstin, I hope I was right about that - whatever happens to us when we die, I hope you've found it wasn't so bad after all. And if there is such a thing as rebirth, I pray that next time you'll be born in a healthy body, to be the person you were meant to be. Rest in peace.
Between my cash and my volunteer job, my painting and my boundless ambition to crack the local tv/film industry, I have certainly been kept busy, so again a lot of wind has gone over Wellington without a much needed update. Not to mention a sorely sore throat, which has put me off my feet for the best part of July... Apologies to all of you (and I'm sure there are *tons* of people! :-P) who wait with baited breath for an update from the lives of Asni!
Anyway - musically, nothing much has happened apart from a rather quirky gig for the NZ Toastmaster's convention at the end of May - they hired me to provide Lord of the Rings music for their Lord of the Rings theme event, so it looks like I'm on the way to my dreamest dream job (resident harpist at the Tolkien theme park yet to be built in Matamata).
But September is approaching fast, and with it my Australian debut at the National Harp Weekend in Canberra. And I suddenly find myself making plans as far ahead as 2006, with a possible invitation to the Edinburgh Harp Festival down the line, thanks to my good friend and fellow harpist Bill Taylor... so, time to finally shake that sloth, put the strings on the harp and the email on the line and organize a trip to Europe - or rather two, seeing that I'm already booked for the Dublin World Harp Congress in August 2005. Though I have to admit the thought of stepping on a plane and leaving these friendly shores, even if only temporarily, is not yet something I really look forward to.
In other news, there has been lots going on: The Film Fest has come and gone, for a summary of events and my inexpert opinion on some of the films please click here. For Lord of the Rings fans, there was the new "Making of the Fellowship" documentary by Costa Bootes (PJ's co-conspirator on "Forgotten Silver" - the mocumentary that fooled a nation) - and a documentary devoted to Figwit - which proved to be excellent, and superbly amusing - one can only hope that it will see many cinema screens outside Wellington. And I must say it's quite a treat to sit among an audience of (largely) Figwit's fellow Elves...
Besides volunteering for the New Zealand film fest, in exchange for a stack of free movie tickets, I'm currently involved with Stagecraft, a non-professional theatre that produces regular shows at the Gryphon theatre on Ghuznee St. In pursuit of that other dream job of mine (a job - ANY job - at Weta workshops) I will be doing - YES! - *props* for their upcoming production of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" in September. In fact, I have just been promoted to head props person, by virtue of being the one that (almost) always shows up for rehearsals! Wish it was that easy to get into Weta... which reminds me, Alan Lee is back in town (presumably to give King Kong's island that Rivendell touch) and I have run into him AGAIN, at the supermarket the other day. I really have a thing about bumping into Alan Lee in random places. Still haven't plucked up the courage to say hello to him though, and to deliver John Howe's request that he please dye his beard blue - o well, I'm sure there will be another chance. Hehe.
Further on the trivia side - I've been on TV recently, participating in an IQ test show, "Test the Nation", helping to prove that Tolkien fans are indeed cleverer than the rest. More info, and a photo, can be found here. And - - - Gandalf has answered my email! Wohow - I'm a very happy hobbit! :-D ;-)
AND - this should by rights go in the "big news" section:
Happily shooting away, though I still have to read through that 300 page manual to find out how to twiddle all those buttons...
O dear me, it's been a long time! And a thing or two have happened since.
In music news, I premiered my new solo programme at St. Andrew's on the Terrace on 5 May, the day of the Maori Hikoi, and also a very stormy day even by Wellington standards - so the audience was, well, intimate, but all the more enthusiastic for the constant background of belligerent Haka being performed down on Lambton Quay. I can always tell an enthusiastic audience by the number of cd sales!
The programme had pieces from Howard Shore's marvellous Lord of the Rings soundtrack running through it as a red thread, surrounded by some 16th and 17th century music, including William Byrd's "The Bells", and some Irish and Estonian folk tunes - the latter I dug up from a book of dance tunes that has come down in the family, as a way to hearken back to the ancestors I suppose. I also quietly premiered, for the first time (a meta-premiere, so to speak), one of my own pieces, an "Elvish song" inspired by Tolkien's Sindarin poem "A Elbereth! Gilthoniel" - so all ye who didn't turn up, now you know what ye have misseth!
Otherwise, it's pretty quiet on the performing front - due largely to a huge amount of sloth experienced by yours truly during the summer months, when I *should* have been planning things for the winter season - but I guess it's just as well to get some down time sometimes and get a chance to do some other stuff - like, painting furniture, dealing with tax stuff from two years back, building my website, watching too many dvd's, and generally sorting out my life.
The next "big" event down the line will be the Australian National Harp Weekend in September, where I've been invited to perform - but plans are already underway for 2005 - a Chamber Music New Zealand tour is lined up for me at the beginning of May (yay!) and in August, if all goes well, I'll be headed back to Europe to help represent the early harps at the World Harp Congress in Dublin. Time to start organizing some follow-on concerts! Any takers?
In other news, my "Old Man Willow" did get ready just in time (and can be viewed here), and, considering the circumstances, held up reasonably well in the fray of fantastic fan art at John Howe's fantastic forum. I skipped the theme for April, but am hard at work creating an insectoid dragon for May's topic "Things with Wings". Stay tuned! I'll be sure to post it if and when it's ready.
I am also pleased to announce that (partly due to the generous promotion of my Middle Earth harps on TheOneRing.net, I suppose) - my web shop has recently seen a dramatic increase in sales, which means that I can now finally plan to go and buy some new clothes - a luxury I have had to deny myself for the past year or so, due to an acute chronic lack of cash.
But in any case, my worst starving days are hopefully over - since the beginning of April, I'm working part-time at an after-school respite centre for intellectually disabled children - a job I hadn't exactly planned for, but which so far has proved both interesting and, actually, fun - hey, a job where I get paid money for jumping up and down on the trampoline with some cute autistic kid is pretty close to what I would call the perfect job! ;-)
But flippancy aside, I am certainly keeping busy, and momentarily find myself pretty much full-time employed - when I'm not at the daycare center, I'm sitting at the office of the Wellington film festival, on top of the Embassy theatre, helping to update their website - it's a volunteer thing but I rather enjoy it, and it means free tickets for the film festival so hey! That will definitely help me save money.
Coming up soon is my Monday Music Forum talk at Victoria University - on Monday 29 March at 5 pm to be precise - in the lecture room on the ground floor of VUW's music department. The topic is "Spanish Strictness and Italian Innovation: The continuo treatises by José de Torres and Diego Fernandez de Huete".
The talk will center on those two early 18th century continuo treatises from Spain - sources that throw light not only on the use of harp, organ and other continuo instruments in Spain at the time, but that offer a wide range of insights into musical culture and musical thinking: from the strange "modal" language employed by both theorists, to the political and cultural upheavals that followed the death of the last Hapsburg king and the ascent of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain, which brought with it a huge influx of foreign musicians and foreign ideas - predominantly from Italy. And everything changed - from the practise of continuo playing right to the very fabric of thought.
Not much time to write this week, I've got to catch up on the topic, which was the subject of my master's thesis back in 1997 - and prepare my speech!
In other news, the planned series of "Frodo and Sam in Mordor" paintings has been momentarily abandoned in favour of Old Man Willow, who may or may not get ready in time to be submitted to this month's fan art competition at johnhowe.com...
Well, the Harp Fest is over and was a huge success, as well as lots of fun - and I had my debut as a true pop harpist with Wellington singer/songwriter dGare - incidentally, the show also marked my debut on background vocals and maracas! Though it wasn't good enough to go on their promo video. :-( - but hey, there's nothing practice can't fix!
Oh yes, and the promised baroque tune book did get ready in time - it goes under the sweet title of "Baroque Delights" and can be ordered here
The next upcoming concert on my calendar is a lunchtime recital at Massey University with soprano Pepe Becker - we are doing a new and updated version of last year's successful "Love, Lament and Lullaby" programme - an emotional rollercoaster ride through the centuries, spanning music from medieval trouvère Blondel de Nesle via Monteverdi's famous and gorgeous "Lamento d'Arianna", Tarquinio Merula's less well-known but no less gorgeous "Canzonetta spirituale sopra la Nanna", and some songs by the two Henry's - Lawes and Purcell - to Scottisch and Irish traditionals. Come and enjoy! The recital is on Friday 19 March, 12.10 pm, at the concert hall at Massey's Conservatory of Music.
Meanwhile in Germany... my 700 Years of Pop cd has had some welcome promotion, on Berlin radio - an hour-long early music special devoted to my ex-Rent-a-Nightingale partner Gaby Bultman and my humble self. Thanks Marion Hayens! They should never have cut her broadcast, a Berlin radio traditional that went under the funky title of "early music meets pop..." - if you ever wondered where I got my strange ideas from... :-)
And as to other news - I've walked the Tongariro crossing in February, together with my now-former flatmate (photos to be up sometime sooner or later) - we have found two new flatties only to have one wanting to leave again in April - I've been spending prodigious amounts of time on John Howe's website and forum talking to Middle Earth and drawing addicts, and all this has resulted not only in my finally getting the canvas and paintbrushes out and starting on a few new paintings (5 in total, by the looks of it... I really have to keep at it!) - but also in seeing me finally take the first step towards education and sign up for some life drawing classes. And btw - there's some of my older artwork up on the Harp and Hobbit site now.
The New Zealand International Harp Festival is about to kick off! Organized by the New Zealand Harp Society, registrations have flooding in, and the festival promises to exceed all expectations. Elinor Bennet has been invited as special guest, and will perform at the Gala Concert on Saturday night, as well as giving workshops. There will be workshops on a large variety of topics, featuring many of New Zealand's harp professionals as teachers. For my own contributions check here. I will also be performing a short slot, together with Robin Ward, at the Gala concert on Saturday, 7 February at 7.30 pm. Check it out!
Another project I am really excited about also comes along in February: new-Wellingtonian singer/composer dGARE has invited me to join her in her cd debut show "360 degrees" at the Fringe Festival - shows are on 20 and 21 February, check my concert schedule for details!
dGARE's music, in the alternative pop/rock/ jazz vein, is truly amazing, and the show will have a visual component, too! (don't ask me, I haven't actually seen it yet...) - so come along and have a very different harp music experience!
Ahhh, in this context I would like to mention that I am now finally the owner of a pickup and an amplifyer. Asni no longer unplugged!!! :-) (except occasionally). It's so much more fun actually being able to hear myself...(((grin)))
Last year ended in madness - "Lord of the Rings" madness, that is! As can be expected from a diehard Tolkien fan and movie addict, I got myself involved in as many of the festivities that surrounded the world premiere of "The Return of the King" as humanly possible - busking at the Medieval Fair in Chaffer's park most of Premiere Weekend Saturday, playing at the "Return of the Ringers" fan party (organized by TheOneRing.net) on Sunday night, and entertaining the most dedicated of fans between movies at the "Lord of the Rings" marathon at the Embassy theatre on Wednesday, 17 December. And I got my harp signed by Richard Taylor, of Weta Workshops! And my LotR sheet music by Howard Shore. Now if I had only had the guts to walk up to Elijah Wood and shake his hand and thank him, when I had the chance at Viggo Mortensen's photo exhibition opening on Premiere Weekend Friday... (((sigh))) - I may be reduced to writing a fan letter (first time in my life!). Personally, I think they should give the guy an oscar for his mindblowing, excruciating, gigantic, extraordinary performance as Frodo - but I guess there's slim chance for that to happen! And when will they introduce an "ensemble cast" category at the oscars???
BTW, my next project is to put up a New Zealand diary (based on the article I've written for Harpa magazine) on The Harp & Hobbit - and of course I'll include an extra section on the Premiere madness! So keep checking back.
I am currently working on a series of editions of harp music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era. The first two volumes in the series, A Medieval Tunebook and Baroque Delights, can be obtained here. A third volume of Renaissance music is planned.
I am now living and teaching in the South Wellington suburb of Island Bay, enjoy a gorgeous view from my window across Cook Strait and (on a clear day) all the way to the South Island mountains, have bought a Nissan Terrano to take me and my harp around the sometimes rough roads of this country, and am happily turning "Kiwi".
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last updated: 10 September, 2007