Deborah Henson-Conant

One of my most important passions is the harp. That’s why I chose to tell you about a famous and really original harpist I discovered 3 years ago: Deborah Henson-Conant.

When she was a child, Deborah was passionate about music but hated lessons. She spent all her time composing. Her parents let her try many instruments, and when she began the harp, she just said: “This is a Sissy instrument! And no-one will hold hands with me if I have calluses on my fingers!” She took only 6 lessons and stopped practicing this instrument. She played in a band ten years later in a band which they needed a harpist,so she chose to begin learning the harp again. She was studying during the day and playing in posh dining rooms by night. And when she found that she had enough experience, she dragged her harp from the Boston restaurant to a jazz club. She started playing blues and never stopped.

Deborah Henson-Conant

She has revolutionized her instrument, trying to find new types of sounds with her electronic harp, called the blue harp. Actually, CAMAC, which is one of the most important harp constructor, designed a harp just for her in 1998. It has almost the same difference that you can find between the acoustic and electronic guitar: the blue harp has a very thin case of resonance, but a microphone placed on each string amplifies the sound and offers many possibilities, thanks to an electronic system.

Nowadays, she is very famous in the whole world and she does concerts quite everywhere. She developed a new style of music, between Latin jazz and swing. She most of the time sings at the same time that she is playing harp, and composes every tune she plays.

I had the opportunity to see her in a one-man show in Arles, during a harp festival. I was really impressed by her charisma. She tells stories during her concert and illustrates them by music. She can make you laugh whereas she can really move you in her very quiet tunes. I was also impressed by her technique: she learned the harp nearly by herself and has a very different way to position her hands from the classical harpists. In spite of that, she is able to play very difficult tunes.

Deborah Henson-Conant had the audacity to play the harp in styles of music in which it’s very uncommon to find this instrument. I hope you will be able to see her in concert as it was for me a great experience.