It’s that time again…time to pack up your weird instruments and camping gear and head on over to Bay City, Oregon for the 21st North American Jew’s Harp Festival!

The North American Jew’s Harp Festival has been, for the last two decades, a small, fun, casual festival in a community Arts Center in Bay City, Oregon, that brings together a large, dedicated group of Jew’s Harpists and musicians of various eclectic instruments to share, play, teach, learn, perform, listen, jam, and simply have a terrific time.

This year will be the 21st festival, and with a wave of new energy brought in by co-organizers Deirdre Morgan & Neptune Chapotin, two dedicated researchers and promoters of the Jew’s Harp, we invite all Jew’s Harpists and musicians or anyone interested in this fascinating, unique instrument to come join us, have fun, be involved, and participate in this year’s festival.

With a total focus on everything about Jew’s Harps, expect random jams, professional performances, open stages, in-depth workshops, specialized presentations, beginners’ classes, advanced techniques, creative band-scrambles, personal collection comparisons, an array of raffle items, beautiful creek-side camping, delicious food, Jew’s Harp merchandise, various arts and crafts, and an International Jew’s Harp market.

If you are a professional musician of any instrument, a veteran Jew’s Harpist or an absolute newbie just waiting to get hooked on this instrument, please come, and please do spread the word!

It’s a free festival, and open to everyone…the more people who have never heard of the Jew’s Harp, the better!

If you’re interested in performing, hosting a workshop, or volunteering, please contact Deirdre at deirdre@jewsharpguild.org for more information!

For more info on the festival, stay tuned to any of the below links:

http://www.jewsharpguild.org/festindx.html
https://www.facebook.com/events/276720519020232/
https://www.facebook.com/JewsHarpGuild
https://www.facebook.com/worldharps
http://www.overtonearts.com/

The 21st North American Jew’s Harp Festival
August 3, 4 and 5, 2012
See you there!!

Recently I was interviewed by CBC Radio, talking about and demonstrating various Jew’s harps as lead up to my workshop at CelticFest Vancouver this year. The piece was edited by Jennifer Chen and ran on On the Coast (March 16) and North by Northwest (March 17). Below is the piece as it ran on On the Coast. I had a great time recording it, and hope you enjoy listening!

On the Coast interview, March 16, 2012

In Memory of Fred Crane, 1927-2011

I first encountered Fred Crane’s writing not long after I discovered the Jew’s harp a few years ago. We began an email correspondence a couple of years later, when I realized that my obsession with the instrument was showing no sign of waning. After deciding to write my Master’s thesis on the Jew’s harp, I became intent on tracking down every issue of VIM and the JIJHS that had ever been published. And in the small world of North American Jew’s harp scholarship, all roads led back to Fred, the source of it all. We struck up a correspondence as I ordered batch upon batch of materials from him, thrilled when parcels from Iowa began appearing at my door. To me, these packages contained priceless objects—the seminal (and in many cases, out of print) collections of Fred’s life’s work.

As our communications developed, I shared with Fred a poetic homage I had written about the Jew’s harp. Though generations apart and on opposite sides of the continent, it became clear that we were kindred spirits of a very particular sort. He admitted regret that we would probably never meet in person, as due to his health he would not be attending any more Congresses. This saddened me, until several days later Fred wrote back with a crazy idea. Michael Wright was going to be in New York next month on business, and Fred had invited him to visit his house in Iowa. What if I joined them and we had our own mini-Congress? I jumped at the chance.

Fred's favourite portrait

On the plane on the way there, I had my laptop out and my headphones in, transcribing an oral translation of an article about the Balinese genggong that a professor had translated for me from Indonesian to English. Just as the plane was flying over Iowa, I got to a section of the article that mentioned that there was an expert on the Jew’s harp in the United States named Fred Crane. Typing out Fred’s name as I was en route to meet him, I savoured the poignant and undeniable synchronicity of that moment.

In the airport, Fred and Lois were there to greet me. As we drove through miles of cornfields back to the house, Lois taught me the Iowa corn song:

We’re from I-O-way, I-O-way!
State of all the land, joy on ev-’ry hand,
We’re from I-O-way, I-O-way…
That’s where the tall corn grows!

On the last line, we were told, it is essential to imitate the corn by lifting up your arms with your hands cupped upwards and rotating your wrists. Lois did not hesitate to enthusiastically demonstrate this move, even as we hurtled down the freeway in the Crane’s van. Fred’s mock concern over his wife’s maneuver evidenced not only his trademark sense of humour, but the loving rapport between he and Lois.

A day or so into the visit Michael Wright arrived and our mini-Congress kicked into high gear. We sang and danced for each other, and of course played the trump. We talked shop in the way that only fanatics can, and Michael and I even had a chance to record an interview with Fred about his lifetime of trumpology (excerpts of this interview have appeared in a previous newsletter, and the transcription in its entirety will appear in the next Journal).

Michael Wright, Deirdre Morgan, and Fred Crane at Fred’s home in Mount Pleasant, Iowa (July 2008)

On my last night with Fred and Lois, we relaxed and watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Even though Fred was silent for the whole film, uttering only a succinct “That was terrible” at the end, there was something very magical and satisfying for me in the experience of watching Indiana Jones whilst on my own Jew’s harp expedition. Nothing was caving in or chasing us as we walked around leisurely looking at the fairy rings in Fred’s yard, or stared out at the hummingbirds buzzing in the flowers across from a kitchen table laden with Jew’s harps and related ephemera.

But going through Fred’s library was certainly the Jew’s harp equivalent of searching for maps and clues in the library at Alexandria. Delving into Fred’s hall closet bursting with rare vinyl (which included, among other treasures, some highly endearing Soviet Dixieland jazz), sifting through stacks of milk crates full of Jew’s harp articles, letters, and clippings that he had collected over several decades, and sitting cross-legged on the dining room carpet going through Fred’s huge instrument collection (which at that point had been labeled and catalogued, and was just about to be sent off to the Khomus museum in Yakutsk for posterity), I had the impression that I was floating in a most singular ocean: the sea of Fred’s life’s work.

Fred playing his beloved Schlutter harps

During my stay, I slept in an all-pink guest bedroom bathed in midsummer humidity, the sound of chirping cicadas, and the slight shaking of passing freight trains through the night. It was in this bedroom that I noticed something that could easily have been missed. On a shelf sat a framed family portrait of Fred, Lois, and their children, taken in the 1970s or 80s. At the bottom of the photograph, a small piece of paper with a typed monograph had been pasted, with the following inscription:

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.”

The smiling Cranes in the photograph seemed to embody this statement with a simplicity and vitality that was striking. I returned to meditate upon that family portrait several times over the course of my stay, and the Crane family motto has stuck with me ever since.

Though Fred would probably chuckle at my sentimentality, it is no exaggeration to say that the newsletter, the Journal, and the Congresses owe their very existence to him. Fred’s efforts united a previously scattered bunch of individuals with a common passion, creating an international community and a legacy that continues to be felt today. Twenty years after he had the rather bold idea of inviting a group of Russian Jew’s harp players to the United States during the Cold War, Fred’s formidable instrument collection has achieved immortality in the Khomus museum in Yakutsk. His legacy is one felt both abroad and at home, and his voice continues to live on in the pages of VIM and the JIJHS, in his books and articles, and in the writings of others who have referenced his work.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet Fred in this lifetime. His spirit, character, and wit made a deep impression on me, and these qualities survive in his writing. To me, his publications have a sacred quality as they rest on my shelf; they inspire me to be a better writer and a better Jew’s harp scholar, and remind me of the impact a single dedicated individual can have on the world around them, no matter how small that world may feel. And as the Jew’s harp renaissance that he himself helped create continues to develop, Fred is truly with us now more than ever.

Reflections on the 7th International Jew’s Harp Congress & Festival in Yakutsk, June 2011

This was my first trip to Russia, and given the expense and trouble to get over there from Vancouver, I had decided to spend four days in Moscow before going to Yakutsk. I stayed with fellow Jew’s harp aficionado and kindred spirit Aksenty Beskrovny, who introduced me to the thriving young Jew’s harp community in Russia’s capital city. Well-conditioned by hours of marathon playing with new friends there, I emerged at least partially conditioned for the breakneck rollercoaster that awaited in Yakutsk. Partially. But I don’t think any of us was truly prepared, mentally, physically, or spiritually for what we were about to experience.

Jew’s harpers gathered in Moscow the night before leaving for Yakutsk:

Encouraged by the suggestion that players should bring along their traditional costumes, I had stuffed a suitcase with some carefully chosen items, which the responsible part of me worried might be too outlandish. What were the audiences in Yakutsk going to be like? Would they be offended by neon animal print and a bedazzled homemade Jew’s harp headband?

photo: Sergey Ta-Musica

The answer was a resounding, buzzing, twanging NO.

I have never seen such excellently coordinated Jew’s harp costuming in all my life. The locals, from the very young to the very old, were turned out in all manner of brightly coloured and often matching outfits, adorned with rhinestones, silver, and of course, Siberian diamonds. Walking into the local circus ring in Yakutsk, surrounded by the 1344 Jew’s harpers who were there to set the Guinness World Record, I was almost overtaken with complete sensory overload as my mind raced to take in the 360 degrees of sparkling Jew’s harp-packed glory around me. Everywhere I turned, there was someone with a fabulously over the top costume and a Jew’s harp. The sound created by these 1344 instruments moments later ushered me into one of the most bizarre, surreal, and moving experiences of my life. When we had all finished playing, the entire circus, which had been transformed into a single buzzing hive mind, simultaneously lifted up their instruments in solidarity. I think I probably became very interested in my scarf at that point, barely getting a chance to lift it up and dab at my eyes before someone (was it the Vice President of the Sakha Republic?) grabbed my elbow and pulled me into the circle dance that was forming in the centre of the ring.

1344 Jew’s harps opening a portal somewhere above the Yakutsk circus:

This was just one of many emotional and transporting moments on the trip, a word I employ here quite intentionally in its psychedelic sense. Somehow the hectic festival schedule, sleep deprivation, close quarters with so many Jew’s harpers from so many places, adrenaline highs of performing for enthusiastic Yakut audiences, strobe effects of glittering diamonds at every turn, and the few soul-bending jam sessions we managed to squeeze in under the light of the midnight sun, all combined into a euphoric cocktail which I am still under the influence of.

I hope it never wears off. And I’m living for the next round.

7th International Jew’s Harp Congress, Yakutsk 2011
International Jew’s Harp Society Bulletin 2 – Compiled by Michael Wright

First, an apology. In Bulletin 1 we said that the virtuoso competition was for men over 25. We have since had information that indicates that this was a mis-translation. The Virtuoso Competition is, in fact, open to male and female players. The competition for women under 25 has been set up to encourage and support female players and the organizers have specifically asked us to advertise this competition amongst possible European and American female participants – for foreign players the age-limit does not apply! The organizers also would like to see as many Jew’s harp makers as possible.

Other issues from the members and the Programme Committee have been raised in a letter sent by the Committee to the Vice President of the Republic Sakha, who is the head of the Yakutian Organisation Committee. These include:

Competitions
The competitions are foreseen as for solo players. We have pointed out that in many cultures – like Austria, Hungary, Italy, UK and the USA – it is the case that Jews harps are played in groups, sometimes with several players and sometimes with other musical instruments or singers. We have therefore asked if there are likely to be:

• Competitions open to larger groups of Jews harp players or ensembles that include Jews harp playing with other instruments or voices?
• The possibility for such groups to present their art to the Yakutian audience with the aim of transmitting a true picture of the international character of all Jew’s harp cultures.

In both cases we have pointed out that the accompanying musicians/singers also require accommodation and food provided.

Presentation of Academic Papers
We have indicated that a number of our members are keen to present academic papers at the Congress and we have asked if this could be incorporated into the official program.

Informal Music Events
We also pointed out that many of our members would like to perform outside of the formal concerts. We see these spontaneous musical meetings between Jew’s harp players from diverse and distant regions as an important part of IJHFs and they are seen by many as true highlights. We have asked if there will be any events and possibilities set up for these informal performances.

Competition Fee
The Programme Committee recognises that the long distance travel costs will be quite high for many participants coming from Europe and the Americas and pointed out that participants in previous IJHFs never had to pay for presenting their art. On the contrary, some professional players would get an honorary for their performance. Under the circumstances players are willing to refrain in the case of the 7th IJHF, but we have asked if the Organisation Committee of the 7th IJHF would allow free entry to the competitions for delegates who will be travelling long distances.

Replacements in the list of 31
There are instances where people in the original list of 31 will not be able to attend and the International Jews Harp Society would like to specify replacement names. These would, for example, be future board members of the International Jews Harp Society. We have, therefore, asked if it could be confirmed that this will be possible.

Jews Harp Makers
In some cases we know that some Jews Harp makers are not able to attend and would like to send a representative, so we have requested that this be allowed.

Flights
Finally, we asked the co-member of the Organisation Committee – Mr I.A.Prostit, General Director of “Aviakompaniya Yakutia”, head of the
National Airline, to look at the possibility of organising a special group discount-flight for the participants from Europe and the Americas, on 21st June, Moscow-Yakutsk, and on 26th June, Yakutsk-Moscow.

PLEASE NOTE. None of the above has been approved or agreed as yet by the Yakutian Organization Committee. You should also be aware
that this Committee is primarily made up of Government and Regional politicians or businessmen. There is only one member of the Committee from the Regional Khomus Society – Ivan Alexeev, plus the president of the IJHS – Franz Kumpl. We are, therefore, in the minority and totally reliant on the good wishes of this Committee. Hopefully in Bulletin 3 we will have positive responses on most if not all of the points raised.

Formalities for participants
In response to the request from the Organisation Committee to define approximately 100 European and 20 American participants of the 7th IJHF, we have collated the first list of these participants.

Those included on the list, and given that they will be approved by the Yakutian Organisation Committee, should anticipate a direct
communication with all the necessary documents for obtaining a Russian visa.

Visas
Once participants have received their invitations, this should trigger their requirement to obtain a visa for Russia. Please note that the invitation and therefore the visa will be for the period of the event only. Anyone wishing to stay for a longer period in Russia should get the visa through a local Travel Agent or try to convince the inviting Yakutian Organisation Committee. The YOC might support you when you stay in Yakutia and book some touristic travels there. But they may be hesitant if you want to travel to other Russian cities, particularly as registration issues and responsibilities by the inviting organisation becomes stricter.

The visa procedure will be as follows:

a) If approved by the YOC, you will receive a personal invitation by the Government of the Republic Sakha (Yakutia), sent to your email-
address.
b) You will have to provide the person who has transmitted the Invitation with all your contact details as requested (e.g. copy of passport with name, passport number, date and place of issue, expiry date, etc. ATTENTION: the passport has to be valid for minimum 6 months after your stay in Yakutia!), so that they can produce the official invitation which will be sent to your local Russian Consulate (ATTENTION: in case
in your country there are several Russian Consulates, define to which it should be sent!). The inviting organisation will inform you when
this invitation will be available at the Consulate. Only afterwards does it make sense to go to the Consulate and apply for the visa.
c) For this application you need to fill in the official Visa Application form (available at the website of the Russian Consulate), a medical
insurance for the given period and a passport photo.

PLEASE NOTE: the obtaining of the correct visa is the responsibility of the individual participant.

Accommodation
As indicated in Bulletin 1, our hosts will either supply the accommodation for participants or provide information on what is available. We will
not know who is in what category until we have a response to the letter, though whether performers will be required to pay may depend on if they are participating in the competitions or not.

We advise that anyone travelling as audience (i.e. non-performer) should discuss options with a local travel agent.

Dietary issues
We suggest that any invitees should indicate any dietary issues they might have in their response to the invitation.

Tickets
Information on event tickets to follow.

Gifts to take with you to Yakutia:
You should consider taking gifts for the people you meet with you, e.g. something linked to your national Jew’s harp culture (harps, publications, CDs, photos, etc) and/or to your local/national culture (folklore items, special alcoholics and preserved food, etc)

Contacts – National and Regional contacts:
Americas – Deirdre Morgan deirdreannemorgan[at]gmail.com
Austria – Franz Kumpl franz.kumpl[at]aon.at
Germany – Gerd Conradt mandala.vision[at]gmx.de
France – Tran Quang Hai tranquanghai[at]gmail.com
Hungary/Slovakia – Aron Szilagyi aural[at]t-online.hu
Italy – Luca Recupero luca_recupero[at]yahoo.it
Scandinavia– Svein Westad s-westad[at]online.no
Switzerland – Philippe Dallais dallais[at]vmz.uzh.ch
Netherlands – Daniel Hentschel mail[at]danibal.nl
UK – Michael Wright jewsharper[at]btinternet.com

Recommended do’s and don’ts in Russia and Yakutia
Advice from Franz

Mosquitoes:
• Although Yakutia has the coldest spot on earth (Oymyakon, with •67.7 °C (•90 °F), it becomes hot in summer as the permafrost thaws and melts. Be prepared for a June to be around 30 °C Celsius.
• Usually June is still fine in regard of the mosquitoes, but don’t take the risk – the Yakutian mosquitoes are real killers!
• Take excellent repellents with you and wide cloth, or obtain the Yakutian weapon, which is a horse tail on a stick.

Food:
• Traditional Yakutian food is very special and extremely healthy.
• Try to get their speciality which is “Stroganina”, a kind of Yakutian Sashimi from white river fish, which is caught in winter, freezes immediately in this extreme cold and is stored in the permafrost-cellars (or in the freezer compartment in the city).
• The tundra- and taiga-berries are excellent, especially when eaten with sour cream from the overly fat Yakutian milk.
• Yakutians love roasted meat – “shashlik”, usually beef.
• A main dish is small thick pancakes which taste as everywhere in the world.
• They have special blood-sausages in Yakutia, which taste OK but just have the unusual colour white.
• You might not have the chance to try it, but if so you are lucky! It is the Yakutian delicacy, which is sliced frozen raw liver from local foal (half year old horse which ate only grass and herbs in untouched taiga).

Drinks
• You get all kinds of beer and beverages. The local drinks are Wodka (Yakutians are proud of their local Wodka because it is distilled with
excellent local water) and Kumys, which is fermented Mare’s milk (the mothers of the foals, whose raw liver you might be just trying). It
tastes like cider, but be careful of heartburn (pyrosis)! I never knew what pyrosis was, but in Yakutsk I learned this lesson. Therefore take
medicaments with you against pyrosis.

Dear reader, feel free to raise issues of interest for you regarding do’s and don’ts. Since I spent a big part of the past 25 years in Russia, I am happy to share my knowledge, Franz.

We trust you appreciate that the IJHS Programme Committee is doing everything it can within the limited possibilities available to us.

PROGRAM

For implementation of main events
VII International Congress-Festival

“Khomus (trump) in the cultural dimensions of the world”
(further VII. IJHF)
23-26 June 2011Yakutsk

22.06. Wednesday
Day of arrival and accommodation
15:00 Opening of exhibition “Jew’s Harps of the Peoples of the World”
16:00 Departure for Namskiy, Khangalasskiy Ulus

23.06. Thursday
1st day of VII. IJHF
09:00-09:45 Festive opening of VII. IJHF with participation of President and Government members of Republic of Sakha-Yakutia
10:00-12:45 Plenum session of Congress
14:00-17:45 Congress: working groups. Master classes of Jew’s Harp-players and pedagogues
16:00-17:45 Competition of International Jew’s Harp Smiths
Auction of jew’s harps from renown masters
19:00 Grande Concert “Resounds Khomus of Oeloenkho”.
Competition of International Jew’s Harp Virtuosos

24.06. Friday 2nd day of VII. IJHF
09:00-12:45 Continuation of Congress-workshops
14:00-17:45 Final meeting of the Congress with resume
19:00 Festive closure of VII. IJHF
Honoring the winners in competitions
Gala-concert “Khomus gathers friends”

25.06. Saturday
3rd finalizing day of VII. IJHF, in Yakutsk
09:00-17:45 Participation in the national solstice festival “Ysyekh”
12:00-13:15 Opening Ceremony with participation of delegates from VII. IJHF
14:00-16:00 Competition “Khomus Kuo” (young female players)
Departure of participants for Vilyuisk

26.06. Sunday
4th day, Vilyuiskiy Ulus
09:00-11:15 Opening of Ulus “House of Masters”. Opening of studio Kylaan Uus. Opening of the exhibition “Fates, linked by Komus”
11:30 Ysyekh-festival of the Khomus (trump) of the peoples of the world
15:00 Gala-concert of the Jew’s Harp Players of the world.
18:00 departure for Yakutsk
Departure of the participants

Below is the first information bulletin for the 7th International Jew’s Harp Festival in Yakutsk, Siberia. Stay tuned, as more information is coming all the time!

If you are a resident of the Americas (North, Central, or South) interested in attending the festival as a performer or a special guest, please reply to me no later than Thursday February 3 (see the competition categories and regional contacts below).
Visas are required to enter Russia and all performers must receive official letters of invitation from the festival organizers.
There will be food and accommodation provided for performers who are selected to participate in the official competition.
All non-performing audience members are welcome to attend the festival at their own expense.

Please contact me if you have any questions about this exciting event. It’s sure to be a one of a kind experience for aficionados and fans of the jew’s harp around the world!

All the best,

Deirdre Morgan
Coordinator for the Americas

PROGRAM
For implementation of main events
VII International Congress-Festival
“Khomus (trump) in the cultural dimensions of the world” (further VII. IJHF)
23-26 June 2011, Yakutsk

22.06.11 Wednesday
Day of arrival and accommodation
15:00 Opening of exhibition “Jew’s Harps of the Peoples of the World”
16:00 Departure for Namskiy, Khangalasskiy Ulus

23.06.11 Thursday
1st day of VII. IJHF
09:00-09:45 Festive opening of VII. IJHF with participation of President and Government members of Republic of Sakha-Yakutia
10:00-12:45 Plenum session of Congress
14:00-17:45 Congress: working groups.
Master classes of Jew’s Harp-players and pedagogues
16:00-17:45 Competition of International Jew’s Harp Smiths
Auction of Jew’s harps from renown masters
19:00 Grande Concert “Resounds Khomus of Oeloenkho”.
Competition of International Jew’s Harp Virtuosos

24.06.11 Friday
2nd day of VII. IJHF
09:00-12:45 Continuation of Congress-workshops
14:00-17:45 Final meeting of the Congress with resume
19:00 Festive closure of VII. IJHF
Honoring the winners in competitions
Gala-concert “Khomus gathers friends”

25.06.11 Saturday
3rd finalizing day of VII. IJHF, in Yakutsk
09:00-17:45 Participation in the national solstice festival “Ysyekh”
12:00-13:15 Opening Ceremony with participation of delegates from VII. IJHF
14:00-16:00 Competition “Khomus Kuo” (young female players)
Departure of participants for Vilyuisk

26.06.11 Sunday
4th day, Vilyuiskiy Ulus
09:00-11:15 Opening of Ulus “House of Masters”. Opening of studio Kylaan Uus.
Opening of the exhibition “Fates, linked by Komus”
11:30 Ysyekh-festival of the Khomus (trump) of the peoples of the world
15:00 Gala-concert of the Jew’s Harp Players of the world.
18:00 departure for Yakutsk
Departure of the participants
Head of the working commission
Vice-minister of culture and spiritual development
M.M.Donskoy
(working translation by Franz Kumpl)

Additional Information
All information provided so far is from Russian documents (translated by Franz Kumpl) and email-communication between Franz Kumpl and Nikolay Shishigin, director of Khomus (Trump) Museum in Yakutsk, received since 25 January 2011. The Organisation Committee has promised to provide with English translations on their homepage http://www.ilkhomus.com/
There are still many open issues (e.g. competition entry, competition categories, gender split, concerts of groups, accompanying musicians, etc) which will be answered in the weeks to come.

Performers
A total of 100 players from Europe, the Americas and Africa are anticipated, besides players from Asia and the CIS. The IJHS has formed a Programme Committee (PC), existing of Franz Kumpl, Michael Wright, Philippe Dallais and Aron Szilagyi whose task is to recommend the foreign performers from Europe and the Americas to the Organizing Committee in Yakutsk (YOC). The PC collects the national lists of proposed participants from the below listed board members. Anyone wishing to be considered should contact their nearest board member as soon as possible in order to be considered. The PC will forward the list to the YOC by middle of February, so that the participants will be able to successfully organise the trip.

Travel
The YOC have proposed two options for performers:
Option 1: Invited guest – flight from Moscow, accommodation and food provided – this will be a limited number (31 from all around the world) and the decision as to who will be chosen will be by the YOC.
Option 2: Invited participant – for any participant who enters the competitions (see below) the YOC will pay for accommodation and food, but not for transport.
A third option applies to non-performers:
Option 3: Audience – all costs to be picked up by non-performer, but the YOC has promised to help with cheap accommodation and if possible, even extend the invitation, which is needed for getting the visa.
Participants are expected to arrive in Yakutsk on Wednesday, 22nd June. The flight Moscow-Yakutsk is usually a night-flight, which means that participants will fly on Tuesday, 21st June during daytime from their respective cities to Moscow and continue in the evening to Yakutsk; -Yakutia Airlines leaves Moscow at 18:20 and arrives in Yakutsk at 7:00 the next day.
Return flight is expected to be Monday, 27th June in the morning by Yakutia Airlines, leaving Yakutsk at 8:00 in the morning and arriving in Moscow at 8:40 (flying with sunrise), continuing the same day back home. This flight Moscow-Yakutsk-Moscow costs about €900.

Visas
Invited guests and invited participants will receive the invitation from the YOC, with which you may obtain the visa at your national Russian Consulate. At the Consulate you will need the filled in Visa-form, the invitation from the YOC, 1 (sometimes 2) passport-photos, and a medical insurance for the given period (20-27 June 2011). You can avoid this bureaucracy by working through a tour agency in your home-town which offers journeys to Russia. You might be able to get a quite cheap package at the tour agency, including at least the visa and the flight.
Audience will get everything at the Tour Agency, even an invitation, for which one has to pay some extra-money.

Accommodation
All participants will be accommodated by the hosts. Anyone travelling as audience (i.e. non-performer) should notify their PC member as soon as possible.

Dietary issues
Please indicate to your local contact (below) any dietary issues you might have as soon as possible.

Tickets
Information on event tickets to follow.

Contacts – National and Regional contacts:
Americas – Deirdre Morgan deirdreannemorgan@gmail.com
Austria – Franz Kumpl franz.kumpl@aon.at
Germany – Gerd Conradt mandala.vision@gmx.de
France – Tran Quang Hai tranquanghai@gmail.com
Hungary/Slovakia – Aron Szilagyi aural@t-online.hu
Italy – Luca Recupero luca_recupero@yahoo.it
Scandinavia– Svein Westad s-westad@online.no
Switzerland – Philippe Dallais dallais@vmz.uzh.ch
Netherlands – Daniel Hentschel mail@danibal.nl
UK – Michael Wright jewsharper@btinternet.com

Recommended do’s and don’ts in Russia and Yakutia
Information to follow.

Competitions
Three competitions will be held during Congress:
- best Jew’s harp smith
- best female player (until age of 25, possibly till 30)
- best male virtuoso
According to the information so far, competition entry costs $100.

Jew’s Harp Maker competition
There will be 9 categories. The Yakutian masters Chemchoev, Gotovcev and Osipov will not participate in the competition, since they already have earned at some time the grade “Best Khomus of the World”. The international jury will define 9 Jew’s harp makers from the whole world who earn this title.
The 9 categories include:
- Best maker of traditional Jew’s harp according to national diversity
- Best maker of a broad range of Jew’s harps
- Best maker-innovator
The Commission has the right to add a category, if needed.
Organisers of the competition are the Ministries of Culture, of Education and Science of Sakha-Yakutia, the Mayor of Yakutsk and the Jew’s Harp Museum.
The makers who get the title “Best Jew’s harp of the World” become member of the international experts’ commission.
The participating maker has to present to the Commission 3 Jew’s harps, a Jew’s harp player has to demonstrate the musical quality of the instrument either live or by video.
The participant has to present material about his/her activities (printed matter or DVD) and about musicians playing on his/her instrument.
The Organisation Committee has the right to give the presented material, including the Jew’s harps, to the Khomus/Trump Museum in Yakutsk.
The 9 winners will receive a diploma and a price.
There will be also an auction for sale of Jew’s harps from famous makers.
The Organisation Committee provides the invitation and pays for accommodation and food of the participant, but not for transport.

Competition of female players
The respective document says that the ladies have to be between 16 and 25 years old, but in certain cases up to 30 years will be allowed.
The presentation has to be a solo-performance, only pre-recorded tape is allowed as background, no live accompaniment.
The player has to perform 2 pieces of 3 minutes each.
The procedure is:
1.stage: presentation in national dress and a traditional piece
2.stage: free improvisation
There will be 7 categories. The Commission has the right to add up to 3 more categories, if needed.
The winners will receive a diploma and a precious price.
The Organisation Committee provides the invitation and pays for accommodation and food of the participant, but not for transport.

Competition of male virtuosos
Minimum age of participant is 25 years. Master-players who already have received the title “Jew’ Harp Virtuoso of the World” will be part of the Commission and not participate in the competition itself. From Sakha-Yakutia will be maximum 7 jury-participants.
The presentation has to be a solo-performance, only pre-recorded tape is allowed as background, no live accompaniment.
The player has to perform 2 pieces of 5 minutes each.
The procedure is:
1.stage: presentation of a piece with traditional styles and techniques of his culture.
2.stage: free improvisation
Criteria for evaluation:
- Performance of traditional styles and techniques of his culture

- Musicality

- Virtuosity

- National dress

Making use of other instruments besides the jew’s harp is not allowed.
There will be 9 categories. The Commission has the right to add up to 3 more categories, if needed.
The winners will receive a diploma and a precious price.
The Organisation Committee provides the invitation and pays for accommodation and food of the participant, but not for transport.

Other News
Danibal tells us that the new Society URL is www.jewsharpsociety.org. Restyling of the site is in progress.
Lindsay Porteous’ re-issued recording ‘Portrait of a Scottish Jew’s-Harp Player’ is now available on CD. Michael Wright (jewsharper@btinternet.com), will forward all enquiries to Lindsay.
If anyone wishes to provide pre-event news, please contact Michael. Wright (jewsharper@btinternet.com).

I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise when I say it’s hard to verbally distill a four-day long international jaw harp event. Three weeks later, I’m still processing and figuring out what even happened at the 6th Internationl Jew’s Harp Festival in Kecskemet, Hungary. It was billed as a festival, but it was more like a wave that swept us up and carried us through a weekend so full of the jaw harp that it was actually impossible to see everything, or anything, by the end of it. There were so many performers and presenters that simultaneous sessions were scheduled and a few hard decisions had to be made as to which ones to attend. As far as international jaw harp festivals go, I was told that this was actually one of the smaller ones. If that’s the case, then I positively can’t wait to experience a “big one”. In fact, the next international event is scheduled for June 2011, in Yakutsk, Siberia, so we won’t have to wait very long.

A million jaw harpers onstage together for the closing tune of the festival

The Hungary festival marked a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I’d ever been surrounded by so many jaw harp players from so many different countries. It was the first time that I’ve been put up in my very own hotel room as a festival artist. And it was the first time I’ve performed onstage in front of my international peers. All the musicians were staying in the Apollo Hotel, which meant that we got to connect over breakfast (scrambled eggs speckled with Hungarian paprika) every morning. During the day, the hotel reverberated as musicians practiced for their upcoming performances. A great snapshot of the Apollo experience involved a moment where there was banjo coming from TriBeCaStan’s room downstairs, didgeridoo and throat singing coming from Jonny Cope next door, and me yodelling, twanging, and overtoning somewhere in the middle. A joyfully eccentric sound bath, to be sure.

Amazing post-concert green room jam session–we did a bunch of Violent Femmes covers using some pretty bizarre instruments

From KECSKEMET

Each afternoon and evening was spent at the Kecskemet Youth Centre where the festival was held, checking out workshops, concerts, and the latest offerings at the performers’ green room table. I can’t possibly report on everything I saw, but I can briefly summarize that the entertainment ranged from Hungarian multi-instrumentalist Alex Horsch pumping out dancy folk tunes on Slovakian overtone flutes and Hungarian bagpipes, to the Dutch duo Heug’s bizarre Dada-esque onstage antics, where, among the jaw harps, toy accordions, and plastic trumpets, they actually managed to appropriate an accidental squeak in the staging and incorporate it into one of their improvised loops. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is skill.

High-concept interactions with the gentlemen of Heug

From KECSKEMET

The smaller teahouse stage featured some free jams as well as local acts, while the mainstage featured the festival headliners. We were graced with performances by Leo Tadagawa from Japan, and Maria Kulichkina from Yakutsk (who, it must be pointed out, was awarded last year’s “Miss Khomus” title, and delivered an act involving the different “characters” of the khomus, interspersed with dramatic monologues, in full diamond-encrusted Siberian costume).

With Miss Khomus 2009, Maria Kulichkina

From KECSKEMET

Odd Lund, a masterful Norweigan player of both the jaw harp and the ram’s horn, transported us to the eerie, lonely fiords with his pure and rich tones.

From KECSKEMET

The Russian multi-instrumentalist Nadishana dazzled with his technical wizardry and homemade instruments, and the U.S. boys of TriBeCaStan rocked out with French moutbow expert and versatile musician Jerome, as well as two friends from Croatia. Jeff Greene is a kindred jaw harp fanatic and compulsive instrument collector (we suffer the same afflictions) and is one of the few special people who has actually made it to the end of my Masters thesis. John Kruth is a font of music history and a rock star in his own right, complete with mad style and far-out, side-splitting stories.

With the TriBeCaStan boys, John and Jeff

From KECSKEMET

My favourite shot of TriBeCaStan’s set

From KECSKEMET

Aron Szilagyi, son of jaw harp maker Zoltan Szilagyi, organizer of the festival, and virtuoso performer in his own right, reminded us all why the Szilagyi name is associated not only with quality instruments but with masterful playing as well.

From KECSKEMET

Many of the jaw harp stars who appeared at the Ancient Trance Festival in Taucha reappeared, and we were reunited with Byon Kay, Tran Quang Hai, and Luca and Alicia from my favourite Sicilian band ever, iPercusSonici.

From KECSKEMET

I also connected with Jonny Cope, UK didgeridoo player, throat singer, and twanger extraordinaire, and we managed to get deep into quantum physics discussions before noon. All par for the course with people who think about vibration and resonance all day long.
Jonny, with supersonic fingers

From KECSKEMET

Russian duo TurbodZen tranced out the audience with their powerful driving vargan playing, and Neptune called me up at the end of his set for a little genggong action.

From KECSKEMET

Another highlight was meeting the master jaw harp maker Zoltan Szilagyi. Part metalsmith, part business man, part philosopher, Zoltan is one of those rare people who truly feels that he is fulfilling his destiny and doing his life’s work. And what a life’s work it is, to be one of a handful of people who spend their time making high-quality jaw harps and exporting them all over the planet. No collection is complete without several of this man’s fine and imaginative instruments.

From KECSKEMET

On the last night of the festival, nobody wanted to say goodbye. We all walked back to the Apollo Hotel together for the last time, and stayed up drinking beer and cavorting in the breakfast room until 4am, trying rather unsuccessfully to be quiet in consideration of the other, non-jaw harp guests in the hotel (how could ANYBODY possibly not like the jaw harp, we justified to ourselves in our blissed-out state). At 6am we hopped on an airport shuttle together and all hugged goodbye at the airport, knowing that many of us are destined to see eachother again and again, in different parts of the world, all because of a tiny, strange, special little instrument.

It’s a weird way to make friends, but somebody’s gotta do it.

Enjoy the full photo album here!

KECSKEMET

The Dresden Obertontage (Overtonedays) are an annual series of overtone-related musical events presented in an old cigarette factory-turned-mosque-turned-performance venue called Yenidze. For four evenings in a row, various overtone acts perform in the colourful stained-glass dome of this former mosque. While I had originally planned to attend all four events, I found it difficult to tear myself away from Molln, and ended up comprimising and arriving in Dresden to catch the last two concerts.

From DRESDEN

At the train station I was met by my couch host Jens, who, in keeping with my habit of staying with musicians everywhere I go, is a true Saxon rockstar of the guitar wizard variety. He was also extremely curious and open-minded about learning about overtones, and picked up the jaw harp quickly. He even started working enthusiastically on his overtone singing, much to the chagrin of his roommates, and bravely accompanied me to a concert by my musical idol, Christian Zehnder–but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Inside the Yenidze dome

From DRESDEN

First, I attended a concert by the Nam Ensemble, a self-described medieval-celtic-oriental-folk band, led by one of the jaw harp players I met at the Vienna jam session. Bernhard Mikuskovics is a multi-instrumentalist who has mastered some very fascinating and very obscure instruments. His four-piece band is comprised of other multi-talented musicians, and their 2-hour show covered the broad range of folk styles that can be found from Western Europe right across to the Far East. They even did a few tunes featuring Bernhard on the jaw harp, which were a real pleasure, and demonstrated how the instrument is able to blend with different styles (some great video of this will appear once I return home!).

The Nam Ensemble

From DRESDEN

The following evening was the one and only Swiss yodeling overtone singer Christian Zehnder (some of you may recognize him from the duo Stimmhorn, whose videos I have often shared with glee). This time he was with his new quartet, promoting their album Schmelz. Zehnder has been a huge influence on me as a musician and a performer. I first came into contact with his unique style when he was featured in a documentary about Swiss yodelling, the film Heimatklange (Echoes from Home). Upon hearing his blend of yodeling and overtone singing, I was absolutely floored by the range of expression he chanelled through his voice. As I listened, I literally felt something in my chest expand and open–things began shifting, rearranging, releasing. I cried. A deep craving to be this free with my own voice had pushed its way to the surface, and after the final credits rolled, I left the theatre compelled to sing. I took a bus to Kits Beach, and sat there on a log projecting my voice over the ocean, trying to discover this sense of freedom and these ethereal tones for myself.

Watch the Heimatklange trailer

Two years later, Zehnder came to Vancouver with Stimmhorn during the same summer that I was in clown school, and upon attending their concert in the intimate St. James Community Hall, I was pleased to discover that Zehnder is, in fact, a clown. Following that performance, Stimmhorn played at the Mission Folk Festival, a festival that, despite its small size, truly has the most outstanding programming every year. It was this very festival that first introduced me to the raw, soul-shaking power of Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, where my eyes got misty over the emotive voice of the Portuguese fado singer Mariza, and where I have since been introduced to all kinds of performers from around the globe.

Now, several years since my first folk fest, Tagaq was back on the program, along with Stimmhorn and a folk music group from Sardinia that used the jaw harp. Sheer perfection. The festival organizers even had the genius intuition to pair Tagaq and Stimmhorn together on a daytime workshop stage. Needless to say, their improvisations were wild to behold, an estuary of vocal currents, fertile and swirling. A memorable and deeply satisfying ride.

My favourite fan video for Stimmhorn’s hit song Triohatala

So to meet Zehnder again in 2010, now with a firmer grounding in my own development as a performer, felt like the marking of another cycle. This time I also got to spend some more time in conversation with him, and connect beyond the stage. I was also finally able to tell him about my experience with the documentary, and to express my gratitude for his art. Zehnder possesses many qualities that I admire in a performer: prescence, humour, and that fine balance between precision and abandon. He embodies the music, takes risks, and is fearless. He is also a fantastic improvisor and and comedian, not just because he’s funny, but because he reaches out past the fourth wall and connects with the audience. He also subverts Swiss cliches in an enormously pleasing way.

Since I first saw the Heimatklange film, I have also resonated with yodeling on a deeper level. I am constantly struck by how yodelling is like a sonic destroyer of fear. It requires confidence, projection, and quite literal leaps of faith. It is the music of wide open places, of the self expanding to fill the space available to it. Yodelling is a projection of the self outwards, into nature, into the universe, pure sound echoing out to the farthest limits, pushing, emanating, declaring HERE I AM. And I am everwhere.

Fear itself should fear yodelling.

And possibly bagpipes.

The film Heimatklange ends with an unforgettable line from one of the yodellers that has stayed with me over the years, a deep truth:

“We can be so free. If only we knew how free we can be.”

*****************************************************
For more photos of the Dresden Obertontage, check out my web album here.

Everybody has their happy place. For many, this place seems to be Las Vegas, though I still haven’t figured out why. As for myself, I have long been intrigued by tales of a tiny village in Upper Austria that was once the jaw-harp making capital of Europe. Nestled in a small valley in the rolling green foothills of the Alps, Molln sits next to the streak of iron ore that runs through the region and has made it a center for the blacksmithing trade.

From MOLLN

Neptune and I were greeted at the train station in Linz by our host Manfred, who upon spotting us from the other side of the station, took out one of his jaw harps and started playing loudly. He got our attention alright, two complete jaw harp nutbars looking around wildly for the source of the sound, as if God himself had just spoken. Manfred is a Molln native who grew up there and now lives with his family in a beautiful newly-built house that is about 200 meters from all three of the remaining jaw harp makers in town. He also happens to be a professional player of the instrument himself, and is a master of the Austrian style of using 2-4 differently tuned harps at a time, and switching rapidly back and forth between the different keys. I took some great HD video of this, which I will post as soon as I get home to a computer with more RAM.

Me, Nep, and Manfred with one of the many jaw harp monuments in Molln

From MOLLN

As I mentioned in my Vienna article, Molln was once the epicentre of the jaw harp industry in Europe. Records of jaw harp makers in Molln date back to the 1600s, but the town didn’t truly peak until the 1800s, when there were 35 makers registered in the local jaw harp guild, which was responsible for the production of some 2.5 million harps per year. Today, there are only three makers left, and only two of them have workshops that are open to the general public.

Luckily, as I am a bonafide fanatic, I was granted access to the third maker, Sepp Jofen, a man of few words with a custom-made golden jaw harp earring. We sat with Sepp out on his patio, drinking the local Weissburgunden wine, testing out Sepp’s instruments, and playing our collections for him. So impressed was he that he invited us to join him at his local pub that evening, drinks on him.

Birds of a feather with Sepp

From MOLLN

Wimmer and Schwarz, by contrast, are two makers with highly-visible workshops and signs directing visitors to them. Wimmer gave us a very informative tour of his workshop, which is full of fascinating photos of people all around the world playing his harps. He even has a world map with tiny flags on it where all his clients live, and demonstrated a number of old-fashioned machines used to make jaw harps.

With Wimmer at his shop

From MOLLN

We didn’t meet Schwarz when we visited his store, but it was full of jaw-droppingly gorgeous accordions, which is his main craft. However, he also makes jaw harps and it is often his harps that can be found in music stores around the world. In fact, my fateful first jaw harp was a Schwartz harp–hopefully next time I can thank him in person!

From MOLLN

Edible art

From MOLLN

In the evening, as promised, we visited Sepp’s local pub, which was conveniently located across the street from Manfred’s house. Neptune and I, in our now-familiar routine, busted out our instruments and started jamming in front of a table full of locals wondering who on earth we were. Also as promised, Sepp kept the beers flowing in the good old-fashioned tavern style, where if the bartender spots a half-full glass, he immediately plunks down a full one behind it. As the night wore on into the early morning hours, Manfred began leaning over and whispering “We have to find an exit!” (which is, incidentally, a familiar phrase to those of us who have attended clown school at Fantastic Space in Vancouver). But before we found our trapdoor, we got to experience: Austrian drinking songs with jaw harp accompaniment, Neptune feeling the effects of the local homemade cider, Manfred playing his jaw harp into a glass of beer, and Sepp calling me a “doll” in Upper Austrian dialect. And, Dear Reader, I am pleased to say that I have video of all of the above.

Manfred demonstrating how to play a jaw harp into a glass of beer

From MOLLN

Back at home, I got out the Austrian yodelling sheet music that Lili’s mum gave me in Melk, and Manfred and I did some of the most beautiful open-hearted full-voiced duets I’ve ever experienced. Then we sat by the CD player and listened to yodel albums from Austria and Switzerland even deeper into the night. This music is spiritual, joyful, lonely, haunting, full. When I think about the two days I spent in Molln, my heart swells and I feel that they were two of the best days of my life. In this place I resonate with a particular fullness, a feeling of familiarity and of being home, as if this land and the sounds that emerge from it are the very place of my soul’s freedom.

From MOLLN

Back in Berlin, Kai says I must have been an Alpine shepherdess in a past life. I don’t disagree. In these brief two days I took over 200 photos, which tell more of the story. You can see them here.

Finally, I am reminded of a few lines from a very different choral tradition, the American Sacred Harp repertoire of hymns sung in archaic modal harmonies:

What wondrous love is this? O my soul, O my soul!
He shed his heavenly light in my soul,
He shed his heavenly light,
To disperse the gloom of night,
Now it shines with radiance bright,
In my soul.

And when from death made free, we will sing, we will sing,
And when from death made free, we will sing,
And when from death made free,
We’ll sing and joyful be,
Through all eternity
We will sing.

From MOLLN

From PRAGUE

Prague: the city of absinthe and black light theatre. At least, that’s what it was for me the last time I was here 6 years ago. While there was absinthe involved, this time I was in town for the Prague Overtone Festival, a 12-hour long one day event. The day was comprised of a marathon line-up of workshops, followed by an evening of concerts. Being the eternal optimist, I naturally decided to attend all of the day’s events, which proved a tad difficult as there were no proper breaks scheduled in between the sessions. But I was morbidly determined to see how the well-known European overtone singers at the event were going to pass on their craft both in the workshop format and in performance. So I stuck it out.

The day began with a workshop on advanced vocal techniques with Kiva Simova, a Canadian ex-pat who now lives in Prague. She is a very talented vocalist who has incredible range and has collaborated with one of my favourite singers of all time, Tanya Tagaq. I learned a lot of fantastic exercises to really feel the resonance of different vowels, which is of course applicable to jaw harp technique as well.

Kiva demonstrating overtone singing techniques with a model tongue and teeth

From PRAGUE

Following Kiva, in came the bouncy and inimitable Michael Reimann, effervescent soul, German pianist (and truly fantastic improviser), and general jack-of-all-weird instruments; in other words, my favourite kind of person. He gave us some exercises for being aware of intervals, got us thinking about the tonality of the harmonic (overtone) scale, and even imparted his personal theory about the esoteric meaning of the intervallic leaps in the harmonic series. All I can tell you is that Adam and Eve are involved–ask me in person if you would like a detailed explanation of this (preferably over Absinthe, which will make it all clear).

After his workshop, Reimann’s friend and musical collaborator Wolfgang Saus came in to give his workshop on overtone singing. Wolfgang is one of the most famous overtone singers in continental Europe, with good reason. Not only is his tone and control flawless, he has also devoloped computer software for digitally imaging overtones on the screen as you sing in order to help singers clean up their technique. He is also a very experienced vocal coach, and spent the second half of the workshop getting every person in the room to overtone sing, even if they had never done it before, by working individually with each person for a couple of minutes until they had noticably improved. In the 2 minutes I spent with Wolfgang, I experienced a total paradigm shift in the development of my voice. Wunderbar!

Here is Wolfgang singing with some other people, at another festival — I will post my own videos when I get home!

Wolfgang and Michael then presented a concert together. Their standard set up is Michael on piano with Wolfgang singing, but being the overtone-obsessed dudes they are they included plenty of other special moments along the way. They played, among other things, fiber-optic PVC tubes, an interpretive dance with Western mbiras, and a duet on the jaw harp–which they dedicated to me! They also did a musical clown duet with jaw harps and red noses, which not surprisingly, made myself and all the young children in the room very happy indeed.

The European Overtone Choir wasn’t so much a choir full of overtone singers as it was a choir with a few experienced overtone singers blending with the other regular voices. The highlights for me were a truly unique interpretation of that time-honoured classic, It’s Raining Men, as well as their enthusiastic execution of a spastic Stockhausen piece. When both of those pieces appear on the same program, you know you’re in for a good time.

After 12 hours of nonstop overtones, I dragged myself back to my hostel and crawled into bed, as heavy as a ton of Moravian deep fried cheese, and just as satisfied as if I’d eaten one.

Incidentally, Prague is a gorgeous city and I took many photos of its environs, occasionally blocking them with myself and the new friends that were met there. Check out my Prague album, now with informative captions, here!