Summer Institute for College Bound Blind Musicians June 2005

This was the start of my Harp-Abilities, a week long music camp for young blind musicians who met, shared and communicated with the harps.

David Goldstein is Director of the National Resource Center for Blind Musicians, at the Overbrook School in Philadelphia. John Lozier is the director of Harping for Harmony, who loaned 3 harps for my workshop. Rees Harps also lent a Harpsicle and I brought a lap zither. Here are parts of David's letter to John:

“I would like to extend my grateful appreciation for the loan of your harps to our Summer Braille Music Institute. I also want to say how truly wonderful it was that the students had this experience. Christina was just the right person, a very fine ambassador for Harping For Harmony.
The purpose of the Institute is to help young people who are blind learn the skills and strategies to study music at the conservatory level. Emphasis is on the braille music code and technology that allows them to independently produce written theory assignments. It is quite intensive. The harps, simple enough for anyone to get something good-sounding out of -- and to be hugged back by -- provided a haven and a respite, not to mention exposure to instruments many had not had an opportunity to experience first-hand.
Christina has described how the harps moved into the dorm and shared our couches. Just as it's the students who make a program, so too do the instruments. Your harps, and the hands and hearts behind making and distributing them, added their special harmony. They are part of the memories the students have to take back with them as they continue making the most of opportunities in their busy and exciting lives.”