Emily Granger Concert

In August 2022, the FNQ Harp Connection was delighted to present and support Sydney based harpist Emily Granger’s album concert In Transit at St Monica’s Chapel.

The setting in St. Monica’s chapel was lovely and Emily’s bright personality, interesting program and polished performance was inspiring and enjoyable for all.

There was an air of happy anticipation as the audience arrived, a mix of local harpists, harp students with parents, friends of harpists who had brought harpists, dedicated harp lovers, and people who had nothing to do with harps, but they liked the idea of listening to a harp being played. Just over a hundred people attended the concert. Some of those had dropped in to see St Monica’s famous stained glass windows, and upon seeing the concert harp standing dramatically at the front of the church, canceled their dinner plans in favour of the concert. 

Emily introduced the pieces as she went along, telling us stories about the composers or the nature of the composition.  The program comprised American and Australian composers collected, she said, at a time when she always seemed to be flying between the two countries, making the move to stay in Australia.  Her Australian composers list read like a ‘Who’s Who’, including her own husband Tristan Coehlo who had only the night before won APRA Art Music Awards Chamber Work of the Year.

The program was dynamic and varied as we were led through the pieces on her album ‘In Transit’.  Ross Edwards two movement piece ‘The Harp and the Moon’ was dense with unusual rhythms and harmonies, but he apparently wrote it effortlessly. ‘River Right Rhumba’ by Laura Zaerr unfolds like a modern tale, and ‘Liena’ written by Sally Greenaway for a harpist (who I’m sure I know!) is dramatic dance-like piece.

Blue Silence, by Elena Kats Chernin, was a memorable moment in the live program.  Emily told us the story of how it was written about Kats Chernin’s son who lives with schizophrenia, and the voices in his head. She invited us to close our eyes and relax into the meditation as she played the gentle hypnotic repetitive rhythms, each note so special, with occasional deep bass notes resonating like warm enveloping gongs.  Many appreciated the expression of the piece, and it was a favourite with the children.

‘The Nightingale’ by Deborah Henson-Conant is a staple of modern American harp repertoire and hearing Granger play this piece was wonderful.  She first heard it as a young student, and the music seemed to be deepened by her many years of knowing. One of the audience members remarked that he could hear the audience collectively sigh after the last notes of a piece would fade away, and this was certainly one of those pieces.

One of my personal favourites was Tristan Coehlo’s piece The Old School, about an actual school in the Blue Mountains.  It’s character was clear and colourful, and I was reminded of harpist-composer Carlos Salzedo’s poetic harmonies and guitaristic rhythms with endings like poetic tendrils into the ether.  Emily’s final piece of the concert was Coehlo’s ‘In Transit’, the glistening title track of her album.

It was a wonderful concert program and altogether beautifully played with deftness and charm.

Emily’s album ‘In Transit’ is right up there with the best of world class harp recordings. Immaculately performed and produced, it is a tribute to the high quality of her artistry. The contemporary and fresh program has something for every taste, keeping the listener interested throughout. Challenging modern pieces are tempered by more accessible choices, a perfect way to share this wonderful variety of new harp music to audiences.

Emily gave a private masterclass for local harp students and teachers, which was lots of fun, inspiring for players and observers alike. She worked with students Hannah Burnett and Lily Gatti, helping them on the pieces they were currently learning.

Huge thanks to Emily for generously sharing her work and talents with us here in Cairns.  We look forward to welcoming her back again! Rumour has it that she’s planning a guitar and harp duo album to be released in 2023, so look out for that. In the meantime you can listen to her album ‘In Transit’ on iTunes and the regular places, or even better, purchase from her website www.emilygranger.com.

Thanks to Loni Fitzpatrick for the photographs and harp!