My "Harps for Hearts" music program

As many of you know I have been involved with putting live music in hospitals for some time now. I have just passed my 10th year of being involved with City of Hope National Cancer Center with my "Hands-on-Harps" program. I often go to speaking engagements with my power point slide show to demonstrate the power of music and how having it in various healing environments benefits everybody. I have been procrastinating putting my slideshow into a movie, but a recent opportunity has presented itself for a keynote speaking gig, so I finally did it.
Here it is!

Vblog #29 - Golden Toad Music Camp..

omigosh.. this was so fun. A highlight of the year so far. It was a last minute decision to attend Golden Toad music camp.. It was so wonderful, and inspiring. I will write more soon but just wanted to get this posted.

Lisa Lynne Vblog #28 - Getting ready for a show in Vacaville..

Hi Blog friends, Here is the next episode of my video series. I am hoping to show the reality of how it all comes together.. rehearsals, sound checks.. back stage..its the real deal.

This was around a benefit concert for a Women's shelter in Vacaville, California.It was a rare show with vocalist Molly Pasutti singing lyrics to versions of our favorite tunes. We have a new album out featuring Molly and Barbara Higbie who I perform with more often. Barbara joined us onstage and also opened the show.

Its fun to goof around with such a cheerful bunch of great musicians.
Lisa

Vblog #27 New music!

Greetings.. I'll write more soon, but just wanted to post a new video blog of the music we are working on. Aryeh and I were in Pasadena last week, putting finishing touches on the first vocal music I have ever released! Molly Pasutti wrote beautiful lyrics to my instrumental compositions over the years, and finally its recorded. So it will be released soon, and I'm very excited. Here is the video... the making of..
Two Worlds One - Still the Moon

Vblog #26 - Photo shoot and impromtu Carole King

Hi Friends, I'm trying to get a bit more organized with my blogs and videos. I am now numbering them in a sequence, so it makes more sense to organize the time stream.

This one was just last week. I have been working for month on a new recording with my partner Aryeh and vocalist Molly. She has been my friend for over a decade and she writes the most beautiful lyrics for many of my instrumental songs and sings them with her most beautiful voice. This project has been in the making for a really long time.
Molly and I met and started performing together about 10 years ago. Everytime we did, it was magic. We never had a recording, because we both had such busy lives. We finally started a recording at Sony studios, but again life got in the way, I moved, Molly got married, these very special tracks laid dormant. Until, Aryeh discovered them and swiftly brought them back to life. We added more of our beautiful instruments, had a couple of our favorite guest musicians, and completed the new CD over the last several months. Right now the wonderful sound engineer Bernie Becker is putting the final moves on the mixes and it will be out and available in early Spring. So to say this work is long awaiting is quite the understatement.

Last week we had a photo shoot for the cover of the album. We went to a studio in Northern California not far from where I live, and went for it. Here, Aryeh captured an impromtu moment of us goofing around with songs and my bandura. It was a rather tedious session as photo shoots always are. I never played this song before (Carole King one of my very favorites) on my Bandura, but it worked rather well!
I hope you enjoy this glimpse of an ordinary day playing 70's love songs on Ukranian Bandura on an ancient antique Chinese bed.
Lisa

Medieval Minstral Trio

Hi Friends, Heres a tune from the other nights show at Open Secret in San Rafeal, California. Aryeh and I are joined onstage by Hudost founder/guitarist Jemal Wade Hines.
I was getting over a terrible cold at the time, but it was fun nonetheless!

A trip to Montana

Hi Friends, Last week I went to Montana where my mom and I purchased a house. She will be living there near her sister and I have a very nice getaway place. We had fun making this video, It shows the house, the surroundings and a funny look at the local police reports. I hope you enjoy it. Also, the music you hear is George and I improvising with
him on guitar and me on bass mandolin.

All about House Concerts

Hi Folks, Here is a video I made about doing house concerts.
Its also includes some footage about my "Hands-on-Harps" workshops
and my work in using live music in medical environments.

I hope you enjoy it.
More to come!
Lisa

Harps & Faeries

Hi Everyone, Earlier this month I took 15 harps up to Eugene,Oregon for the Faerie Worlds festival. I wanted to give anyone a chance to learn to play on my harps and it was a wonderful time. We stayed on an organic farm nearby with dear friends and my mom came along to help out too. I had people sign up for the time slots and I handed out the harps to anyone who wanted to try. We play glissandos, and scales,some simple songs and even rounds. People love the experience and are quite amazed how easier it was than they thought. I really love doing this because the people areso happy and inspired by it. I would like to think I will have contributed quite a lot of harp players in the world by the time I'm done! The music on this video is from my CDs called "Fairie Tales" and "Maiden's Prayer" George Tortorelli plays flutes on the video and in all the music. He was a huge help as it is quite a physical feat to pull this off. I hope you enjoy this.

The Light & The Longing - solo harp piece

Greetings from San Francisco everyone.
Its been a busy summer of concerts and festivals. I just wanted to post a sample of a recent show at the Coffee Gallery in Alta Dena, California.
I also wanted to dedicate this piece to my Grandmother Margaret Hughes who left this world on Monday night. She was 93. An incredible woman who traveled the world often by herself up to just a few years ago. She shared with me her fierce independence and love for Matazlan, Mexico and now I will carry on her tradition of keeping a time share there which I'll visit yearly. Here she is, and here is the song.