Nothing provides an ethereal element to a wedding ceremony quite like the dulcet tones of a harp. Read our interview with professional harpist Moira Stern, the daughter of author Marion Zimmer Bradley, whose memory inspired her latest CD, "Avalon's Daughter," for her advice to brides in search of a harpist, and how you, too, can master this heavenly instrument.

What specific questions should a bride ask a harpist before hiring the performer for her wedding?

It is important that the bride makes sure her harpist is both experienced and accustomed to the many different challenges that a wedding can present. The harpist must be able to tailor the length of her marches and processional pieces to the length of the hall and the number of attendants, and this is impossible to predict; it must be carefully managed by the harpist to avoid a silence as the bride approaches, or requiring her to stand there while the harpist finishes.

All must be arranged to call attention to the bride, never the music. When interviewing a harpist, notice whether she is focused on herself and her performance, or on you and your wishes. This will tip you off about whether she will be aware of the people she must depend on for cues, or if she will be focused only on her playing.

The following questions will allow you to get a rough idea of where the harpist is coming from, as well as her experience. Look for a harpist who is relaxed and confident, and preferably has at least five to ten years of professional experience.

1. How long have you been playing the harp?
2. How long have you played professionally?
3. What kind of music do you like to play?
4. Have you done many weddings?
5. Can you accompany a singer?
6. Can you do requests, and how much notice do you need?

If you hire a less-experienced harpist, or a student, the music might be very good, but your wedding is not the place to take chances. Checking references is always a good idea, and coming to see the harpist in person at a local performance will give you a much better idea of what to expect than a website.

Are there any special considerations that a bride should be aware of when hiring a harpist?

The best place for a concert harp is indoors on wood or carpet. There must be a solid, level floor at least 4x6 for the harp, bench and music stand. That being said, there are many odd places one might find a harp, including a garden, a gazebo, or a patch of ground in the woods. I usually tell people I won't play on the back of a camel, or in a swimming pool.

A few of my pet nightmares: sand is a real no-no, but you can be next to sand on a solid platform with a solid walkway. A Celtic harp could possibly sit on the sand (but not mine) but the bench would be unstable and the music stand (always top heavy even in the best of circumstances) will simply fall over. I personally hate playing on grass; rocks are impossible.

A concert harp is over 100 pounds, concentrated in an area one-foot-square when upright, and balanced on feet a total of two square inches when the harpist is playing. Therefore, any surface a high-heeled shoe will sink into will also let a harp's feet sink when the harp is being played.

Wind is OK to a point, except for the music getting blown all over the place... but any extreme of temperature will make the harp go out of tune. The wonderful thing about wind is that the harp will play itself, a very eerie sound we call "Wind Song" in a high or moderate wind.

I have played on cliffs in Lake Tahoe, and had music and hair and guests blown all over the place; it is a cinch that the guest will never forget such a ceremony, but better to make your dress and flowers and vows unforgettable than the weather.

If the light is dim, the harpist will need to have a way to see her music and her strings. Providing a light is both a kindness and a necessity. Also, if she is playing against an all-red or black background, her C (red) or F (black) strings will disappear, along with her composure.

Many people equate harp music solely with the classical genre. Can songs from different musical genres be adapted for the harp if the bride has some personal favorites?

Absolutely. I do it constantly. Most harpists have a large selection of songs that are currently popular, and a selection from many different genres to suit many tastes.

What are your musical suggestions for the prelude, processional, and the recessional?

I almost invariably play Pachelbel's Canon in D for the bridesmaids, because it consists of variations on a four measure theme, and it can go on for twenty minutes for a zillion bridesmaids or it can be cut to thirty seconds and still be beautiful; you just add or subtract variations.

I will play the traditional Bride's March from Wagner's Lohengrin and the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" if they are requested, but I don't volunteer them, because there is a problem with the symbolism: in Lohengrin, Elsa lost her husband forever on their wedding night, and in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Oberon and Titania spend all their time fighting. Not auspicious. However, there is a certain emotional impact created by those marches that cannot be duplicated by anything else.

I have sung and played "All I Ask Of You" from Phantom of the Opera as a very effective bridal procession; the Trumpet Voluntary is also very good. Sometimes I sing "Sunrise, Sunset" or "Danny Boy" for the Mothers. I have also used the Bach Prelude no. 1 in C. I personally walked down the aisle to Saint-Saens' "The Swan." In Catholic weddings, I love to sing Ave Maria; either the Schubert (in German) or the Bach/Gounod (in Latin.)

What have been some of the cultural and musical influences which have inspired your work?

I grew up listening to the famous Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara, and I would have to say she was the most important musical influence in my life. She is the chief exponent of this century of a style of Irish singing known as "ceol mor" or "great music." Ceol mor has among its hallmarks a very wide vocal range, and it requires a great deal of vocal control to be able to sing well. It differs from what purist call "New York Irish Music" like "My Wild Irish Rose" or "Mother Machree" in range, difficulty and intent. Most ceol mor is emotionally very direct, and sometimes heartbreaking; it is devoid of the sugary sentimentality that characterizes much of what passes for Irish music on your average St. Patrick's Day recording.

I was strongly influenced by the folk singing of Jacqui McShee from Pentangle and Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span. I adore Jean Redpath, the famous Scottish singer and Joan Baez, the incomparable American singer.

I am also a huge fan of Maire Ni Bhraionin, lead singer of Clannad (music for the Robin Hood TV series, etc.) A former member of Clannad was Maire's little sister Eithne...aka Enya. I taught myself to sing in Gaelic from their recordings, reading Gaelic language lesson books, and making myself reconcile mentally the sounds I heard with what seemed like hopeless gibberish on the page. Gaelic is a very difficult language, but not quite as awkward to sing as English; believe it or not, it is easiest to sing in Italian; nice pure vowels and not so many messy consonant clusters and diphthongs. Which brings me to another group of influences: Maria Callas, the consummate singing actress and opera singer, Joan Sutherland, the most amazing coloratura soprano of this century, and Mady Mesple, French opera singer who could bring tears and trembling to the showiest operatic aria, turning something scholarly into something personal. Kathleen Battle has a voice that puts silver to shame.

Why am I such an opera fan? Because as a musician, my purpose is to help people feel things they won't ordinarily take the time to feel. Opera communicates something which cannot be communicated any other way; I have read opera scores such as Madama Butterfly, hearing the music in my head, and wept openly. To any who think that opera is some pointless uppity thing, I would say "It's a singer thang; you wouldn't understand." I wish that it was easier to translate opera well into English; we are the only nation that insists on performing in a
non-native language, and unfortunately, opera will be lost in a foreign language to most who do not speak it, and subtitles are a very small help.

Among concert harpists, I love Susann MacDonald. Among folk harpists, I love Patrick Ball and the late Derek Bell of The Chieftains. Loreena McKennitt richly deserves her fame, because she combines excellent singing with excellent songwriting, arranging, harp playing, keyboards and producing.

Invariably, in line with my purpose as a singer, all my influences are singers who have the ability to convey emotion to their audiences. In the pop realm, I count Tori Amos and Kate Bush as major influences; I consider Faith Hill to be the best singer currently performing in the popular genres. Tori Amos has helped a generation of people with ..painful history... to have a voice. To me, any music that helps people grieve and feel understood is a gift from God. Music has the ability to touch people's souls, and it needs to be a positive touch.

Not only is Moira Stern a trained opera singer and concert harpist, but she also shares her musical knowledge through harp and voice lessons. What services do you provide in your masterclasses?

Everyone gets to sing and get their song spruced up; I also cover professional presentation and stage deportment. You have no idea how many singers, even very fine ones, have no idea how to get on and off stage gracefully. Yet as a performer, you are judged first by your walk and the carriage of your head, and your attitude before you sing or play, and all this makes, if possible, even more of an impression than your performance.

I see many harpists who have been self-taught, and as a result have chronic hand pain. This is an easy fix, thank God, but someone must provide the fix, as the proper way to play the harp is counter-intuitive; the exact opposite of one's instincts. Most self-taught individuals curl their hands into a "claw" and pluck the strings using the impossibly weak finger muscles...thus adding to the pocketbooks of the doctors! Concert harpists must play for many hours at a stretch, so they play in the only way that puts the muscle work where it belongs: in the forearms and shoulders. We pull our fingertips into our palms, which is where they go automatically if you squeeze your forearm tendons with your other hand.

I also cover the proper construction and contents of a professional performer's music book; some people have a zillion songs, but no idea what to play at a professional job. I invite my students to bring their professional materials to the class so we can proofread and make improvements as necessary.

What drew you to the songs you included in your CD, "Avalon's Daughter"?

My late mother, author Marion Zimmer Bradley, was in her heart, a singer first, and a writer second. Her book, "The Mists of Avalon" inspired a generation of King Arthur fans to further study and philosophical inquiry. I wrote a few songs based on Arthurian themes (Guinevere's Song, Sunrise over Stonehenge) but most of the songs on Avalon's Daughter were either ones my mother had taught me as a small child, or ones I knew she would like. It is a tribute to my mother, the singer her fans never knew.

In my future albums, I will be covering some aspects of folk music I love, but are not well-known. One album in the works is called "Echoes of Now" and it consists entirely of folk music written by modern composers. Another is "Wicked Princess" which is about bad women, and merely clever ones who come up with some marvelous solutions to evil situations. I am doing an album of classical music which will cover standard wedding repertoire, and another two called "A Harp At The Opera" and "A Harp Follows The Lieder" which will be opera and art song accompanied by solo harp. I have an original work for solo harp and voice called "Anthem For America" which tells the story of a woman with two children who loses her husband and gains a folded flag in a terrorist incident, and her journey through grief to healing. My Website will cover these and other releases:
www.moirastern.com.

For every sensational story that touches the news, there is usually some folk song or three that deals with a similar situation: for the Scott Petersen trial, there is the song "Omie Wise;" for Susan Smith there is "The Cruel Mother," and "Mary Hamilton" and the list goes on. Some of the stories told in folk songs are more horrible than anything currently in the news, but many are also gorgeous. It is good to be reminded that we did not invent suffering, nor did we invent joy; we merely reinvent these things, and there is much to be learned from the perspectives of the ancient music of our culture.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

If the harp has touched you, it is never too late to begin.

My mentor, Velma Cameron, started the harp at age 55 when she was wheelchair-bound and well over 300 lbs. When we met, she was performing professionally all over the place, and it was she who listened to me and told me I was ready to become a professional harpist myself. (I had introduced myself to her as a beginner, and she vehemently disagreed.) Since she gave me my wings, she physically rehabilitated herself, lost the excess weight, got away from both wheelchair and cane, and flew away to Montana where she continues to mentor young harpists. It is possible to find a harp to rent (and I highly recommend renting first) and a teacher in your area. For information on renting a harp look up Vanderbilt Music, Lyon & Healy or Sylvia Woods Harp Center on the Web.

Please do not buy a harp unless you have played for three months or your teacher has given you her recommendation on makes and models: your teacher can guide you best.

Most harpists play all their lives, even into their eighties and nineties. Therefore, the fifties and sixties is not too late to start.

If you are considering a harp for your wedding, you should know that the sounds that harp strings produce are intrinsically healing. The uses of these sounds have been explored in medicine, and used in hospitals for a variety of therapeutic purposes. A harp will definitely calm a nervous bride and an excited audience, and leave everyone feeling as though they were looking through a rainbow and smelling the clean air after a gentle spring rain.

If you have questions about the harp, please feel free to contact me through my website www.moirastern.com.