Coming Up
Hands on Harp Strings Tour
The Hands on Harp Strings tour is a series of harp events at colleges, schools and community halls across Wales leading towards the Wales International Harp Festival (5-12 April 2023), organised by Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias (William Mathias Music Centre).
The festival itself will be launched with a concert at Bangor University at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 22nd 2022, which will be part of the official programme to celebrate the 100th anniversary of establishing the Department of Music where Elinor was the Harp Teacher for many years.
Following this, the Hands on Harp Strings tour will take place and we are delighted to be a part of this. The tour will include a harp workshop, masterclass, harp exhibition and concert at many locations along the way from Holyhead to Cardiff working with a local teacher in each venue. At each of the venues we will have an exhibition of Camac harps and if there is a particular model you’re interested in trying then please get in touch so we can make sure we have one with us! The dates and venues are:
To book a concert ticket or place on the workshop please follow this link: Tour 2022 | Wales Harp Festival
Past Projects
Caernarfon Camac Harp Day Saturday 5 October 2019
Caernarfon Camac Harps Day: Join us for a day of harp playing and an informal concert with Claire Jones and Dylan Wyn Rowlands at Galeri, Caernarfon together with an exhibition of Camac harps. Full timetable
Harp on Wight International Festival 25 – 29 October 2019
Harp on Wight International Festival: Once again this year we are heading over to Ryde to exhibit in the Harp Showroom in Ryde Methodist Church. Full festival details can be found here: www.harponwight.co.uk
Harp Rock Cafe Saturday 9 November 2019
Harp Rock Cafe: 9am-1pm at Wycombe High School. Come along and try the harp for the first time or if you already play then join in the workshop with inspirational harpist Eleanor Turner. Further details and registration form can be found here: https://www.chilternmusicacademy.org/harp-rock-cafe/
Edinburgh Camac Harp Day Saturday 16 November 2019
Edinburgh Camac Harp Day: Join us for a jam packed day featuring a film score workshop with Heather Downie, a Blues workshop with Tsvetelina Likova as well as an introduction to our electric harps, a try the harp session and an exhibition of Camac harps. Full details
Cheltenham Harp Day Sunday 8 December 2019
Cheltenham Harp Day: We’re delighted to be teaming up once again with Natasha Gale and Tara Minton for a day of harp playing in Cheltenham. Further details to follow
Can I be electric too? Saturday 18 January 2020
Can I be electric too?: 10am – 12 noon at our Cardiff showroom. Would you like to amplify your harp but not sure where to begin? Want some easy ‘get you started’ tips? Do you need to know your XLR from your ¼ inch Jack? Are you thinking of using a loop pedal with your harp or want some new tips? Are you dying to try your hands on a DHC Camac electric harp? Want to rock out with a distortion pedal? Want to try some other guitar pedals with you harp?! If any of this rings true then this is the session for you!
On 18 January 2020, Shelley Fairplay will be at our showroom for a free drop in session from 10am-12 noon, offering friendly advice to anyone interested in starting to dabble in electrics and also guidance with hands on experience on our stunning electric harps. Shelley will also be bringing along some of her favourite amplifiers and pedals so there will be lots to play around with and explore! There will be handouts available to equip you with some basic knowledge and terminology that will be useful if you are thinking of taking the plunge into the electric world!
*please note change of date
Hands on Harp Session Saturday 18 January 2020
Hands on Harp: 1-2.45pm at our Cardiff showroom. Have you always wanted to try the harp? Come along to have a taster session on the National Instrument of Wales with Harpist Shelley Fairplay. During the workshop you will be introduced to a variety of different harps including Celtic, Concert Pedal and Lap harps. You will be allocated a Celtic harp to use throughout the session and be guided through your very first stages of learning the harp; how to sit, basic harp technique and of course how to create beautiful sounds! By the end of the session you will have learnt how to find all the notes on your harp, played an accompaniment along with Shelley and also be able to play a tune on your own! No guarantees, but we should also warn you that you may well totally fall for this incredible instrument and awaken your inner harpist!
Harp Taster Sessions in Cardiff
We were delighted to host a “Harp Taster” session, with Cardiff harpist Shelley Fairplay.
During the workshop, participants were introduced to a variety of different harps including Celtic, pedal and lap harps. We provided everyone with a lever harp to use throughout the session, and they learned how to sit, basic harp technique and of course how to create beautiful sounds! By the end of the session, everyone had found all the notes on their harp, played an accompaniment along with Shelley, and played a tune on their own!
Camac Educational Workshops
This Autumn we were delighted to be on tour with renowned harpist Elinor Bennett for a series of workshops supporting the Wales International Harp Festival. In five locations all over the UK we teamed up with a local harp teacher to bring you a day full of harp playing for harpists of all abilities while also spreading the word about the Festival happening in Caernarfon in April 2018. As well as working with Elinor and the local teacher there was also the opportunity to try a selection of Camac harps at our exhibitions which ran at each event.
2000 miles later, after sun, rain and snow, we have reached the end of the UK Camac Educational Workshop tour. A huge thank you to our guest tutors Rohan Platts, Elfair Grug, Llywelyn Jones, Shelley Fairplay and Heather Downie; to all the harpists who came and took part; to Catrin, Nia and the team at CGWM; and to Camac Harps for all their support. An extra special thank you to Elinor Bennett for her inspiration, enthusiasm and friendship throughout the project. We look forward to seeing you all at the festival in Caernarfon in April 2018.
Edinburgh Festival 2017
We exhibit at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival every year – appropriately enough, always in the French room at Merchiston Castle school! This year, we were also honoured to win a tender to supply six lever harps to the Clarsach Society. These harps are going to be used for the Clarsach Society rental scheme.
Cardiff Camac Harp Weekend 2017
Our third Cardiff Camac weekend was a great success! This year, we welcomed none other than Deborah Henson-Conant herself – the inspiration behind our DHC Blue Light electroharps. We also enjoyed concerts and workshops by Eleanor Turner, Tara Minton, Gabriella Dall’Olio, Ben Creighton-Griffiths and Shelley Fairplay. We were joined by Jakez François, Enric De Anciola and Helen Leitner from Camac France, with a special exhibition and free regulations of Camac harps.
