Heavenly Harps of Hawaii

Wow! Recently I’ve had an assortment of special requests to play on my harp for Maui weddings! Two weeks ago I learned and played Michael Bublé’s Everything, this past weekend I was requested to learn Beyoncé’s Halo, followed two days later by three Marx Brothers tunes played by violin and harp for a very young couple who loved the old standards of the early 20th century. We performed Only You! for the maids’ processional, Ev’ryone Says ‘I Love You’ for the Bride’s Entrance, and When My Dreams Come True for the couple’s Recessional. Many folks who’ve heard us play the traditional classical wedding repertoire and standard love songs for years commented how much fun these Marx Brothers tunes were and that we should play them more! Maybe we will!

Celia and Don Perform Harp and Violin at Four Seasons

Today I played my first Michael Bublé song for a wedding: Everything. The couple wanted to have it for their Recessional and so I learned it for them. It actually came off quite well. Michael Bublé definitely seems to be a contemporary Frank Sinatra and since I know several of Sinatra’s standards on the harp, this will be a fun twist to mix in when I play those, too.

I’m happy to learn special requests as I can to provide the music that is meaningful for your wedding. I do have to listen to them and look at the sheet music to see if they’re adaptable to the harp…. Everything most certainly was….the couple was pleased to have me play it at their wedding.

As a harpist on Maui, I enjoy playing for many types of events… of course, I enjoy the many Maui weddings and the Lana’i ones, too! I have also been fortunate to also provide music for a wide variety of other occasions, from local fundraisers for such as the Pacific Cancer Foundation to open houses for real estate agents, from Christmas parties to Mother’s Day at the Kea Lani. Recently, I played for Wailuku First Friday – April 1 – for Swan Interiors. It was wonderful providing elegant music in such an elegant interior design-furniture store. They have the most wonderful people working there and the owner, Kristin Holmes, absolutely LOVES what she does and it shows in her store and all of her interior design work.

Heavenly Harps - part of First Friday in Wailuku

My oft-times playing partner, Don Lax of Maui Violin, & I performed ceremony music for a very glamorous wedding at the Four Seasons Maui, November 13, 2010. StyleMePretty.com has featured the bride and her many elaborate details as well as an amazing video and has credited us with providing the music. While we don’t happen to be featured in the video, we are thrilled to be mentioned in the credits. Mahalo!

Harp & Violin Music on Maui

I didn’t know I’d get so excited to watch some of the Royal Wedding – but I did! I loved the elegance and detail and the special touches that came with the day. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful gown and I loved the couple’s second kiss on the balcony!

What was really special tho’ was that they had the Royal Harpist, Claire Jones, play for the several hundred guests at their luncheon that followed their fabulous morning wedding. Claire is sometimes known as Prince Charles’ Golden Girl, as he is responsible for reinstating the centuries-old post of Royal Harpist after a lapse of nearly 100 years. Claire is a beautiful harpist with an amazing harp. Interesting that my harp, having been built in 1913, is about as old as the last time they’d had a Royal Harpist until the reinstatement in 2007…

Claire Jones, Royal Harpist

You, too, can have a beautiful gold harp played for your Maui wedding ceremony; and not only for your wedding ceremony, but also for your post-ceremony function: a harp makes wonderful background music for your cocktail time, reception, wedding dinner, etc. So give yourself the Royal Treatment today and book a fine harpist for your special event!

You can watch this great interview and music by Claire on youtube.

In April, I played for a lovely couple at the Four Seasons Maui venue of Plumeria Point. They had chosen Scott Drexler of Photos On Maui as their wedding photographer and I was delighted to work with Scott again… he’s not only a true artist, he’s also one of the nicest people you will ever hope to meet. He and his business partner, Bill Stockwell are amazing photographers and I always love working on the weddings they’re doing. Check out these beautiful photos by Scott Drexler involving my gold pedal harp. (Click on one to enlarge and there’s a scroll arrow in the right hand corner for moving to the next ones)

10/10/10 – A wonderfully symmetrical date that was oh so popular with brides this past year! I imagine 11/11/11 will be equally as busy, so if you’re planning a wedding for that date, start booking your favorite vendors now, especially if you want a sunset wedding.

Harp on Ocean Front Lawn, Four Seasons Maui, 10/10/10

I played for a lovely couple at the Four Seasons and the bride, Lisa Lum Friedman, wrote to me some weeks later and included these photos. She emailed: “Ray and I just wanted to thank you for being a part of our special day.  Although we didn’t even have a chance to meet you (so unfortunate!), we hope you know that we really appreciated your contribution to our wedding.  You were highly recommended and we can honestly say that we can understand why.  You completely set the tone for our ceremony and it was exactly what we wanted.  I do have to admit that I started to tear up when I heard Air on a G String but, thanks to Denise, I pulled myself together and was able to enjoy my moment walking down those stairs and down that aisle!  It was perfect!

Wailea Beach Maui Sunset Wedding

“Ray and I truly apologize for not introducing ourselves after the ceremony.  It went by so quickly and even now (a little over a month later), it all still seems so surreal!  We really want you to know that you were a very important part of our big day and you are someone who will not be forgotten!”

Truly a picture worth a thousand words–we five instrumentalists were so delighted to be playing in a quintet together–a mini orchestra for this wedding at the Four Seasons, Ocean Front Lawn on July 23, 2010.

Harp, 2 violins, viola, and cello–a lush, exquisite sound!

Aloha! Played a wedding on Valentine’s Day, yesterday, at the Royal Lahaina Resort on the west side of Maui. This was the first time I’ve seen guests SO color-coordinated! *Everyone*, from baby to grandparents, wore Hilo Hattie design red and white aloha garments…. different garments for all the folks, but all sewn from the same material. The bride was in standard solid white with red finger nail polish and the groom wore a solid white tux, white shoes, and a red satin vest. WOW! Don and I played violin and harp duo again and we sounded really good today… spot on with our timing as usual, and really “into” our romantic, gorgeous selections from operas that so many people know, even if they think they don’t know classical music. “O Mio Babbino Caro” and “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana were particularly thrilling.

On Saturday morning, I played for a sweet wedding at the White Orchid Beach House in Makena, Maui. That is such a superb spot right on the ocean and Bernie is a wonderful coordinator who really thrills in the romance of her couples. I played my smaller harp and always wonder why folks wouldn’t prefer, for a little extra, the large beauty that my gold harp is. It has such a rich tone, especially since it’s nearly 100 years old! I have realized I do love morning weddings, and that’s something coming from someone who got married at 7 pm 26 years ago this last week! I love that morning weddings bring these qualities here on Maui: the day is fresh and untouched, the water sparkles in jewel tones, the wind rarely blows strongly, and the sun is so much easier for everyone to take. Everyone’s morning energy is fresh and you can feel the anticipation much more keenly. Plus, then you have the whole day left to you to revel in your first day as a married couple. Wish we’d done that….

Aloha from Maui!

I’ve been enjoying playing at some wonderful, even whimsical weddings here on Maui so far this month. Just this last weekend, I provided harp music for 2 different weddings in 2 different parts of the island of Maui. On Friday afternoon at 1 pm, I was playing at a luxury home in Ma’alaea. The couple made a special request of a song that was meaningful to them, “Across the Stars” from Episode 2 of Star Wars. Tho’ it’s unusual in that it’s in a minor key, it was actually quite lovely, even majestic, played when the groom and maids entered, and I’m happy for the opportunity to have to learn it. Then I transitioned into “Hymne” by Vangelis for the bride. NICE!

The colors for the flowers were exquisite–oranges, yellows, and the maids wore royal blue dresses. What a great combination for Maui! Blue water, vibrant sun colors…

This must be a new color fad, as the wedding next day at Royal Lahaina Resort in Ka’anapali had the oranges and yellows again. Because many of our tropical flowers are *not* these colors, roses and perhaps callas are tending to be the flower of choice…. Beautiful! I got to make elegant harp music with my favorite violinist, Don Lax, and we played lots of traditional wedding songs as the bride had requested the Traditional Processional, “Wedding Chorus” by Wagner, also commonly called “Here Comes the Bride.” Because it’s not requested so much anymore, it actually sounds new again to us!