Deborah Henson-Conant
Encyclopedia
Deborah Henson-Conant is an American
harpist known for her flamboyant stage presence and refusal to fit the stereotype of a harpist as an angelic blond woman in a long dress.
She describes herself on her website as "cross-genre: jazz
-pop
-comedy-folk
-blues
-flamenco
-celtic
", and plays electric harp
s of various kinds. She performs one-woman shows in theaters, concert halls and festivals. She also performs her original music/theatre shows with symphony orchestras. Her performances mix music with theatrical and story elements. She orchestrates all her own music when she plays with symphony and often engages symphonic musicians in unexpected ways.
The soundtrack of her 2006 DVD release, "Invention & Alchemy" received a Grammy nomination and the video version is scheduled to begin broadcast on Public Television in 2007 (in the USA).
Her performance series "Inviting Invention" (2006) presented a series of "performance explorations" that included both musical and non-musical guests collaborating onstage with Henson-Conant.
Henson-Conant now lives in Arlington, Massachusetts
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
harpist known for her flamboyant stage presence and refusal to fit the stereotype of a harpist as an angelic blond woman in a long dress.
She describes herself on her website as "cross-genre: jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-comedy-folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
-flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
-celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
", and plays electric harp
Electric harp
Like electric guitars, electric harps are based on their acoustic originals. There are both solid-body and hollow body electro-acoustic models available...
s of various kinds. She performs one-woman shows in theaters, concert halls and festivals. She also performs her original music/theatre shows with symphony orchestras. Her performances mix music with theatrical and story elements. She orchestrates all her own music when she plays with symphony and often engages symphonic musicians in unexpected ways.
The soundtrack of her 2006 DVD release, "Invention & Alchemy" received a Grammy nomination and the video version is scheduled to begin broadcast on Public Television in 2007 (in the USA).
Her performance series "Inviting Invention" (2006) presented a series of "performance explorations" that included both musical and non-musical guests collaborating onstage with Henson-Conant.
Henson-Conant now lives in Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
Albums
- Invention and Alchemy (2006) (DVD & CD)
- Artists Proof Ltd Edition Version 2.1 (2004)
- The Frog Princess (2000)
- The Celtic Album (1998)
- Altered Ego (1998)
- Just For You (1995)
- The Gift (1995)
- 'Round the Corner (1993)
- Naked Music (1994)
- Budapest (1992)
- Talking Hands (1991)
- Caught in the Act (1990)
- On The Rise (1989)
- Songs My Mother Sang (1985)
Harps used by Deborah
- Lyon & Healy Style 23 Natural
- Wurlitzer Starke Model Gold
- Small Rubarth "R-Harp" (a lap harp)
- Lyon & Healy Style 2000 Electroacoustic
- CamacCamac HarpsCamac Harps is a French company that manufactures pedal harps, lever harps, and electric pedal and lever harps. Camac Harps was founded by Joël Garnier in 1972....
Electro-acoustic Big Blue - CamacCamac HarpsCamac Harps is a French company that manufactures pedal harps, lever harps, and electric pedal and lever harps. Camac Harps was founded by Joël Garnier in 1972....
Baby Blue - Lyon & Healy Silhouette
