Janet Vertesi, Harp & Voice
... and various others...
Shouts out to Matt Robbins, Dan Williams, Becca Priebe, and Alan Arnedo; to "Silent" Josh Abraham, Joe Boccuzzi, Eliott Pinkus, and Steve McClure; and to David Vertesi.
Influences
In jazz and folk: Dorothy Ashby, Joan Baez, Dave Brubeck, Eva Cassidy, Judy Collins, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Deborah Henson-Conant, Norah Jones, Loreena McKennitt, Joni Mitchell, Park Stickney... Would also like to make the harp sound like: Big Wreck, Cake, Fatboy Slim, Hey Ocean, Mother, Led Zeppelin, and anything with an outstanding funky bassline or that I can use my wah pedal with...
At a Loreena McKinnett concert at sixteen, Janet turned to her parents at intermission and gasped, "I think I want a harp for Christmas..." There wasn't a concert harp under the tree that year, but it wasn't long before this award-winning folk, jazz and classical singer brought her extensive musical background to the harp as a contemporary folk and jazz instrument.
Originally from Vancouver, BC, Janet studied harp at the Vancouver Academy of Music under the principal harpist of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. There, she drew on extensive experience on the wedding and events circuit as a Celtic harpist in Music From the Mists as well as performance experience onstage in musical theatre shows across the city. She has also benefitted from the tutelage of Briton bard Myrdhin, celtic harpists Kim Robertson and Harper Tasche, and the legendary jazz harpist Deborah Henson-Conant. Graduate school in Cambridge and Ithaca rounded off performance experiences in the UK, Hawaii, and the mainland USA. She is currently an active member of the CU Jazz Program, where she plays with a variety of ensembles, while continuing to develp solo harp-and-voice repertoire.
Janet plays a Camac Little Big Blue, the classic electro-acoustic harp. She is also known for the English translation of Camac Publications' "At the Heart of the Harp" on the history of the harp in the eighteenth century. Both her brothers are also professional musicians: one is a member of the folk funk band Hey Ocean!, while the other is an opera singer, basso profundo range
Thanks for the comment- I'm really glad you like our stuff! I know it's short notice, but our group is playing this Friday from 9-11 at Java's coffee, located in downtown Rochester at 16 Gibbs St., right next to Eastman School of Music. But we'll also keep our MySpace and website (www.neocollage.net) updated about other upcoming events. I'd also like to come down to Ithaca to hear you play sometime, so I'll keep checking your MySpace schedule for a gig I can attend. Anyway, in the group I play a CAMAC 36-string Baby Blue electric lever harp, but I play a Lyon and Healy 23 at school. What about you?
Thanks again for your interest! It was great hearing from you!
