Romantic and Relaxing Harp Music Enhances Listeners’ Experience;
Yet Being the Harpist Can Be Exciting!
On a very busy weekend I got a call from someone who said that he and his wife were going to spend the night at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. They had stayed there the night of their wedding 10 years before. To add to the romance of the occasion, he wanted to surprise his wife the next morning with harp music. I was glad to accept such a delightful gig.
Early Saturday morning I loaded my big concert harp in the car and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. After unloading the harp I left it in the lobby of the Fairmont, drove to a nearby parking garage, and walked back to the hotel. I then wheeled my harp around many hallways and rode up an elevator to reach the couple’s room. The husband came to the door and motioned for me to bring the harp in. His wife was ecstatic.
I serenaded them for an hour as they had breakfast, taking many requests. When it was time for me to go, they asked if I would play I Left My Heart In San Francisco. The wife had tears in her eyes as I played the song, and she insisted that her husband buy one of my CD’s before I left.
Feeling happy I wheeled my harp into the elevator, and three more people entered to go down to the lobby. One of them said, “Oh, are we going to have elevator music?” “Of course,” I responded. So I gave them a relaxing little excerpt of “Fur Elise” on my harp (elevator music) on our journey down.
After wheeling my harp back around the various hallways I arrived again at the lobby. (I now understand what mice in a maze feel.) I left my harp against a wall in the lobby and walked the 1 ½ blocks to the parking garage, thinking about the morning’s events. After collecting my car and paying the fees, I proceeded to set off for home, still recalling the enchanting encounter with the romantic couple and the fun elevator music, then thinking ahead to the rest of the weekend and my other gigs.
As I approached the Golden Gate Bridge, I said to myself, “The weather is pleasant—about 70 degrees—so the harp will be fine in my car until I leave for the wedding this afternoon.” Then I thought, “Oh. I forgot to put the cover on the harp.” With that, reality struck! “Oh! … I left my harp in San Francisco!”
Fifteen minutes later the harp was safely in my car as I again approached the bridge, crossed, and headed home. In one morning I had experienced romance, nostalgia, panic, humiliation, relief, then humor—all in a very short space of time. The song, I Left My Heart In San Francisco, has taken on a new meaning for me!
To listen to some relaxing elevator music, or find something romantic, go to www.heavenlyharpist.com/harp-cd.htm