CCHS 20th Annual Harp Retreat 2025

FRIDAY June 27, 2025

Colorado Celtic Harp Society Retreat 

3pm to 5:45pm

-Check in to the Retreat and your room during this time.

-Social time for sharing and playing together for those that arrive early.

6pm-6:45

Dinner together in the Dining room 

7pm-until?

-Welcome and introductions.

-Annual CCHS Business Meeting. David K.

-Julie and Kim will introduce themselves and play a few duos.

After

Social. Wine, snacks etc. Members encouraged to play.

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SATURDAY June 28

8:00-8:45 AM

Breakfast in Dining Room 

9:00- 10:15 AM

Workshop   One: Flexing your ear muscles

Julie will introduce her history of ensemble playing and present an overview of concepts. Kim will teach a simple melody by ear to involve us in really listening to each other.

10:15-10:30

Break 

10:30-11:45

Workshop   Two: Mining for chords

Working with our charts, we may divide the group into smaller groups to share chord ideas and choose which tunes they would like to work with. Session playing will be discussed, since it is mostly about finding the chords.

12:00 noon

Lunch in dining room 

12:40

Group photo In front of Francis Place.

1:00-2:15

Workshop   Three: Sharing the Hands

Now that the chords have been found, we look at how to share the load.

Some players on left hand only and some on melody-and creating patterns and effect arrangements with their charts. Also working melody instruments. Julie and Kim will demonstrate. 

2:15-2:45

Break

2:45-4:00

Workshop   Four: Bridging gaps and patching holes

Leaning in on the creative and more experienced players to come up with intros, interludes and harmony lines, while less experienced players stay with the strong foundational elements-chord patterns and melodies.

4:00-4:30

Break

4:30-5:30

Small groups. Practice your ensemble pieces for the evening Harp Salon.

See “Salon Description” (below) ahead of time.

6:00 Dinner

Dining Room

7:00

Harping together Salon Evening: Duos, ensembles and solos welcome! Attendees may share their duo and ensemble arrangements from class as well.

Kim and Julie are available to play with you!

After

More wine? Make Music! Be Happy!

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SUNDAY June 29

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast in the Dining room. After Breakfast, check out of your room: move all   belongings to Woodman or to your car. Turn in keys. 

9:00 -10:15

Harping together final harp circle.  Julie

10:15-10:30

Break

10:30-11:15

Harp Tasting. Comparing Harp by different makers- David K. and ?.

11:15-11:45

Short meeting: evaluations, ideas for next year. Clean out the refrigerator.

12:00pm

Lunch and farewell. Dining room

COLORADO CELTIC HARP SOCIETY 2025 RETREAT

Our guest artists will be Julie Norem-Hawley and Kim McKee. Check out the schedule above. This looks to be a terrific event. Many of you know Julie and Kim from the Spanish Peaks Celtic Harp Retreat.

You can go to YouTube and look for Willson and McKee performing Kim’s song “As If You Were Two”

featuring Kim and Julie on two Jack Yule harps.

Julie and Kim will email and mail out 4-6 melody charts ahead of the retreat. They ask attendees to become familiar with these simple melody lines. 

These charts will not contain any chords. 

We will work with them throughout the day on Saturday. Julie also has a list of songs in the CCHS Playbook that she will send out to attendees ahead of time. There will be suggested tunes we may all play together in our large harp circle.

SATURDAY EVENING HARP SALON DESCRIPITION:

The Harp Salon is a casual opportunity for us to play for each other.

Prior to the harp retreat, attendees are encouraged to pair up with another harper by phone, email or in person, and either split the hands of a simple solo piece, or choose a duo piece you like. If you want to play a solo instead, feel free. 

You may also decide to present a piece we all worked on in class.

You may also find someone to partner with at the retreat

You are encouraged to present a duo, trio, or even harp and another instrument.

Julie and Kim will be available to play with you. Just let them know if you need a partner to pair with.

Julie’s email is Julie@taosharpmusic.com . She would love to help in any way to suggest music or even play a piece with you!!!!

Once the registration deadline has passed, a list of attendees will be available. 

This can be helpful if you are looking for someone to share a ride, a room or someone to play a duet with.

CCHS has Nancy Hurrell books in their lending library. “Harpers Playbook”, 

"A Circle of Harps” and “The Ring of Harps”. There are some wonderful duo and ensemble pieces in there that you might want to check out if you are looking for an ensemble. 

The CCHS Playbook is another place to look for a tune.