“It is mostly para Celtic harps,” Harpers Bizarre member Pete Gibson said.
“There are all different sorts; there are 26 strings, and there are 36 strings.
“We are mostly coordinated by the wonderful Andy Rigby, who is a doyen of the harp world, I would say.
“Personally, I owe everything to him.”
The harpers meet monthly and hold an annual camp at Cave Hill Creek each year, with 40 to 50 harps in attendance.
“We welcome other instruments, but our focus is predominantly on the harp because it is such a special instrument,” Pete said.
“There are all sorts of different skill levels of harpers, we welcome all skill levels.
“We are down to learn new material that generally Andy has researched.
“So that happens in July, and the concert is in August.”
Harp music is diverse, with Turkish, Paraguayan, Celtic, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Serbian tunes.
“I am really looking forward to the harmony of harps,” Pete said.
“We were there in 2018, I think, the last time at the Uniting Church, and it was a wonderful afternoon.
“So they have asked us back again, which is good.”
Pete has been fascinated with harp since attending a week-long Andy Rigby workshop in 2012, and has built his own 26-string lap harp.
“Andy Rigby is a very skilled harper and an extremely skilled engineer. The harp is a very engineered musical instrument, really, because there is a lot of strain on the strings.
“My 26-string lap harp is a beautiful instrument, and in 2014, I built my 36-string harp.
“It is just wonderful, it is very aesthetically beautiful to look at.
“It is made of Tasmanian blackwood, and the bulk of the sound comes from the main body of the harp.”
Harpers Bizarre – A Harmony of Harps will be performed at the Echuca Moama Uniting Church on Sunday, August 25, at 2pm.
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