Music in Huaraz -
The Piano -

When we were in Guatemala and in Mesquite, I started giving piano lessons to those who were interested. There were more candidates here than I could reasonably teach each week. It finally narrowed down to eight, some who started from the beginning last  year and several who joined more recently to replace some who dropped out.  

Unfortunately there are not many opportunities for young people to receive music lessons here and they are very expensive so people have no idea how long it takes to learn to play.  I had one primary president ask if I could come one Sunday and teach the primary children to play the piano--I said no.  The first week or two I tried giving the lessons at the church but that didn't work out at all since I was left waiting in the cold chapel when they didn't show up or no one came with a key to open the gate and the doors.  So we bought a keyboard and I gave the lessons in our apartment--much better. 

Thursday night we held a recital at the Church for the eight students that made the effort to come for lessons.  Here are a few photo highlights.

Since the chapel is being remodeled, we moved the electronic piano to this classroom and it worked very well.  (The floor is beautiful wood that is being refinished.) This is a very nice piano/organ that has pre-recorded hymns that can be used if there is no pianist, but I don't think they use it.  They just sing acapella. Hopefully a few of my students will be able to play for meetings sometime in the future.

I played the opening piece, "Flur Elise", so none of  the students would have to be first. I told them that I had much more empathy for them since I was trying to learn to play the harp and that we all had to continue practicing. They were still all very nervous since none had ever played before an audience before.

This is the program we printed with the eight participants and their songs.  All of the songs were from various levels of the John Thompson books that I had copied or various hymn books.  I hope I don't go to jail for copyright violations but there is no beginning music available here. 

Here are four nervously awaiting their turn, starting with the second from the right. Monica, Vicky, Mauricio and Carlos.  It has been amazing to see the difference in their ability.  Monica is still working to master the first song she started on a year ago and Carlos is playing out of the third grade Thompson book after less than a year, plus everything in between. 

This was a duet with Rodrigo, age 10, the youngest student. His number: "Coming Around the Mountain". It was "foot-tapping good!"  I am going to give my keyboard to him since his older brother "hogs" theirs all the time and I think he is going to continue progressing.

This is Carlos, one of two non-member students and the most advanced. He is playing hymns from the standard hymnbook after only eight months of lessons. He wants to be a professional pianist someday and this is a good beginning.

This is Joseph, one of the better students who is playing some simplified hymns. He was really nervous but is determined to get good enough to play for his ward. 

Here they are: (Back row) Carlos, Mauricio, Joseph, Vicky, Mónica, Sharon and Tracy. (Front row) Rodrigo and Marilyn.

We had our favorite bakery around the corner from our apartment make this chocolate sheet cake. The wording says: "Congratulations - Keep Practicing", which was my constant reminder to each student as they departed from their weekly lessons.  They all thought the cake was so funny. The 34 in attendance devoured the whole thing--well, plus a few extra people that always seem to appear when there is a dessert around.

The Harp -
I have been wanting to learn to play the harp for quite a few years so we decided to buy one.This is an Andean harp and is quite different from a standard classical harp like the one in the Orchestra at Temple Square. It is basically always played in the key of C since there are no levers to add sharps or flats.  But it has a very pretty tone when someone who knows how is playing it.

We had it made to order here in Huaraz with all natural wood and hand carving. With its carrying case included, the cost was about 1/3 or much less of what a comparable harp would have cost in the U.S.

Next, we had to find an instructor and we found the best. Sr. Siles Sanchez, is known throughout Peru as one of their premier musicians; he plays and teaches, harp, violin, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, percussion, and a few other native Peruvian instruments. After the first lesson at his studio, he agreed to come to the apartment each week and teach a one hour lesson for U.S. $8.35 per lesson. What a blessing! We attended a concert last week in the  city cultural center and he was one of the featured musicians, playing the harp.  It was inspiring and beautiful.  You can find him on YouTube playing the harp and the violin.

Student and master.  He is very patient and I know just how he feels when he says to "keep practicing". We have spent the last couple of lessons with me learning to tune the harp--which is one of the biggest challenges because it gets out of tune so quickly.

  The colored strings are the base notes and are much thicker than the very thin high note strings or in this case wires.  The high notes are the ones that break and then that is another whole challenge to replace a string.

Look out Carnegie Hall, here I come! Well, not really. I sound just like Monica. We have ordered a box made to bring the harp home in.  It will look like we are bringing a coffin off the plane but we don't want to take any chances on it getting damaged.