Announcing…
We’re excited to announce our first Harp Cabin Fever Workshop with Allison Miller and Tiffany Schaefer!
The 2025 Harp Cabin Fever Workshop Registration is now open. Space is limited. The registration fee is $70 for the workshop, lunch and FREE admission to an Instructor’s Concert after the workshop. The workshop will be on Saturday, January 18 from 9AM to 4:45PM (lunch 12-1:45PM) in Lakewood, Ohio. Exact location of the workshop will be included with your registration confirmation.
Workshop topics (you may select multiple on the registration form – some classes will be taught simultaneously)
-All levels: Ear & Memory – action steps to set you up for successfully learning and memorizing a melody/arrangement.
-All Levels: Arranging Recipe – de-mystify setting up a tune with a delicious arrangement.
-All levels: Competitions, Performing, & Managing Stage Fright – everything you need to know to compete in a Scottish Harp competition, and strategies on tackling stubborn performance anxiety. This co-taught class will include a Q&A and practical tips for performing in any setting.
-Beginner/All Levels: Music Theory 101 – understand your harp by learning the makeup of major and minor chords, identify key signatures, choosing chord progressions, and more!
-Beginner/Early Intermediate: Repertoire Smorgasbord – beginner-friendly, charming traditional tunes and arrangements to learn that don’t sound “beginner!” Adapting for your level, introduction to ornamentation, and adapting for small harps will be discussed.
-Intermediate/Advanced: Repertoire Smorgasbord – a mesmerizing combination of tunes to string together and embellish! Ornamentation and variation will be discussed.
-Mid Intermediate/Advanced: Session Accompaniment – learn chord theory, two-hand patterns, and other strategies for backing other traditional instruments on jigs, reels, and more.
For more information – https://tiffanyschaefer.wixsite.com/music/workshops
Click here for a Workshop Registration Form: https://forms.gle/
About Our Workshop Instructors:
Allison Miller began her musical career at age three with Suzuki piano lessons under the tutelage of Carol Wunderle and although she continued to play piano for the next thirteen years, she picked up the harp at age fourteen and began to explore the traditional music scene. She was very positively influenced by years of attendance at the Ohio Scottish Arts School and, after completing an undergraduate degree in Biology, had the opportunity to pursue postgraduate studies in Clarsarch (Scottish small harp) and Scot’s Song at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Allison taught with Comhaltas coinin Erin in Scotland, has taught both privately and publicly in America, and has appeared in concerts in Scotland, Canada, and at multiple venues in the States. She and her sister, Sairey, often play as a duo, “The Hired Hands,’ and they have released two recordings together: Something, in the spring of 2009, and Somewhere, in the spring of 2022. Allison was awarded the title of National Scottish Harp Champion of America after winning the 2012 National Scottish Harp Competition. She has her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, is a Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner through IHTP, and has held the position of Treasurer for the Scottish Harp Society of America since 2009.
Tiffany Schaefer is a singing harper, arranger, and educator based in Northeast Ohio. Aided by a background in classical voice studies and many summers studying at the Ohio Scottish Arts School, she performs regularly as a solo artist and with several musical colleagues, including the Cleveland Celtic Ensemble, a touring Celtic chamber music quartet. Tiffany has been involved as either a volunteer or competitor in Scottish harp competitions since 2009, and in 2022 was awarded the US National Scottish Harp Championship and the Scottish Harp Society of America (SHSA) Travel Scholarship to Scotland. She is an active participant in the folk music world, hosting a local beginner-friendly session open to all folk instruments and playing regularly at Cleveland Irish sessions; serving as Harp Chair of the Scottish American Cultural Society of Ohio, and as Editor in Chief of the Kilt & Harp, the newsletter of SHSA. In addition to her work as a performer, Tiffany has been providing private lessons and workshops for students of all levels and ages since 2016, and has developed a reputation as a patient, knowledgeable teacher and advocate for adults learning the folk harp; amassing a loyal online following of students on her Patreon website, the Mastering Celtic Music Club. www.tiffanyharpandsong.com
Look forward to seeing you in January!
Hope you can join us June 28 – July 3, 2025!
Instructors for OSAS 2025 are…
Fiddle – TBA
Harp – Wendy Stewart, Kelly Stewart, Martha Hill and Jen Narkevicius
Highland Dance – Daniel Carr, Joy Tolev and additional instructors TBA
Kilt Making – Jon Lilley
Pipes – Barry Conway, Barry Donaldson, Stephen MacNeil, Craig Munro, and Palmer Shonk
Smallpipes – Timothy Cummings and an additional instructor TBA
Snare Drum – instructor TBA Tenor/Bass Drum – instructor TBA
Registration for OSAS 2025 will open in March. Look for an Early Sale in January 2025!
Thank you to our 2024 Sponsors!
Diamond Elite Sponsor – Henderson Imports
Sapphire Level Sponsor – Ohio Valley Branch EUSPBA
Sapphire Level Sponsor – Wallace Bagpipes
Emerald Level Sponsor – Clan Bell, Florida
Emerald Level Sponsor – Clan Henderson
and our friends at Mike’s Bar and Grille and The Cheese Shop for their donations to our 2nd Annual Whisky Tasting Fundraiser!
Thank you to our 2024 Donors!
Cathy Caldwell
Tevye Celius
Debbie & Bill Doty
Lindsey Dubock Mallon
Matt & Lindsay Frazier
Missy Gentry
Stevie Hyde
Joy Indomenico
Pam Kilpatrick
Sue Richards
Kristen Swihart
Tyler & Katie Tagliaferro
donations received through September 13, 2024
Thank you to our 2024 OSAS Thistle Family!
Meredith Burton
Cathy Caldwell
Tevye Celius
Bill Doty
Ken Gummerson
Tara King
Caitlin Loftis
Lindsey Mallon
Ellyn Kilpatrick
Russ Kilpatrick
Thomas McCollum
Dani Speigel
Kristen Swihart
Thomas Welch
Debbie Wilshire
YOU make OSAS “magic”! – Debbie, Missy & Pam
New in 2024 – Attendance Pins!
We were pleased to present pins to our long-time attendees of OSAS at lunch on Sunday, June 23. 2024 – 5-9 years: Saltire, 10-14 years: Highland Cow, 15-19 years: Scottie, 20-24 year: Sheep, 25-29 years: Lion Rampant, 30-34 years: Nessie, 35-39 years: Unicorn, and 40-44 years: Tree of Life.
Thanks to Kristin Swihart for taking on this project and we look forward to awarding more pins in 2025!
