How can a harp be both one of the most intimate - and one of the most enormous - instruments in the world?
Tony Pederson plays his harp at the bedsides of people who are dying, listening closely to their breathing and responding with music created specifically for those delicate moments.
William Close invented the Earth Harp, attaching enormous strings to canyons, buildings and skyscrapers, and once stretching them more than 957 feet for a Guinness World Record.
Two musicians, two radically different harps, and a shared belief that music can take all of us somewhere extraordinary.
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GUESTS:
- Tony Pederson: Music-thanatologist and past president of the Music-Thanatology Association International who has spent more than 30 years playing harp at the bedsides of people approaching death. On social media, his “Today at Death’s Door” posts share stories and reflections from his work
- William Close: Musician and instrument inventor best known for creating the Earth Harp, which uses buildings and landscapes as part of the instrument itself. He’s installed Earth Harps at Rome’s Colosseum, Seattle’s Space Needle, Shanghai’s Grand Theater and many more places around the world.In 2014, Close set a Guinness World Record with an installation where the strings stretched more than 957 feet
Jessica Severin de Martinez, Amanda Adams, Meg Fitzgerald, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show.
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