ABOUT THIS CD“Once Upon a Harp” is a collection of some of my favorite pieces from more than four decades of solo harp performances. They’re the dependable “golden oldies” of my harp repertoire that audiences enjoy and that I enjoy playing. Some, like the Grandjany “Pastorale” and the Tournier “Quatre Préludes,” I’ve been playing since high school. Others, like both the Andrès pieces, are new additions to my repertoire that I’ve just fallen in love with. The Debussy “Première Arabesque” brings back memories of summers studying with Mr. Grandjany and the Bach “Andante” reminds me of two very happy years of graduate study with Eileen Malone. Renié’s “Au bord du ruisseau” is a tiny jewel of a piece that I discovered when a new student brought it along as her work-in-progress. Never underestimate the new things that you can learn from your students. The McDonald and Wood “Haiku” are indispensable for elementary school programs, giving the students the giggles every time and their arrangement of “Amazing Grace” is the most heartbreakingly simple and beautiful version I’ve ever found. Most of all, I’m honored to be able to record Steven Sametz’s “Angelus”. He took his choral piece with harp accompaniment and turned it into a harp solo for me, just one more act of generosity over three decades of professional collaboration. These are my favorites. I hope they’ll be yours.ABOUT ANDREA WITTCHENAndrea Wittchen decided at age four that she wanted to play the harp. She got her wish when she turned twelve and after two harp performance degrees (B.M. Jacksonville University, magna cum laude, M.M. Eastman School of Music) and more than four decades she’s decided it was a pretty good choice. As a harpist she performs throughout eastern Pennsylvania as a soloist, as part of a harp duo with her daughter Samantha, as part of the flute and harp duo Élan, as a chamber player and an orchestral harpist. She gets to teach eager young students at Lehigh University, Moravian College and in her private studio and in 2003 commissioned composer Steven Sametz to write “Earth Wind Fire, Concertino for Two Harps”, a work she and Samantha premiered with the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. Best of all, she’s a member of The Wittchen Initiative, a rock/pop/alternative band with daughter Samantha on harp, daughter Alexandra on vocals, and friend TubaDan Nosheny on tuba and a bunch of other instruments.