What is your background and your motivation for working so much on harp pedagogy?

There are a number of things related to motivation in my development of harp pedagogy. First of all, I love the subject matter that centers on the harp as well as the students themselves. In turn, these students inspire me for further development in my teaching. In addition, I am at the age in life when I would like to impart the knowledge and the experience that I have accumulated professionally to benefit other harp players. Also, I had good examples in teaching at home and in school. I had excellent teachers who stand as examples for me in my professional career.

I also think, there is an urgent need at the moment for teaching harp. We live in a time when we connect with our universe mostly through the intellect. There is very little connection through the spiritual side although as a human being we are created body, soul and mind. Playing music, too, requires all three. That is why harp teaching can be very helpful and important to this situation.

Regarding my professional background, I earned several degrees that qualify me for teaching. For example, a Teaching Diploma in Harp from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary, a Diploma in Music Education specializing in the Kodály Method, a Certificate in Choral Conducting, and a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

How do you make public the results of your research?

I find an interest exists in the results of my research among musicians. At the same time, it demands a real effort on my part to deliver the information to the public. I have published articles in music journals, such as in the World Harp Congress Review, Harpa, Harpa-Piano, American Harp Journal, The Recorder Education Journal, American String Teacher, AHS Teachers Forum, and Harp Today. All of these articles are available on my web site www.harpahungarica.com. Moreover, I traveled and have presented lectures and held workshops for example at the Fourth European Harp Symposium in Perugia, Italy; the Third American Harp Society Summer Institute in Los Angeles, California; the Fourth Latin-American Harp Conference in Mexico City; the Eighth World Harp Congress in Geneva, Switzerland; the First ASTA with NSOA National Conference, in Columbus, Ohio; the 2003 Harp Suzuki Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah; and the HarpCon 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana. All of these require personal time, energy, and financial sacrifice in addition to the keeping up of my practicing and performing. I do this because I feel that we should return something to our profession. Consequently, I hope that listeners and readers will benefit from my efforts.

You have published the DVD „Harp Playing for Life – The Kovács Method in Harp Pedagogy". What gave you the idea to create this DVD?

The initial idea came while doing my doctoral research. Harp players who returned my questionnaire were very open with regard to sharing their occupational-related problems. Additionally, they seemed to be eager to learn about methods that address their problems. I noticed that the problems they described could be answered by the Kovács Method that I learned at the Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary and later adopted it to harp instruction. I also saw how much my students were ahead of these problems because physical wellness was included in their harp studies from the very first lesson. Therefore, I wanted to make the Kovács Method available for other harp players as well. This is how the DVD program started.

What does it mean „Harp Playing for Life" and what is the „Kovács Method"?

On the inside cover of the DVD there is a montage. The top line of photos of this montage could provide the answer to your question. I intend to show with these photos that there is a bridge between the earlier age and the senior age of performing that the Kovács Method can help. Going back in time, for example, in September 1847, Franz Liszt, one of history’s great pianist, gave the final public performance of his performing career at age 35! In 1997, I found that most of the harp players who returned my questionnaire reached the peak of their performing career between ages 30-40. These facts show that the situation has not changed during the last century and a half. So, why does it seem impossible to prolong a performing career? Why are there so many wonderful talents sacrificed as a result of occupational-related hazards? Why do we still leave it up to chance to enjoy performing only up to a certain age? Is there no solution to this problem even at the beginning of the 21st century?

Currently, there are companies that pour money into research for developing new medications and healing procedures, then into distribution of new products. However, there is very little money invested in education to prevent injuries, to teach how to prolong a professional career, how to work more effectively in the music profession, how to speed up for example the learning curve, how to reach the ultimate potential in instrumental playing, etc. The Kovács Method tries to answer these and other questions regarding the Care of Musicians’ Work Capacity as this physical wellness program for musicians was named originally.

Hungarian musicians were very fortunate that Kodály, a well-known Hungarian music educator, called the officials’ attention to musicians’ health care. Also, it was fortunate that following this request Dr. Kovács, scientific researcher, was able to develop a special program for musicians, which is based on research findings that he did together with his associate Dr. Zsuzsa Pásztor, pianist, during forty years at the Academy of Music. When I started to play the harp, I was able to practice barely ten minutes without any pain. It was then when I started my training in the Care of Musicians’ Work Capacity program and experienced quick progress in my physical well being which in turn made a tremendous difference in my harp playing. All in all, there is a solution for enjoying harp playing throughout life with proper training both in harp and in physical wellbeing. That is why the title of this DVD program is Harp Playing for Life. The DVD program was created in collaboration with Dr. Zsuzsa Pásztor, Director of the Kovács Method Studio.

You quote Plato: „He who mingles music with gymnastic in the fairest proportions, and best attempers them to the soul, may be rightly called a true musician and harmonist in a far higher sense than the tuner of strings." Can you explain what this quote means to you and how you apply it to your teaching method?

There must be a balance in life between the physic, the mind and the soul, which results in true harmony. I apply this thought not only to my teaching method but also to my everyday life. Besides working hard at the harp and at the computer, I take time for ballroom dancing, gardening, swimming, exercising, and most importantly for attending church. My faith helped me through many difficulties in life and gave me strength to continue to strive to accomplish tasks that seemed almost impossible at times.

Likewise, I try to teach my students in accordance with the same faith. I always try to give them my best, including my knowledge of the Kovács Method. I give them a short warm-up away from the instrument at the beginning of each lesson and teach them many other principles as we go along, for example, how to get ready for an exam or a performance.

What feedback from users of your method have you received?

So far, I have received many positive feedbacks. I am glad to see how appreciative my colleagues are with their comments. These comments also reveal intelligent observations of many different aspects of the program. Some of these comments are posted on the web site of Harpa making them available to the public.

In addition, I would like to call the attention to the fact that this program is NOT another exercise program. It is a pedagogical method that is created to serve musicians’ special needs. It takes into consideration the physical body that is instrumental for example in harp playing. For instance, harp players are very concerned about their hands and fingers but less concerned about the rest of their body even though the entire body is involved in playing the harp. In addition, how about fresh oxygen that operates the body properly? Do we consider this question when we expect to give a successful recital? How about diet especially while we are under a lot of stress, for example, during competition? How about stage fright? Do we need to accept that we are in the mercy of this enemy? How about warming up for a harp lesson, or for a practice session, or for a performance? How to spend our practice time more proficiently? How to spend our leisure time profitably? Also, how can we save time and energy by preparing physical movements away from the instrument that are used in harp playing? The DVD tries to answer some of these questions and others related to harp players’ physical wellbeing. However, it is barely an introduction to the method according to harp instruction.

What further developments and publications of your method can we expect?

Well, Dr. Kovács used to say that instrumental teaching was based on intuition. Is this statement still true today? Is there any truth to this fact if we apply this statement to the harp? As to my knowledge, professional harp players are mostly trained for performing. There are schools that offer degrees in harp without any pedagogy courses or student teaching experiences. At the same time, the majority of harp players will face a teaching situation at one point in their career. In keeping with this thought, a contradiction arises as to the training and the practical application. To borrow a simple example from another field, dental hygienists must accomplish a work experience on a certain number of patients before graduation. Whereas, harp students can graduate without any student teaching experience. I was fortunate at Indiana University to have pedagogy courses with distinguished professor Susann McDonald and extensive harp teaching experiences as her assistant. Combining the knowledge I learned from her and from my former harp instructor, Hédy Lubik at the Academy of Music, with the knowledge of the Kovács Method and the Kodály Method, I would like to circulate information and publish material that raises the awareness of teaching that is based on conscientious effort instead of intuition.

Besides, I would like to keep performing for the simple reason I love to do it. A second reason is, I think without fresh performing experiences teaching can become outmoded. In performing, I welcome new music. I endeavor to introduce Hungarian contemporary compositions and to possibly publishing them. It is a most rewarding experience to help a new piece of music to thrive as is to help a student to grow in his/her music experience.


Copyright © 2004, Harpa
Printed originally in the N0. 12, January 5, 2004 issue of Harpa Internet Magazine.
Used by permission.