In a small practice room just outside the sanctuary at First United Methodist Church sits 15 harps in a semicircle. Some harps stand tall with ornate, golden accents. Others show the natural knots of the dark brown wood.
Elizabeth Asmus, who has played the harp for around 40 years, warms up on her semi-grand harp. She said the harp is a “bewitching” instrument, unlike any other.
“When you pull it back and play, the harp is vibrating, and it vibrates through you, too,” she said. “There's something about it.”
She’s one of a couple dozen harpists that are coming together to play songs of praise in Fort Collins this weekend as part of the Harp In Worship conference. It started in 2008 as a way to offer workshops and connect with those who use the harp in church ministry.
“We're not here to see who's the best,” Harp In Worship chairperson Bonnie Mohr said. “We're here to celebrate the gifts that God has given us and to use those wherever he may call us to use them.”
The conference has workshops on how to write music, improvisation and more. In the evenings, harpists perform a variety of songs, from hymns to modern-day worship music.
Asmus came from the East Coast to participate, but others are coming from all over the world – including France and Switzerland.
“It’s all in honor of God,” Asmus said. “It's an experience that's beyond words, I can't find the words. I hope it’s a giving – offering is maybe the better word for it.”
It’s not often that several harps are in the same room at once. Most harpists play by themselves, and rarely do they get to play with other harps. This room had six decades of musicians playing together, all with unique harps and skill levels. It’s a different kind of synergy.
“It is like the difference between a droplet of water and an ocean of sound,” Heidi Hernandez, a Phoenix-based harp teacher and composer, said. “You just get this like whoosh of music.”
To these musicians, the harp has a weighty, spiritual significance. It’s the first instrument mentioned in the Bible, and it comes up several times after that. Hernandez believes there’s a special anointing on the harp.
“In Psalms, it says over and over, ‘Praise the Lord with the harp, make music to the Lord with the harp,’” Hernandez said. “So why is harps so important to worship? I would have to say, because God wants it to be, because He chose that.”
Hernandez is one of the guest speakers and performers at the conference. She’s playing a seven-part piece she wrote called Prism, which focuses on how different parts of nature reflect the attributes of God.
“(One part,) Ocean, is just huge and vast,” she said. “And I always think of that as His love, which is just, you look out on the ocean, you can't see the end of it anywhere. It's so beautiful.”
Mohr hopes that when people attend the concerts, more people will see what the harp has to offer.
“It's a fun instrument,” she said. “It's not just the instrument that sits in the back of the orchestra and does the glissando and things like that. There's so much more that the harp can do.”
The harpists will have concerts Friday and Saturday evening, as well as Sunday morning worship. They are open to the public, but they are taking free will donations at the door.
