The Angelic Harpist

The Angelic Harpist (pencil study), 2023

Graphite pencil on watercolor paper

13" x 20"

The stage was already lit as we entered the theater. A delightful winter scene graced the backdrop; hand-painted snowy trees rested in the blue-violet glow of the stage lights. Grandma, Chelle, and I, hurried down the sloping center aisle, eager to find our seats. “Let’s see here, row A, seats 15,16, and 17… 15,16, and 17,” I muttered glancing at the tickets. “Keep walking,” Chelle urged, “all the way up!” 

My sister had purchased our tickets to A Celtic Christmas months prior, way back in October when the concert was first announced. I have no idea where or how Chelle got wind of this event. All I can say is my sister has connections. Almost as mysterious as my sister’s sources, was the musical group preforming - “Everdream.” Neither Chelle nor I had ever heard of Everdream and our online investigations turned up very little information. Basically all we had to go on was the information provided on the theater’s website - a musical trio from Ireland doing a Christmas show in our neck of the woods. “Check it out, this is like the perfect gift!” Chelle exclaimed in a gleeful whisper-yell, attempting to keep her discovery on the down-low. “An Irish Christmas concert for our Irish grandma! What do you think?” It was a gamble since we had no idea what the group actually sounded like, however, conceptually it did sound promising. Because of her promptness, Chelle had had her pick of any seats in the house. She selected front-row, center. Way to go Chelle!  

 

Once we had located our section in the auditorium, we immediately began to remove our outer winter layers. Coats, scarves, hats, and gloves all peeled off in a flurry as Chelle, Grandma, and I, anxiously took our seats in the front row. I turned to survey the room. The theater was much smaller than I had pictured in my mind and it was a surprisingly good turnout, especially given the severe winter weather we had had for the previous 11 days! The dark treacherous conditions outside were easily forgotten once inside the bright warmth of the theater. More and more people filed in and the indistinguishable murmurs of 100 different excited conversations filled the hall. The tones of happy voices all blended together like a joyful chorus. The excitement was palpable.  

A gentleman in a tuxedo and dress-shoes as shiny as the hall’s Steinway piano shyly took the stage. His presence had gone largely unnoticed, however, as soon as he uttered the first syllable of welcome a unanimous hush fell over the crowd. This was it! It was starting!  The gentleman certainly was not what you would call a “hype-man.” Later we would come to find out that this man was not only a friend of the group but part of the performance and a wonderfully skilled pianist in his own right. After a brief and unassuming introduction he left the stage and left us all sitting in silent anticipation. Then, a woman in a beautiful golden ballgown quietly strode out onto the stage and humbly took her place. She sat down next to the large harp. The harp, which had occupied the stage from some undisclosed time before we entered, was like some sort of ornate monument left by a previous people foretelling wonderful things to come. From our vantage point, we could see the edge of a silver gown catch the light as a second woman began to emerge from behind the curtain, stage right. Then all of a sudden, a terrible *twang* broke the silence. In one flawless motion the woman receded back one step into the shadows and knelt down. The harpist, on stage, hung her head and let out a heavy sigh. She knew exactly what that sound was - it was a broken string. Everyone in the audience held their breath but before any of us could even registered what was going on, the violinist magically appeared! She gracefully glided across the stage, her posture erect and confident as though nothing had ever happened. The violinist had a lovely smile which warmed her cheeks as if she was ruminating on a funny secret all her own. That wonderful smile remained with her throughout the entire performance. 

Mary and her lovely smile (after intermission costume change).

Finally, a third woman graced the stage. Her outfit was even more dramatic than the other two - a pure white babydoll dress with a crown that resembled a halo. Her build was tall and willowy and I totally would have mistaken her for a ballerina if it weren’t for the shoes. Her shoes were the most fantastic (and scary) sparkling platform heels I’ve ever seen! 

The three stood in the quiet, a harpist, a violinist, and the woman with the fantastic shoes (we assumed she was a singer because she had nothing in her hands). What happened next almost defies description but I shall try my best. Ever so gently, beautiful music began. It was as though pure beauty was being channeled directly from God and flowing out through the hands of the musicians. A soft sparkling melody floated through the air and hovered just above our heads. Then the third woman opened her mouth and the voice of a true soprano floated up to join the melodies of the other two. The process seemed effortless, and the beauty of what they created seemed unmistakably divine. Everyone in the crowd sat dumfounded, completely transfixed by what we all were experiencing.

Full disclosure: I feel it is very likely that I might abuse the word “beautiful” in this post… because there is simply no other word to describe what we experienced. It was beautiful. The kind of pure beauty that resonates in your soul and brings you to tears. And all three of us, Chelle, Grandma, and I, were brought to tears at different points thorough the performance. I even caught my grandma getting misty once or twice as I glanced over. For those of you who don’t know (and I do recognize that not everyone in the world has met my grandma, though they should) my grandma Marlene is a tough lady. And when I say tough, I mean the walking to school barefoot… uphill… both ways… after working in the fields kinda tough. The woman is not a “crier” but when those lovely Irish ladies sang O Danny Boy it was all over. Tears streamed down my grandmother’s face. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she smiled with a tenderness I have not seen before. Later she would share with me and Chelle that her grandmother used to sing that song to bring comfort to mourners at people’s funerals. 

The three women of Everdream; Mary on the violin; Teresa on the harp, and Emer the soprano; were all incredibly skilled musicians. No one woman was “the star” of the show and all three of the ladies graciously shared the spotlight with one another. Despite the fact that it was a trio, I was absolutely mesmerized by the harpist, Teresa.  Beautiful music like none that I had ever heard before poured forth from her hands. From the moment that she began to play, I was totally hooked. It was in that moment that I understood why angels are often painted with harps - I have never heard anything like this, I thought to myself. This is truly the music of heaven!

Throughout the entire concert, I couldn’t help but visualize the ladies of Everdream as angels, especially Teresa. She had the most serene expression on her face as she played and the way the music seemed to emanate directly from her hands (rather than the harp itself) seemed supernatural. Perhaps it was Emer’s halo tiara, or maybe it was my own spirit telling me on a subconsious level “hey, this music is coming straight from Heaven!” whatever the case, I couldn’t help but pretend that they were angels. My mind playfully attached wings to the ladies as they performed. It was a delightful vision and I smiled as I carefully stored it away in the “to-draw-later” file in my brain. 

There are so MANY things that inspired me about this concert that I want to share with you - the music, the images (both in my mind and in real life), and the feelings that they brought to my heart. And oh my goodness, the historical stories that the ladies of Everdream shared! One story in particular stood out to me. It was the origin story of O Holy Night. Teresa, the history buff of the group, shared the tale of the song’s inception and of all the unlikely people involved in its creation. The tale goes that way back in 1847 a French priest wanted to do something special for the dedication of his new church. The priest enlisted the aid of the local winemaker, who also happened to be the town poet and who, unbeknownst to the priest, was also an atheist. The poet accepted the commission. The poet was so delighted with the end result of his efforts that he in-turn enlisted the help of his friend a composer… who happened to be a Jewish man. The song was a hit and was adored by the townsfolk who quickly adopted it as a common Christmas Hymn. However, once the Church (with a capital “C” i.e. the leadership bigwigs) learned that unbelievers had a hand in its creation they were horrified and had the song banned! I had no idea that O Holy Night had such a soap-operatic past! This apparently sordid tale of creation tickled my grandmother’s atheist heart. After its telling, she leaned over to me with a huge grin like the cat who ate the canary and whispered “I never knew he was an atheist!” to which I smiled and whispered back, “God uses whoever He wants to.” 

I was unable to hold back the tears as Mary, Teresa, and Emer lifted up one of the most beautiful arrangements of O Holy Night that I have ever heard. There is no question in my mind that that song; the ladies of Everdream who performed it; as well as the two gentlemen  (the atheist and the Jewish man who co-wrote it); were ALL truly anointed by God. 

Getting to witness such an event, front and center, was an amazing experience and it is one that I will cherish forever. The musicians were top notch, the music they created was divine, and the atmosphere was electric, but by far the thing that I will cherish the most was getting to share that experience with my grandmother and my sister. Thank you Chelle for treating us to a night on the town… and you were right, it was the perfect gift :).  

P.S. If you would like to experience Everdream’s beautiful music for yourself, here is a link to their site :). https://everdreamireland.com/home . It took some doing but I finally found one!

P.P.S …and here is a link to a very well written article about the history of O Holy Night if you would like to learn more about that incredible story!