Amy Ahn is a remarkable, talented, enthusiastic young Bay Area (CA) performing harpist from a roster of thousands of musicians located across the country, who want to share their deep love of music with you in your home or apartment, or perhaps in a local library or cafe you could approach and invite to host a performance?
Amy is pictured above at the fourth Groupmuse concert that I hosted on June 16, on this occasion not in my home but in the events room at our local neighborhood branch library in Glen Park, courtesy of library branch manager Darren Heiber. It was a first in the City for a branch library to host a Groupmuse concert and it was very well received by over 40 guests, with standing room only!
Darren is clearly a music lover and caring member of our small Village community in urban San Francisco, and he secured special funding to make Amy's performance possible - and free to the entire City community! After the concert Darren said:
"Thank you so much for making this happen. It was a wonderful experience and highly complemented by those in attendance."
Glen Park is a special neighborhood that has resisted big-boxification or over-growth in the face of relentless urban over-building of sky-scrapers, office buildings, and the decimation of small parks and sidewalks. Glen Park gratefully retains at least some of its small-feeling character and friendliness evident when I decided to move here long ago in1983.
Groupmuse is also a remarkably friendly group of musicians who sponsor small, intimate-venue concerts by remarkable musicians accomplished in many different kinds of instruments and genres of music. Its management group is composed of a collective of workers and musicians who first came together in 2013 in Boston and their vision has spread throughout the US, principally in urban cities. Groupmuse maintains a roster of incredibly talented performing musicians who will come to your home or apartment to entertain your "historical" and new friends who sign up to attend at groupmuse.com. Typically the performer loves to discuss their music and talk about the composer of the pieces they play, and entertain questions from their guests.
If you are interested in hosting in your city or town, it's possible to ask for assistance from the Groupmuse musician collective to establish a Groupmuse in your location so don't hesitate to reach out at groupmuse.com, or reach out to me: romantasy.dmb@gmail.com.
A modest but fair wage is earned by the performers via a suggested donation at the event, usually from $5 up to $35 for more than one musician. Hosts are only requested to provide at least 8 seats (or pillows on the floor if the event is more casual and informal) for guests who sign up on their events page. As a guest, a $5 reservation fee ensures you can get in, since seating is usually limited in such small venues as homes. No guest is ever turned away if they want to attend but aren't able to donate!
Amy's performance was unique because it was free to the community all over the City, courtesy of Darren's efforts to find City funds and help promote the event.
As Darren looked back on the event a few months later, he said:
"Partnering with an established Groupmuse host to plan and market a library event at the Glen Park Branch of San Francisco Public Libraries was an excellent opportunity. They brought valuable expertise and enthusiasm as well as new patrons to the library. We were excited to utilize our resources and outreach to bring a special music performance and educational experience to a new audience."
As a volunteer for Groupmuse, I hope to encourage other branch library managers in their events room, cafe owners, and rec center managers, as well as home owners and apartment dwellers in their residences, to host such concerts!
Please enjoy the video above of Amy warming up just before the doors opened to the event, and below, playing part of Vince Guaraldi's famous "Peanuts" theme as her last piece - and it was loved by one and all!
Amy stayed to enjoy light refreshments with us and answer questions about her musical career such as how she came to own "Evangeline", her lovely harp, what happens if a string snaps during a performance (she brings an entire set of extra strings with her in such cases~), and how the complex system of seven pedals each having three levels to push down to change keys and reach all the sharps and flats that a piano has. You can see Amy operating the pedals in both videos on this page.
We were a little bit sad when the event ended and Amy packed up to leave, but we hope she will be back at another library or home venue in our neighborhood and in the near future.
Be sure and regularly check out upcoming Groupmuse events in your city!
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