Young musicians learn to make 'angelic' sounds at harp camp

In the back room of a local music studio on Wednesday, Callie Stadem was encircled by eight small-scale wooden harps, each painted a bright, fun color.

Stadem was preparing for the arrival of her students, ranging in age from 6 to 11, who've signed up for Beginning Harp Camp at Arioso Music Academy in Grand Forks.

It's the first time she's offered the weeklong camp.

And it's the first time these kids have plucked the strings of an instrument known for the soothing, melodic music it makes.

"I like that it's a way different instrument than most," said Synje Peterson, 9. "It's got an almost heavenly sound to it."

Six-year-old Mila Drago wanted to take harp lessons "because I thought it was a good sound," she said, which she described as "love."

Charlie Brammer, 11, first heard a harp in a coffee shop when she was much younger, she remembered.

When her mom told her about this harp camp, she jumped at the chance to attend.

"I just like playing instruments," Brammer said. "I play violin, recorder, clarinet and ukulele."

Learning to play harp "is really fun," she said.

A professional harpist and teacher, Stadem is on a mission to make the angelic instrument "more accessible" to the public, she said, and she's starting with its littlest members.

"People think of the harp as kind of an obscure instrument. ... There had to be something done about the entrance barrier" to learning it.

For harp camp, she's paired kid-sized seating with under-sized harps, about 30 inches or so in height.

"These are as small as they come," Stadem said. "Not quite so many strings."

On Wednesday, lessons included demonstrations of variations in sound, from very soft to loud, and how to pinch strings to produce a twang sound and use accessories like paper and combs to create unusual sounds.

Stadem has a wealth of experience making music with the harp, which she started learning to play at age 10.

"My mom drove me to Sioux Falls, round trip, for lessons." she said. Her mother is Laurie Berg of Northwood, N.D., where Stadem grew up.

Stadem has been teaching harp for about three years, ever since she moved back to this area to pursue a graduate degree at UND, she said. She gives private lessons and is a harp instructor at Concordia College.

"I teach along the I-29 corridor," she said.

She is excited to introduce the harp to students such as Dakota Campbell.

"I just like the harp, it's my favorite instrument," the 8-year-old said. "I like the music that it makes."

Stadem also plans to offer a beginning harp class for adults this fall-no experience necessary, just a desire to make heavenly music.

1/3: Callie Stadem instructs a room full of students learning the basics of the harp. Stadem wants to get the word out that learning the harp is accessable here in Grand Forks. (Joshua Komer/Grand Forks Herald)

2/3: Joella Duckstad plucks the harp as she plays through a song with the other students at summer harp camp in Grand Forks. (Joshua Komer/Grand Forks Herald)

3/3: Emsley Panico practices a song with other students as they learn the basics of the harp at summer harp camp in Grand Forks. (Joshua Komer/Grand Forks Herald)