Street Music for Sustainability

Workshop Discussion Paper for Sustainable Fair, July, 2001

Buckhannon, WV. Musicians and other street performers are an attraction in world cities like Paris, London, Belfast, and Seattle. Why do we find so few street musicians in Charleston, Beckley, Morgantown, or Kingwood? The answer is that street performance is poorly rewarded; often actively discouraged; and at best merely tolerated. Can street performance be part of a program of community vitalization and renewal? I say yes. However, it needs to be encouraged and rewarded.

Morgantown, already thriving, is experiencing new and exciting developments: rail-trails, river-front park, wharf district; new trolleys; and more. I have interviewed many friendly merchants, professionals, civic leaders, and other citizens interested in preserving and enhancing local heritage, traditions, and customs. Most are enthusiastic about promoting street performance. I have yet to find a single person who is unconditionally opposed. However, on the way to consensus we must address conditions to be established for street performance.

Legal conditions are the first that come to mind. Two possible approaches for a street music enterprise are 1) for profit; and 2) not-for-profit. Additionally, there is a concern for the cultural acceptability of soliciting tips or donations. Finally, there is the question of educating or persuading the public to provide a sufficient level of financial support to sustain the motivation of street performers.

Basically, a for-profit street music enterprise is required to have state and city business licenses, to file quarterly reports, and to pay applicable taxes, like any business. "Red tape" is perceived as burdensome to small business generally, and especially to very small street-based entrepreneurs such as vendors and hawkers as well as street performers. I would like to think that a determined street performer could make a livelihood based on tips and perhaps sale of recordings. Ideally, Morgantown ought to be able to support a few part-time for-profit street-music entrepreneurs. A friendly environment would be essential for such a success.

A not-for-profit enterprise must have IRS 501(c)(3) status to obtain a city license to solicit donations. Under such a license, street musicians can solicit donations for a charitable purpose. Since street music itself can be regarded as a public good (like flowers, clean streets, etc.), it seems appropriate to solicit funds for the purpose of providing street music. After all, other public goods are purchased with solicited funds. Operating on this model, and acting as Executive Director of Harping for Harmony Foundation, I have tested this approach and it works. Of course, the nonprofit organization is responsible for assuring the public that donations are used in accordance with its charitable nonprofit mission and purpose. In this case, livelihood for musicians is a major part of our purpose.

With a legal basis established (for profit or not), another barrier to street performance is the cultural acceptability of soliciting tips or donations. Street performers are sometimes lumped with panhandlers who accost passers-by in an aggressive way. To resolve any controversy, a "jury" system could be established which would give authorization to qualified performers and exclude panhandlers.
The remaining hurdle would be to educate the public to provide financial support for street performance. The most obvious way would be to (re-)establish the custom and practice of tipping, regarding it as a proper and effective way to reward a public service. Could street music be promoted simply by paying wages, without relying upon tips? Perhaps. The key would be to establish the popularity of such a program with musicians as well as the public and merchants. To attract continuing involvement, the performers involved must become stakeholders.

In a late development, Main Street Morgantown (MSM) has expressed interest in funding a program of scheduled street music on Fridays from 11:30 to 1 PM, through October. Each Friday, two musicians, to perform in separate locations, will be offered $22.50 for a 1.5 hour performance ($15 per hour). Harping for Harmony Foundation will collaborate with MSM to work out details and promote the program. Interested musicians may contact John Lozier (304-599-8233, jl@harpingforharmony.org) or Terry Cutright at MSM (304-292-0168, mainst@westco.net).

Remembering Portadown

Reminiscence of Northern Ireland, July, 2001

Morgantown, WV, July 5, 2001. About 3 months ago, in early April, I visited Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. I arrived from Belfast in the evening, on my journey as a harper for harmony. Consulting a local friend, I planned what I would do the next morning.

I arose early, as planned, and walked the Garvaghy Road from bottom to top. I was surprised to find it a wide thorofare with residential neighborhoods set quite far back. At the top, I found the Drumcree Road. It was not well marked, but was unmistakeable as it leads out into the nearby countryside where stands the Drumcree Chapel. What a beautiful walk it was, in the fresh early morning, after a rain. At Drumcree I was surprised to find no real village just a handful of houses. I sat on the curb outside the chapel gate, playing my harp for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Presently, a man came out of a yellow house across the road. It was Trevor, the caretaker, who invited me to see the chapel. I accepted his offer, and he returned to his house to fetch a very large key. We then entered the charming cut stone structure, not large or very grand but with a nice silence within. With Trevor's permission I played my harp for a few minutes in the chapel: Be Thou My Vision, Simple Gifts, and De Colores. When I asked him if he recognized the tunes, he said "the last one sounded Mexican," which of course was correct. As I left, I signed the visitor's register and wrote "harping for harmony." Trevor directed me to the home of the pastor, across the dale. I found the parsonage, beyond a wrought iron arch, across a bright, dewy yard dotted that morning with yellow daffodils and purple crocus. It was a bit past 8 AM, and I exchanged a brief "good morning" with the pastor, John Peckering.

A light rain began to fall as I walked back toward the town. When I reached the corner where stands Saint John the Baptist Church, people were beginning to gather for 9 AM Mass. Since it was now raining harder, I sought shelter within. It is a grand and beautiful modern building, a very pleasant place of refuge from the rain. After Mass, I went to speak with the priest. Of course, I was carrying my little harp, as always, and this caught his attention. I told him I was looking for other harpers, and he sent me, with an escort, to the adjacent primary school in search of Aileen McKeever.

Aileen was teaching a first grade class in Irish language. But the priest was wrong: she is not a harper but a fiddler. In the Irish language, she introduced me to the children - and they understood her and replied! I played a short program ("music from many lands") and then the children sang for me. As I left, I was able to say "thank you" in Irish, which sounds something like "GUR a my AGad."

Aileen sent me on to another teacher, who was the harper that the priest had in mind. Helene (I think it was Murtagh) was in charge of a pre-school group of about 25. The children sat happily on little chairs while I delivered my short program. Then, as they filed out, I held the harp above them and each child reached up to touch the strings. What a charming moment it was for me, to see the bright little faces looking up at me through the strings of my harp!

Now, months later, I recall the beauty of Portadown, and the warmth of the people I met. My visit there was a step in a personal journey, as a harper for harmony, toward a vision of peace on earth. As told in the bible story, the music of David's harp calmed the anger of Saul. This is the vision that inspired the mission of Harping for Harmony Foundation: to promote harmony and community, locally and globally, through harp music.

As harpers for harmony, our guiding vision is peace in Portadown, in all of Ireland, and everywhere.

Harping for Harmony Newsletter Number 1: October 1, 1994

(Transcribed with minor editing on November 5, 2003)

Dear friends of Harping for Harmony,

I find that the idea of harping for harmony has really taken off, in just a few short months. However, it is still very formative. Upon my return from El Salvado in July, I had 12 harps, 10 of which were either made or decorated in El Salvador. Nine of these went to new homes right away. No more Salvadoran decorated harps will be available unless and until there is another trip. If you have received one of these harps, this letter is partly an effort to follow through on my commitment to help you start harping. If you happen to have ELECTRONIC MAIL, you can get a lot of help from the HARP listserver group (2003 update: go to www.yahoogroups.com and search for "harp"). You also might want to join the International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen, http://www.folkharpsociety.org. Their Folk Harp Journal is the best place to find stories, pictures, and ads for instruments, music, methods, videos, etc.

ON HARPING FOR HARMONY

The idea of harping for harmony came to me in the Spring of 1994, and lots of things have happened since then. Of course, the idea is nothing new. The harp is an ancient and powerful symbol, with mythical and mystical significance. I consider as partners each of you who has contributed encouragement, money, or materials, or who plays the harp with our mission in mind. This effort of ours is not for profit, and the money we raise is dedicated to building peace.

My personal focus now is on the Salvadoran Peace Accords, but effort is needed all across the globe. The idea is to sustain the effort needed for implementation AFTER conflicting parties have reached some kind of agreement. Harping and other joyful activity can strengthen the will to follow through.

POTTERS FOR PEACE

My friend Steve Earp is a potter who spent a couple of years in Nicaragua, forming strong ties with other potters. When the Morgantown Companion Community sponsored a fiesta to raise money for El Salvador, Steve donated fine hand-made bowls which raised several hundred dollars. That is how I learned about POTTERS FOR PEACE. (2003 web link...). Their "empty bowls" projects are dedicated to relieving world hunger.

In a similar spirit, our "harp project" is dedicated to peace, and especially to the sustained effort that is needed for implementation after agreement has been reached.

Steve and I have talked about creating a special bowl with a harp design. We would sell it to promote both peacemaking and hunger relief.

MY HARP PROJECT

In late spring, I was planning a June trip to El Salvador with a brigade to help restore environmental damage from the 12-year civil war. I needed a small, portable harp that would stand up under hard use. I discovered John Kovac's simple design, which I adopted with a few changes. Kovac was in the Peace Corps in Peru, and is now a harper and harp-maker in Front Royale, VA.

With technical assistance from the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts, and several local sponsors, we produced parts fo 12 harps. I carried parts for 7 harps to El Salvador in June. I left four with Salvadoran friends, and returned with 10 harps, including 7 manufactured there on the modified Kovac design.

The "Mariposa" design is brightly painted with butterflies, in the traditional style of the Maya. The "Concertacion" model depicts a countryside with people, houses, trees and fields. "Concertacion" is a word which connotes harmony, consensus, and a willingness to overcome differences.

HARPING IN EL SALVADOR

I went to El Salvador hoping to find harping preserved in popular culture. I carried my brightly-painted little 22-string harp openly, almost everywhere, and I played on buses and street corners, at churches, and in parks and homes. People called it "arpa del Rey David." This King David was, of course, the shepherd boy who played harp for King Saul in the old testyament story. Saul's anger was cooled, in the earliest recorded instance of harping for harmony.

Although Salvadorans were interested in the harp, they were also aware of the lack of teachers and instructional materials. I presented two workshops and various informal introductory lessons on harping, reaching a total of perhaps 40 interested persons. It is a start, but much more is needed. One day I hope to return, and perhaps to find other harpers who would like to go along.

THE MISSION OF HARPING FOR HARMONY IS

to promote harmony and community, locally and globally, through the sharing of traditional and new music, especially harp music;

to recruit young people to play traditional music, especially harp music;

to celebrate the diversity of traditional music through intercultural sharing, especially between Latin America and North America.

HARP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS

The Morgantown harp production process is organized for efficiency with mostly skilled volunteers. To produce a run of 10 harps I am budgeting 50 shop hours with 1-3 volunteers working for a total of 50-150 man-hours, or 5 to 15 hours per harp. Material costs for 10 harps amount to about $750. If sold at $225 each, the proceeds amount to $1500, or $10 to $30 per volunteer hour. Elaborate decoration is outside this budget.

The Salvadoran production process is very different, since we are establishing relations with existing or new entrepreneurs and our aims include giving them an economic boost. I do not negotiate for the best price, but simply try to work with interested carpenters and artists, as I do with musicians. As a result, costs and results are variable, but customers must be satisfied or they get their money back.

The finish we aim for is "appropriate," musically excellent and attractive to look at. It is not our purpose to compete with finely crafted harps favored by many harping professionals and amateurs. At the same time, I challenge anyone to demonstrate a better-sounding harp at a comparable price.

THE FUTURE OF ARPA IN CENTRAL AMERICA

"Arpa" is Spanish for harp. ARPA can also be the acronym for an organization which would re-establish the harp in popular culture (Asociacion para el Reestablecimiento Popular del Arpa).

In El Salvador, I presented harp workshops with two organizations actively involved in cultural development: Casa Cultural La Mazorca, and Emanuel Baptist Church. I also found vigorous interest at Resurrection Lutheran Church, at Central American University, and even at the US Information Service at the American Embassy. The harping spirit is moving.

...

Essential for the reestablishment of harping in popular culture is the recruitment and training of new harpers among the Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans, as well as North Americans. This is not a process controlled by any individual or organization, but we can contribute our efforts each in our own way.

Harp on!!

John Lozier