Zither Australia Publications |
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| Zither Australia Publication is run by Ilse Harris with help from her family and her friend Johanna de Groot. Both Ilse and Johanna have been playing zither together for over 20 years. In celebration of their 20th anniversary they recorded a CD to give as presents to family and friends. Through word of mouth they received a few orders and sold some CDs. Along with the CD orders came requests for copies of the sheet music. They decided to compile all the arrangements into one album so that zither players could play along with the CD. Of course they had to search for the copyright owners and obtain and pay for print permission, before publishing. Ilse is responsible for copyright research, correspondence and getting the arrangements to printing stage on her computer (Sibelius software). Johanna writes most of the arrangement, drawing on her wealth of experience as a professional performer. She knows what works, sounds good, is easy to play with good fingering, accompaniment etc. Ilses sons are professional musicians (jazz and teaching) and own a small recording studio. They are responsible for additional instruments and backing tracks. Joern plays clarinet/saxophone/recorder/accordion and can also do photography and layout. Nigel plays trumpet, accordion and keyboard and is the engineer responsible for editing, mixing and mastering the CD Johanna de Groot Johanna comes from Vorarlberg/Austria. She started learning the zither at the age of twelve when a teacher came to the house. Her mother loved the zither and often asked her to play for her and encouraged her to take the zither along when the family went up into the mountains during their Summer holidays. Johanna also took the zither on her travels overseas finally arriving in Australia in 1961, marrying an Australian and settling in Sydney. In 1969 Johanna formed a very successful zither and yodelling duo with another Austrian girl. They were known as : LOTTE AND JOHANNA, THE AUSTRIAN ZITHER GIRLS and performed all around Australia and the Pacific region and they made three LPs. After 7 years travelling Johanna retired from the Duo and performed in the Sydney region playing Solo and giving school concerts for the Education Department. In 1981 she met Ilse, who lives two suburbs away, and they started playing zither duets in Ilses home every Friday evening just as a very enjoyable hobby. Ilse Harris Born in Hamburg in 1936, Ilse realised her music dreams late in life.After the blitz on Hamburg she grew up in a a small farming village in lower Bavaria, where there was no electricity, running water,or cultural activity. The climate was harsh as was the lifestyle, but it was safe. Occasionally Ilse saw a zither being played and loved the sound, she also loved the sound of the clarinet in the little bands that played at village weddings and wished she could own a clarinet or zither, but there were no instruments for sale, no music teachers. Ilse's mother had a great love of poetry and words and without pen or paper taught Ilse to memorize many long poems and a vast number of German folksongs. The love of folksongs has remained with Ilse. In 1960 Ilse migrated to Australia, married an Englishman.They had three boys and built a house on Sydneys northern beaches, where Ilse still lives today. Her husband encouraged all the children to learn a musical instrument and he bought Ilse a clarinet and a zither. Finding a clarinet teacher was easy, but the only zither teacher lived 50 km away and Ilse would have a lesson once a month. She would practice the clarinet when the children were at school and the zither at night when her husband was home as he loved the sound of the zither. In 1981 Ilse’s husband died of a heart attack and helping the boys complete their education became a priority. About that time Ilse met Johanna and it was Johanna who offered to come to Ilses house every Friday night to play zither duets. Ilse then took up secondary studies, gained entry to Sydney Conservatorium of Music where she studied clarinet with Mark Walton and after 2 years graduated as a private clarinet teacher. She has her own music teaching studio. On the 20th anniversary of their zither friendship, Ilse's sons recorded a CD with 20 of their favourite pieces.
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