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Cover’s CD with classical guitarist Miguel Bonachea has aired on WQCS,
88.9 FM, the Treasure Coast public radio station.
“Christmas was so busy, I left a harp at both churches and
used the semigrand, also known as the little harp, at home to
practice,” she said.
She has no idea why she is so passionate about the harp.
“I must have a death wish,” she said with a laugh.
She said the harp is much harder to play than the piano,
because it requires constant multitasking, intricate fingering
and adroit use of the pedals.
“The black and white piano keys are exactly the same, but
a concert grand harp has 47 strings that each vary in diameter
and length,” she said. “Each string must be tuned every time
you play. The piano stays in one place, but you balance the
harp on two small feet and it moves with your body, sometimes
resting between your knees or on your right shoulder,
depending on how and what you are playing.”
Cover practices at least two hours a day, often more, and
she plans ahead. In January, she was already thinking about
music for next Christmas. Twice weekly yoga sessions help
keep her shoulders and back strong. Clearly, she is a seriousminded
perfectionist, a trait she says she inherited from her
parents.
“My parents taught us to put our best effort into everything
we did,” she said.
They owned a Bosendorfer 225 semiconcert grand piano
that they played every day. Cover had the instrument rebuilt
by specialists with Atlantic Music in Melbourne after she
inherited it. Now, pianists, accompanists and students play
it for recitals, parties and fundraising events that the Covers
host at their home.
But the harp, which has been known since antiquity, remains
Cover’s instrument of choice, with a couple of concessions
to modernity. She has two websites, www.veroharp.
com and www.veroduomusic.com. And, after an awkward
moment in which two pages of music stuck together while
she was playing, she put all of her music on an iPad.
She hasn’t used sheet music in more than four years, and
doesn’t miss it.
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