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Hello, I am Christine Magnussen. It is a privilege to welcome you, and share the story of how I arrived at my heart work - that of connection and musical compassion in the field of harp therapy. Born into a musical family, I was fortunate to have a Music Major and piano instructor as my mother. She reminds me that my first piano lesson was at age 3. Our upright piano became my outlet for expression. The harp took the place of my piano when I had my first harp lesson at age 41. It was a match made in heaven. I immediately bonded with my first lap harp - an instrument whose vibrational resonance becomes part of the body. It had been my father who inspired my sister and I to learn the harp. His presence is felt beside me each time I play for a hospice patient. Often people say to me, "The only instrument I can play is the stereo." I tell them that an appreciative listener completes the cycle, receiving the message or gift that the musician sends. My father was such an audience. I remember watching his eyes tear as he listened to a symphony orchestra or his beloved Pavarotti's pure tenor voice. Our house was often filled with the sounds of his "great jazz" on the radio, or my mother playing classical piano. While working as a medical social worker, I pursued training in harp therapy in The International Harp Therapy Program, and was invited to be a presenter at the First International Harp Therapy Conference in 1996 in Virginia, at a time when the few professionals in the harp therapy field were just defining the work. Along with a team of dedicated musicians, I was able to fulfill a lifelong goal of combining music and compassion as Founding Director of the ACCHORD Music Access Project, a non-profit organization in Eugene, Oregon. One of the first events we sponsored in 1996 was the Healing Harp Symposium featuring Dr. Ron Price (Healing Harps) and Sarajane Williams (known for her work in vibroacoustic harp therapy and editor of The Harp Therapy Journal). ACCHORD also sponsored a training module week of The International Harp Therapy Program at PeaceHealth/Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, OR, and McKenzie Willamette Hospital in Springfield, OR. Featured presenters were IHTP Director and harpist, Christina Tourin, and music therapist, William Jackson from Scotland. Not long after, the Thurston High School shooting devastated our community and the world. ACCHORD harpists responded to the tragedy by spending hours in both hospitals to offer comfort for victims, families and friends in ICU, surgery units and special waiting rooms. We learned then of the profound impact of therapeutic harp music. Nurses reported that after just a few seconds of hearing the harp, they felt relief from the intense anxiety of this exhausting trauma. (see "Harps Replace Violence" article in the Harp Therapy Journal - Fall '98 ) In an interview on National Public Radio's "E-Town" the ACCHORD program was recognized for its service to community during the Thurston School tragedy. The life stories I have heard from patients and CD listeners are humbling, and have been of great inspiration for the music I play. Throughout my experiences offering harp therapy for patients in hospitals, cancer centers, and hospice patients in their homes, I was often asked if I had recorded a CD. While playing therapeutic harp music in the chemotherapy unit of Providence Cancer Center in Medford, OR, I was introduced to a chemo patient who had just completed his successful course of treatment. This person was gifted sound engineer, Ron Davis. It was through his belief in the therapeutic value of harp music, along with the encouragement of Lynn Hobbs, RN and other chemo staff and patients that On Wings of a Dove was born. Over a few winter months of commuting 100 miles to record at his A Wing and A Prayer studios in Central Point, Oregon, the "Wings" harp CD was produced in 2001, and has found its way throughout the world. During the recording phase of the CD, I had taken my harp to play for a rural hospice family who raised doves. I told them of the "Wings" CD project, and the synchronicity of our meeting. The next time I visited, I was given a recording of the voices of their white doves. The patient's daughter had risen at 4:00 am, lit a candle to gently awaken them, and recorded their morning song so that you may hear it (in the opening of the "Gentle Souls" track of the On Wings of a Dove CD). Everything you hear on this harp CD is genuine. Nothing is simulated or synthesized, including the soft fountain that opens the album. May the music provide comfort to you and to those you love. I would be honored to hear from you. You may order your copy of the On Wings Of A Dove harp CD here |
Christine Grace Magnussen, Therapeutic Harpist