I performed a total of five songs during the 45 min. program that outlined the essence of King Arthur. I spoke of Taliesin and the Welsh legend in the story of the Holy Grail I touched on the French romances in the ballad of Tristan and Isolte. An instrumental version of “Lament” foreshadowed the tragedy that runs through the legends. “Mordred’s Lullaby” gave insight to the downfall of Arthur’s realm. I closed with an original composition “Morgon’s Lament” which spoke of moving on past the grief of such a loss.

Most of the music I performed was by one of my favorite artists, Heather Dale who writes a great deal of music for the Arthurian era.

I was one of only two competitors and we entered in different categories; he as a journeyman and I as an apprentice. We both took first in our categories, though whether that is something to be boasted about I don’t know. I also won two plates sponsored by Scottish Clans. We were judged by Cynthia Shelhart who’d been an instructor at harp camp in previous years and I’d heard much about her from my friends there.

The only category I’d planned on entering was the apprentice level. However, upon filling out the competition papers I was informed of a harp and voice category. It was widely known that I loved to sing and so, despite having not prepared anything, I entered that category as well.

There were two competitors in the Apprentice category, and two Masters, one of whom was my teacher. The other was my opponent in the Harp and Voice category, and so we were all evenly matched. I took second in both of my categories, and came away with the Jan Pennington Gray Medallion, for having won second place in the scholarship that January.

It was a beautiful fall day in September, 2009. The wedding took place at sunset, out of doors on a farm in Bowling Green. The backdrop for the ceremony was a cover crop of soybeans, and the coloring was perfect. We played Rosita’s Song for the seating of the mothers, Only Time for the bridesmaids, and Pachebel’s Cannon for the bride.

It was a volunteer performance but it included an interview on the local radio station, which established a friendship with the owner that has proved invaluable over and over. It was the first occasion for which we wore the dresses our mom made for us, the green and gold that we commonly associate with Erin, and that we now wear to almost every performance.