John Doan a pioneer of the twenty-string harp guitar. He is also an Emmy-nominated performer, composer, public speaker, historian, instrument collector, and university professor. Upcoming concerts are listed in the calendar and news, updates, and…
My YouTube videos playing the harpolyre continue to get a lot of attention, and I wanted to share with you a little of the backstory of this amazing three-necked harp guitar.
In an effort to bring history to the harp guitar I discovered ten works for the harpolyre written by Fernando Sor, known as the Father of the Classical Guitar. The amazing thing about these compositions is not only are they extremely tender and lyric pieces, but they had never been played since 1830 and perhaps have never actually been heard in public until my recording “The Lost Music of Fernando Sor” along with my live performances and YouTube videos. I felt like Indiana Jones uncovering this forgotten music for a forgotten instrument.
I ordered the microfilm of this music in 1977 from the La Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and with this extremely rare and beautiful music in my hands, I could only dream of finding one of a handful of existing harpolyres upon which to really recreate these beautiful musical pieces. After thirty years of the hunt, I was blessed to find a circa 1830 harpolyre that had been restored to near pristine condition.
The 5th Annual Harp Guitar Retreat is set for July 6-8, 2012, in my home in Salem, Oregon. If you are not familiar with the Harp Guitar Retreat, it is an intimate and stress-free environment…
John Doan returns to Arizona with his Emmy-nominated Victorian Christmas Concert, Sunday, December 23rd, 2012, at Higley Center For The Performing Arts at 2:30PM. He brings two dozen instruments from a century ago, a parlor…
Eire – Isle of the Saints by John Doan CD Price $15.97 The Living Tradition Concert Series represented by Gary Trobridge will present “A Celtic Pilgrimage with John Doan,” Saturday, September 15th, 2012, at The…
John Doan will be touring in Europe this coming May starting off in Ukraine cities of L’viv and Kiev. Various concerts are scheduled in Germany and Austria and will also include performances in Russia as well. Concerts, workshops and lectures will be conducted in L’viv, Kiev and in Moscow. It will also include many firsts.
John Doan will be formally debuting the 20 string harp guitar Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th in concerts in Ukraine, where copies of his Elliott/Sullivan harp guitar will be made in a factory in L’viv. John will soon be posting videos and blog entries about his visit to the Trembita instrument factory of L’viv that will be the first company to manufacture this version of the harp guitar worldwide in cooperation with Jay Buckey Music.
In Russia John will be playing on Thursday May 17th at their first NAMM show (National Association of Music Marketers) and it will be quite the honor to also play elsewhere in the city in the beautiful concert atmosphere of the former 18th Century Roman Catholic Church of Mary Magdalene on Sunday May 20th. His performances in Moscow will introduce the harp guitar in performance for the first time, and he will be performing for the first time ever in Berlin, too.
The Bandura, a Ukrainian stringed instrument that shares various similarities to the harp guitar, is a much beloved national instrument. John will be consulting with Jay Buckey and others on developing more 21 string harp guitars based upon his original Elliott/Sullivan harp guitar, hopefully helping Ukrainians expand their vision for the Bandura into the 21st century! The first concert May 6th will feature Jay Buckey and two Ukrainian vocalists, Alla, and Peter, in cooperation with Trembita instrument factory of L’viv, and celebrating the harp guitar worldwide.
John Doan will perform in Kiev, the capitol of Ukraine, opening with Revatsky Boys Choir under the direction of its chief conductor Aida Zaytseve.
On Friday, May 11th and Saturday, May 12th, 2012, John plays in Germany at the Paul-Gerhardt-Haus in Schwerte and Aula der Realschule in Olpe as part of the international guitar night featuring Fancois Sciortino (France), Andrea Valeri (Italy), and Stefan Moenkemeyer (Germany). Even though John by himself will have more strings on his harp guitar that all the other guitarists combined each of them are so amazing that they will sound like they have as many strings and more than John. Be forewarned, guitarists attending may be inspired to do violent acts to their guitars after seeing this concert. The sponsors take no responsibility for the well being of such guitars.
Saturday, July 28th, 2012, John Doan will be performing mid day on the open air stage at the annual Faerieworlds Harvest Festival with his harp guitar. The Faerieworlds Harvest Festival is in Eugene, Oregon, and…
This December’s Victorian Christmas tour was perhaps the longest I have done in my 26 years of touring this show as it was a rare time of 4 weekends prior to Christmas. I so enjoyed…
Last October I had a chance to conduct a Sor Symposium and debut a new show “Beyond Six Strings – from Sor to Hendrix” at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon. Months before I had an opportunity to talk with Peter Zisa who conducts the guitar program there about my research in the life and music of Sor, and he suggested that Marylhurst University host a Sor Symposium. Peter is not only a great player and elegant human being, he has such a great imagination and he coordinated with several teacher/performers in the area to have students come to a master class and themselves participate in the Symposium. Both the class and the Symposium went incredibly well.
Peter reviewed the event as follows:
“Marylhurst hosted an historic performance by John Doan on three beautiful and historic instruments. John’s blend of remarkable skills as a storyteller and masterful performer proved to be the highlight of the two-day Sor Symposium. John, who began his performance with his own music and arrangements on harp guitar, concluded the program with a historic premier performance of Sor’s music for the three-necked harpolyre. The pieces, which varied in level of technical difficulty from intermediate to virtuosic, charmed and moved the spellbound audience.”
Fan, Shannon J. Murphy, had this to say about the concert:
I was present at the concert at Marylhurst and was able to relive it as I read your account here. It was a beautiful presentation and I know your future audiences at this concert are going to love it as much as I did. Your description of Sor and his musical technique struck me as being just what I could say of you and yours. You are the instrument that makes the music flow. Continue to walk in the light.
In short, it was a kick!! It seemed crazy to combine in the same show the music of Fernando Sor – the “Father of the classical guitar” with the music of Jimi Hendrix and other contemporary guitar innovators but as the show evolved it flowed beautifully into an event that reached across time, generations, and cultures.
John Doan was interviewed on The 700 Club for their special on holiday music, “The Victorian Christmas Maestro.” The interview showcased John’s popular annual Victorian Christmas Concert, celebrating 25 years in 2011. John played “Hark…