Therapeutic music: Harpists from across country, Canada in Albert Lea this week

Oct. 17—Award-winning harpists and students from across the country and even into Canada are in Albert Lea this week through the International Harp Therapy Program.

Set up on the St. John's Lutheran Community campus on Fountain Lake, students are learning about therapeutic music with the harp and practicing their skills in various settings.

On Tuesday afternoon, one of those settings was a Harp Walk, in which the public was invited to the campus to hear the music at different stations.

A casual concert open to the public is also slated for 6 p.m. Thursday at Three Oak Winery. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

The musicians also have programs slated during the week with memory care residents and others.

Harpist Rachel Christensen, who has been a student through the program and is now a mentor, also serves on the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians. She helped organize the event and said the St. John's campus was the perfect setting for the group to meet.

Christensen said before therapeutic musicians can work with others, it is important for them to understand themselves.

"What better way to do that than to be surrounded by this at St. John's," she said.

Celia Chan Valerio of Loma Linda, California, said she has played the harp since 1985 and earned her doctorate in harp performance in 2008 from Indiana University. Despite her long history with the instrument, the aspect of therapeutic harp is still fairly new to her.

Chan Valerio said she loves the program having grown up in Loma Linda, a medically-minded community.

"I found that after the first set, this bridged what I felt was missing," she said. "This is personalized — not just playing for people's enjoyment, but meeting people where they're at."

She said the program has made her a better harpist.

She was enjoying her time in Albert Lea and said she thought it was a beautiful community with welcoming people.

Christina Tourin, founder and director of the International Harp Therapy Program in the 1990s, said the program now has students and graduates in 32 countries and on five continents.

The program is accredited by the National Standards Board for Therapeutic Musicians and trains harp players to provide therapeutic music in a variety of settings, whether it be schools, hospices, retirement homes, yoga centers, neonatal intensive care units or others. The harpists also learn to individualize music for each person they play for based on things such as breathing, mood, what kind of music they like and other things.

"The best part of being able to work one-on-one with people is finding what can harmonize with them," Tourin said.

Tourin, who has played the harp since she was 4 and is a certified therapeutic harp practitioner and music therapist, said the program started in 1990 when she played for her father who was in a coma at the time, and the doctors found her father responded positively when she played versus when she did not.

Tourin said the week in Albert Lea had been beautiful thus far and she loved the proximity of St. John's to the lake and other natural elements.

"We're working on soothing people, calming people but also lifting people's spirits," she said.