The other day started out with a recording session from 9am-1pm. It’s for an upcoming album with my early music ensemble, the Ravenscroft Musicke Guild. Crafting e-mails for the upcoming Scottish Harp Weekend took up my afternoon. Because of the gorgeous weather, I decided to do this outside on a blanket, with a cup of tea. That evening I headed over to my friend and web designer Emily’s house for a rehearsal for the Scottish competition, and to discuss some html questions about my website.
My office for the day
The following day I had another recording session in the morning, rehearsal at my house in the evening, and a free evening. Because it’s summer, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the phone with various students working to reschedule lessons. (I know some teachers don’t allow reschedules. For me, I’ve decided I’m okay being flexible since as a gigging musician, I often ask my students to be flexible with me.)
I spent Monday afternoon and evening teaching, and getting my new Jolie harp from Musicmakers! I’m so in love with it. I’ve been sitting down to play jigs and reels every few hours since Monday. I’ve also been tuning quite a bit with three harps that my students use in lessons, rehearsals, and recording sessions.
And while I always have sundry new projects cropping up, I realized the other day that my yearly routine is also more predictable than expected. I created a pie chart to demonstrate my practice goals for various portions of the year.
Click chart to enlarge
What else? Exercises to keep my back muscles in shape (important for harpists). Publicity for the upcoming Scottish concert. Reminder e-mails. Writing a cover letter to the publisher I’d prefer for publishing my music book of Christmas arrangements. Meeting with my videographer to go over edits for my music video. Writing an article for the upcoming issue of a harp magazine. Finding a time to schedule a board meeting for the new Executive Board of the Harp Society. Memorizing music for the Renaissance Festival.
It’s really all quite routine. 
What Does a Free-lance Harpist Do All Day? Part 1. You might also enjoy Recording Soirée about the process of creating my cd “Soirée à Montpellier.”
Stephanie Claussen is a professional harpist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She performs on her harp throughout Minnesota in various concerts, recitals, and collaborations with other musicians. Consider signing up for her e-mail newsletter to be notified directly of upcoming performances and important announcements.