Harpist could never imagine giving up instrument
A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself; and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man’s heart. The season, the scene, the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentiment.
These words from Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park” were not written about Melissa Achten, but they may as well have been.
Achten, a home-schooled senior who lives on Spokane’s North Side, is an accomplished harpist who spends as much time as she is able with kindergarten students attending Kathy Meredith’s music class at Evergreen Elementary School in the Mead District.
What makes a girl decide she wants to play the harp? “My older brother is hearing-impaired and my parents heard the harp would be a good instrument for him to learn because of the vibrations,” Achten said
It turned out that Melissa’s brother was not interested in playing, so she decided, at the age of 5, that she would take it on. She took lessons for a year and attended a harp camp when she was 6 and became ultra inspired. She has continued to take lessons, which have her traveling to and from Coeur d’Alene each week, where she participates in a harp ensemble group with other girls her age residing in the area.
Melissa attended Evergreen Elementary, where she first met Meredith. She says of the experience: “I just loved it from day one. This (love of music) carried me through middle school and high school.”
Achten attends the Career Focus program through the community college system, which allows her to be in Meredith’s classroom. Melissa plans to major in performance with a possible double major in music education.
“Melissa is one of the most unique and mature students. I’ve just been amazed at her and her family. I appreciate every moment with her because I’ll never have this opportunity again,” says Kathy Meredith from her music room.
When she isn’t in Meredith’s classroom, Melissa spends most of her time “gigging.” She plays for weddings, mostly in the summer, Christmas parties and the Davenport Hotel lobby, and she volunteers her musical talents playing in the lobbies of Sacred Heart Hospital and local nursing homes. Achten is a member of the Spokane Youth Symphony, conducted by Vern Windham. She is also the recent recipient of a Chase Youth Award for Teen Creativity for music and her volunteering.
Melissa and her mom like to take the train through the state and visit the West Side occasionally. She travels without her harp when she is vacationing. She rarely brings it to class with her as it is too large to heft around, and it damages the instrument. However, she has recently come to own an older model Volvo wagon which, according to Achten, “just barely fits the harp!”
When asked about advice for anyone considering learning the harp, Achten has this to say: “The parents should talk to a harpist first about the huge responsibility financially and practically, as well as time management. If you really want it, you can make it happen. This decision involves the whole family. I would be nowhere without the help of my family. There is so much involved behind the scenes with practicing, work; but I would never give it up.”