Sarah Kramer - The Harley School
By: Maureen McGuire
Updated: December 1, 2009
Sarah Kramer has been studying the harp since the age of 7. "It's just a wonderful instrument and a joy to play and make music," she says. Kramer is devoted to her studies at the Eastman School of Music, and her dedication has already paid off. Last year, she was one of a handful of students selected to play a solo with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The harp is a complex instrument, but Sarah throws herself into the music. "A lot of other instruments are just one line instruments, so you're just doing a melody or a harmony, just one line music. But with the harp you can do them both at the same time, so you can create your own melody and harmony and make them mesh together in one instrument." "It's just coordinating everything. I mean your hands are doing two different things and you're actually doing stuff with your feet too. Most people don't know about the feet!" Sarah is a senior at the Harley School. Ben Burroughs is her music teacher. "Her standard of musicianship is really top notch and the people around her know that and so they are, whether they know it or not, slowly drawn to follow that," he says. Sarah will study music in college. She's not yet settled on a career, but she can't imagine life without her harp.
