The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Photograph by Kevin White

Cupertino's Monica Nissen, 9 (left), and Marjolaine Garrow take harp lessons from Sunnyvale's Beth Erickson.

A Special Talent

Harp students learn how to string pearls of music from Beth Erickson

By Ruby Elbogen

From Cupertino to Sunnyvale, Saratoga to San Jose, the ethereal sounds of the harp can be heard wafting through the air. The students of music teacher Beth Erickson are making beautiful music for all to hear.

Monica Nissen, 9, is one of Erickson's students. She says she was drawn to the harp after hearing the instrument played in church. She found Erickson through her sister's music teacher.

The articulate 9-year-old Cupertino fourth-grader also attended Shakespeare Summer Camp, put on by Shakespeare in the Park. Monica memorized her lines for her role in Two Gentlemen of Verona. She says, "Besides playing harp, singing and Shakespeare Camp, I enjoy reading and swimming at Blackberry Farm."

The mother of five adult children, Erickson enjoys teaching the harp to youngsters. She says, "I owe my musical talent to my father, who encouraged me to play the piano when I was a young girl." Music has remained a big part of Erickson's life since the first day she fingered those ivory keys.

While the piano was her entrée into the world of music, she was introduced to the harp in her junior high school orchestra, and it was love at first touch of the strings. Although she played, Erickson didn't have a harp of her own until 1980. Since then she has pursued her passion for practicing, performing and teaching this graceful instrument.

A native of Seattle, Wash., Erickson lived in England and France. She travels the world whenever she can. She, her husband, Ed, and her children settled in the Bay Area in the 1970s. She once ran for city council in Sunnyvale on a platform of political tolerance and slow growth. She didn't win, but the issues remain dear to her heart. In retrospect, she's not sorry she lost the election given the time commitment such service takes, but she sometimes wonders how much she could have accomplished to protect the natural environment had she become an elected official.

Now a grandmother, Erickson says getting older doesn't necessarily equate to growing up, which shows in how she motivates her harp students. This isn't an easy task when the pupils are young and on summer break.

Donya Hosseinian, a high school student, has been taking lessons for only a few months. "I really enjoy playing harp, but I don't sing like Monica does," she says. "I just play." She would like to study to become a physician, a pilot or both in college.

Erickson's nine harp and 12 piano students, along with the many artists for whom she plays accompaniment in local schools, will attest to the beauty of the music. Forget the "76 Trombones." Make room for the harps and Beth Erickson--the Music Woman.