We started playing the harp about eight years ago. I was eight years old, and my sister Mallery was about six and a half. In 1995, our dad heard about a concert called “Harps Around the World” on a local radio station called The River. He thought that our grandparents would like to go, so he told them about it. They went and absolutely loved it. Their favorite performer was South American harpist, Ramon Romero. They liked him so much that they stayed after the concert to meet him.
That night they became friends, and Ramon instantly became a part of our family. Soon our grandpa began taking lessons from Ramon. He would come over for family gatherings and play exciting songs for our family. My sister and I were very young, but we loved to dance to Ramon’s music. A few years later, my grandma suggested that Mallery and I start taking lessons from Ramon. He said that he would only teach us if we had talent. The lessons went very slowly at first because we were barely big enough to reach the lower strings on the harp. We learned very quickly though, and Ramon soon realized that we were born to play the harp.
Now I am 18 and Mallery is 16. We attend Hughson High School. I play the tenor saxophone in band and jazz band, and Mallery plays the clarinet. Also, we participate in school sports, and this year Mallery did cheerleading and I am doing track. We hope to someday travel to South America to learn more about the culture and history of the music we play.