Name: Kety Fusco
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Harpist
Recent release: Kety Fusco's The Harp Chapter I is out via Floating Notes / Modulor.

Tool of Creation: Harp
Type of Tool: Stringed musical instrument
Country of origin: Probably the region of ancient Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt
Became available in: Around 3,000 BCE.

If you enjoyed this interview with Kety Fusco about the harp and would like to explore her work and various projects in more depth, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.

For more of her thoughts about music and creativity, visit our earlier Kety Fusco interview. Or compare Marion Ravot's thoughts on the harp.



What was your first encounter with the harp? What was it about it that drew you in?

I was walking with the family during a holiday when I was 6 years old ... I heard the echo of this instrument in the distance and I immediately fell in love with it.

Once I saw the instrument, I was also immediately enchanted by its size.

Just like any other instrument, the harp has a rich history. What are some of the key points from this history for you personally?

The harp originated as a male instrument and now I am almost always told that it is a 'woman's' instrument (I can't stand it)!

What, to you, are some of the most interesting harp recordings and -performances by other artists in terms of your personal development?

Certainly an artist I hold in high esteem is Mary Lattimore: she created her own genre with the harp and I consider her to be a bit of a pioneer of this revolution, even though she kept classical sounds within her musical discourse.

[Read our Mary Lattimore interview]

When talking about electronic devices, we often think about their “features”. But the harp is a complex device, too. What are some of its stand-out features from your point of view? How would you describe its sonic potential?

The classical harp has 47 strings and that in itself is already very special. It also has a compressed mechanism with which to create crazy noise sounds and a resonance chamber where you can shout and sample the final resonances.

The electric harp I use has no sound box and is more direct, ‘in your face’.

Instrument design is an ongoing process. Are you interested in recent developments for the harp in this respect?

Yes, in fact I am designing a new harp myself: an instrument that is more approachable both economically and as a musical approach; if I were now to ask an adult person to play the harp, they would definitely be frightened by the difficulty of the instrument, which is why you never see a harp in a band but there are always the guitar, bass and drums.

So my harp is designed with my attitude in mind, which is to make a harp an instrument that everyone can have.

Some see instruments merely as tools towards creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

I think creativity is a feeling that is independent of an instrument. A creative person has a need, which is to express himself, then the medium with which to do it comes later.

In my case, my medium is the harp and creativity stems from the need to explore a new world of sound.

In the light of picking your instrument, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation vs perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I am absolutely interested in moving forward, but doing so from a very deep-rooted tradition: the harp is one of the oldest instruments in the world and I realised that it is also one of the most idealised; it is very difficult to get people to change their opinion about this instrument, they are all convinced that the harp is a sweet and angelic instrument. It is precisely because of this tradition that I feel like disturbing them by showing that even such an instrument has a dark side.

Tell me about the process of learning to play the instrument and your own explorations with it.

As with all instruments, you start with a good foundation of technique: scales, arpeggios, chords, etc. Technique is useful if you want to study classical music and reinterpret pieces written in the 19th century because they are pieces written on the basis of technique (600, 700 and so on).

With my project, I had to unlearn all the technique on the instrument because otherwise I would have reasoned as a harpist who plays the instrument too well.

In fact, I realised that by approaching it without the technical basis, I got more interesting sounds and compositions.

What are specific challenges in terms of playing the harp?

The biggest challenge in playing the harp is the coordination between right /  left hand and right / left foot. Another key element is touch: that is essential.

A good harpist can be recognised by the touch.

What interests you about the harp in terms of it contributing to your creative ideals? How do you see the relationship between your instrument and the music you make?

At times I experience the harp as a punching bag on which I vent stress; at other times I experience the instrument as a lifeline for lonely, melancholic days.

How would you describe your personal style of playing the harp?

I live the instrument and the music I play in a very direct and physical way. It is a visceral relationship, an extension of me.

What does playing your instrument feel like, what do you enjoy about it, what are your own physical limits and strengths?

When I am on stage I can completely dissociate myself from the reality around me and it is a wonderful feeling.

Sometimes I struggle to live my days in a 'normal' way, whereas on stage I totally enter a bubble in which I feel myself, completely alive.

Could you describe working with the harp on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

On my latest album THE HARP I take the listener on a journey through which he can discover this instrument in a new light.

It is not only the strings that produce sound but the whole harp in all its parts, through meticulous experimental recording work.

How, would you say, does the harp interact with other instruments from ensembles/groups you're part of?

From my point of view, the harp has to be very arrogant so in a group it is the instrument that has to stand out.

I actually happened to be in an improvisation group and I was able to show the side of the harp that I love most.

Are there other harp players whose work with their instrument you find inspiring? What do you appreciate about their take on it?

Yes, among those still alive I really appreciate the research of Lucrecia Dalt, iosonouncane, Moby, Joan Hopkins, Max Goober, Stromae: I appreciate their musical attitude.

[Read our Moby interview]