Harp Retreat Presenters | sopranoandharp

2018 New England HARP RETREAT Presenters

Director, Soprano, Welsh Triple Harp, Celtic Harp, Composer, Author

Zoe Vandermeer is a prize-winning graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and is on the Roster of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. She performs nationally and internationally as an opera singer, singing harpist, and harpist in repertoire that spans the 16th to the 21st centuries. Venues include the Sao Paulo Harp Festival, Somerset Harp Festival, Bloomington Early Music Festival, Festival de Deia Spain, Glasgow International Early Music Festival, American Harp Society Institute (2015 & 2017), Carnegie Hall, Castle Clinton, Trinity Concerts Berkeley, HarpCon2003, New York Academy of Medicine, Where Eagles Dare Theatre, New York International Theatre Fringe Festival (her one woman original Baroque pastiche opera), and elsewhere. Her orchestral compositions have been premiered by the San Francisco Sinfonietta and Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, and her original Musical Fairy Tale has been frequently compared to Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, and Secret Garden. Ms. Vandermeer's solo voice/triple harp album 'Angel's Wine, the Songs of John Dowland' received Second Place for Best Classical Album by JPF and was favorably reviewed by the UK Lute Society Journal. She is currently preparing two recording projects from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Zoe Vandermeer is a Recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund, MTNA Foundation Grant Fund, Mimi Burkhardt Scholarship Fund, Emerging Artists Grant Fund, and Hartt School Faculty Development Fund. She won First Place in the B. Alexander International Vocal Competition, First Place in the Bay Area Vocal Artists Competition, and was Finalist in the London Young Artists Early Music Competition, and Wilfred Laurier Concert Aria Competition Canada.

Ms. Vandermeer has been featured in articles in the Classical Singer Magazine and the Swiss journal Harpa. Her radio appearances include KPFK Los Angeles, Moray Firth Radio Scotland, KWMR Point Reyes, KKUP Cupertino, and WFIU Indiana. Ms. Vandermeer's upcoming baroque recording will be released with Centaur Records in 2019.

Ms. Vandermeer is the founding Artistic Director of Lyra New York, and she teaches voice, harp and piano in New Britain, CT, Chappaqua, NY, and New York City.

David J. Norton MA., LPC
Hartford Hypnosis Center

Here, counseling and hypnotherapy are the services we offer. Since 1976, we have helped people by giving them a gentle guiding hand towards learning skills that help combat negative patterns and self-destructive habits. Hypnotherapy can help you to learn to overcome the forces within you that prevent you from attaining a goal, from losing weight to stopping smoking, or from overcoming fears.

Hypnosis is not magic. It is a well-established technique with a rich history, thousands of journal articles and textbooks, various theories and schools of thought. It is a topic of renewed interest in medical and academic institutions at this time.

We employ hypnosis as an instructional medium to aid people in learning to develop positive changes. Our founder and director attended and graduated from the University of Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in English and secondary education certification. He received his master's degree in counseling from St. Joseph’s College and Connecticut State University.