In April 2017, I was on an overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne as I wanted to catch up with a friend before I undertook a six-month performance tour in America. Sitting next to me was this really lovely German lady. We got chatting and it turned out that we both had brothers with Down syndrome.
She started telling me about her brother and how her father, Hermann Veeh, had invented a portable harp for him so that he had an instrument he could play. It was just fate I guess, that we were sitting next to each other and that this came up in conversation.
Andrew and Danny Ramsey. Photo supplied.
I hadn’t specifically been looking for an instrument for my brother Danny, but knowing how much he loves music, it immediately struck a chord. Danny plays drums and he’d had piano lessons, but Western music notation is typically not easy for people with a disability such as Down syndrome. This harp uses its own notation, so you don’t need to be able to read music to play it. It’s a really interesting instrument.
I performed in Germany the...
I know Andrew is working on a video showing what this incredible instrument sounds like! It’s absolutely magical, and everyone – musicians and audiences – fall in love with this instrument. I highly recommend exploring further into the Veeh Harp and Andrew’s work in bringing it to Australia for everyone who loves music.