Now Ziegler is the student director of the group. Teaching has improved her own harp skills and her self-confidence, she said. It helps you remember to do what you need to do because you're reminding them about their posture and things like that. It also helps you appreciate it more, how it makes you feel and how special it is. The Friday afternoon classes comprise the official program, but Ediger-Kordzaia said nearly all the 50 students she teaches do some form of community outreach using the harp.
Students love performing for patients in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities.
Some even volunteer in intensive-care units in area hospitals, she said. This year, one student used harp therapy for her senior mentorship project, a requirement all students at the Governor's School must complete to graduate. For two months, Kim played a variety of harp pieces once a week for about 20 Hermitage residents with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. Kim began the project at the suggestion of Ediger-Kordzaia, who had played the harp in brunch concerts at The Hermitage last year on Mother's Day and Easter. Lahti Hicken, a program coordinator for The Hermitage, noticed during the concerts that patients were considerably calmer once the music began.