La Journée de la Harpe : Montréal, cordes tendues vers 2025
Thu, Oct 30, 2025Geraldine Jippé’s quiet passion has been harps for years.
On my side, I always pictured harps as props for elves or Celtic postcards — beautiful, fragile, distant. Then I got invited into La Journée de la Harpe, organized by the Société des harpistes de Montréal, where she asked me to be the official photographer. The building felt like an airport terminal for strings: people arriving from Toronto, from the States, from far southern towns, all to gather around wood and tension.
The day opened with a deep-dive workshop tracing the instrument’s path from ancient Mesopotamian bows to modern concert stages.
After, every harp on display was fair game.
The event also have volunteers tuning instruments in the background. Events like this are only possible because people donate time, not just money.
I skip to a tuning class. Even I, non-harpist, found it captivating: humidity tricks, string rotations, the invisible labor that keeps “angelic” sounds possible.
Competitions gave a rhytm to the day. A young competitor who traveled kilometers stepped on stage with zero margin for error.
Nearby, parents — logistics managers, cheerleaders, financial backers and more. All of those years of quiet grind for a five-minute performance.
What I didn’t expect: Paraguayan-style harp music. It’s danceable, percussive, equal parts celebration and invitation. I could imagine this set headlining a wedding or taking over a night market.
The day wasn’t only about sound. Artisans filled a small market, showing strings, tools, new instruments you can tap into, and more. Community felt tangible.
A new laureate walked away with a prize, applause, and maybe a future. She represents a generation that doesn’t see harps as relics.
The head judge — part of the elder generation — then led a workshop, passing down techniques.
Walking out, I realized the harp isn’t a museum piece. It’s a living technology carried by volunteers, tuners, judges, parents, and dreamers like Geraldine