Mike Parker is a harpist and
musicologist who initially studied instrument building at the London
College of Furniture, building and restoring 'early' and folk harps.
He researches all aspects of the historical harp and modern folk
music, resulting in a collection of 23 harps (with 2 more under
construction) to enable him to use the most appropriate instrument
and technique for each type of music.
A specialist on the development
technique and repertoire of the single action harp (1770-1825), in
2005 he published a sourcebook, 'Child of pure harmony' which
has become recognized as a leading work on this subject.
Most recently, he gave workshops, a
paper on the German partial-action, and a performance on an Egan
single-action from 1828 (kindly loaned by Dr Emily Lawrance) at the
Historical Harp Society Annual Workshop and Conference (June 2008),
and a demonstration concert on a McEwen French harp, an Erat Empire
and an Egan Grecian at the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam (July
2008)