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| Upcoming Article on Holly in Focus Magazine: Holly Arntzen - It Is a Matter of Heart - March 1 |
Holly's Dulcimer Holly plays an instrument which is a modern variation on the traditional Appalachian or Mountain Dulcimer, crafted by artisan Klaus Maibauer. It has 4 strings, and is fretted either with fingers or a metal slide, or both. Holly's dulcimer, which she calls an Island Hybrid Dulcimer, is larger than normal, with chromatic frets, and is more of a guitar-shape. The back of the resonant body is shaped with an extra chine rather than flat, which contributes to a deeper tone. Holly asked the builder to make the neck narrower than normal, which lets her use fingering like a guitar. Instead of the standard lap-top or table-top playing position, Holly straps the dulcimer on like an electric guitar. This allows for more freedom in stage performance, and for playing while singing at a microphone. |
Holly Arntzen, Artist
Canadian musician and songwriter, Holly Arntzen, discovered at an early age a passion for music and performing. After studying classical French horn in Czechoslovakia she turned her attention to using her incredible vocal talents in the service of raising public awareness about the environment and the need for all of us to protect it.
At about age seven, Holly experienced her first trauma with wildlife when a hapless black bear was shot behind the family homestead in North Vancouver. A sad day it was. There have been many sad days since. So many species are now endangered. Since that day she has been passionate about saving our environment and, in particular, endangered species.
Holly comes from pioneering stock and a sea-faring family, always ready to tackle issues that seem insurmountable to others. Surviving as an environmental singer for over 25 years has given Holly an appreciation of these earlier life-styles. Fortunately she developed an approach to issues that is non-confrontational, focusing on education, rather than attacking the status-quo in offensive ways. Holly might be thought of as a modern day explorer. Working in collaboration, for many years with her late husband and producer Stephen Foster, and today with a group of talented musicians, she creates songs of innocence that carry a much deeper relevance. She is always ready to “tilt at a windmill” if it will lead to deeper understanding of the important environmental issues that confront us in our daily lives.
Holly has shared the stage with Stan Rogers, Herbie Hancock, Dan Hill, Paul Horn, Bruce Cockburn, Sarah McLachlan, Paul Hyde, Doug Bennett, David Sinclair, Fred Penner, The Arrogant Worms, Raffi and many others. Since the 1980’s Holly has performed at major folk and children’s festivals across Canada, done concert tours in most provinces, and taken part in many radio and television productions. In 1995 she was the only Canadian artist in Japan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where she ended up singing for the Japanese Royal Family.
More recently she has collaborated, through the Artist Response Team (ART), in developing in-school programs throughout Canada, working with thousands of children to help them learn songs about ecological issues, sing them in concerts and record them for CDs and Radio Shows. ART has now produced major educational resources in the form of teacher’s handbooks that contain music, art, and materials to help schools continue this important work.
Holly is committed to share her passion for the natural world so that what she loves will be loved by others. She is living proof that education can make a difference; the students she works with learn incredible amounts about the natural world, and are prepared to make sound decisions about the environment in ways that will affect their world positively all of their lives. What a great contribution to Canadian culture and the world at large!
For more photos of Holly, check out the Media Room.
Holly's late partner Stephen Foster was the co-creator and visionary of Artist Response Team and Cycle of Life. See Stephen's page.