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Falling into music Woman to bring heavenly melodies to Masterton inspired from multiple near-death experiences David Famularo
Harpist Shellie Hanley will be performing in Masterton this Saturday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Near-death experiences tend to bring trauma and distress for most who have gone through such an ordeal. However, for harpist Shellie Hanley, two experiences that closely ended her life have ultimately led her to music that you could say has been inspired by the heavens. Hanley will be performing with her harp “Ohomairangi” at a Tuna Heke Farewell at Wai-Rua Reserve in Masterton this Saturday. In December 2017, Hanley woke up with severe pain, became unconscious, fell and banged her head on a hard wooden step. The fall led to Hanley’s short-term memory loss, including access to the language part of her brain. To this day, she struggles to find the words when she communicates. Early tests revealed a cancerous growth was the cause of the original pain,
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but this had disappeared when the time came to remove it. Up until the fall, Hanley had been preparing for her first photographic exhibition, but the injury took her in a totally different trajectory. Just before the fall,
Because I can’t read music, Rod taught me how to find the notes I was hearing in my head on the harp. Hanley had had strong “impressions” of a harp and a desire to play one. “After the fall that went up 100 notches and I became obsessed,” she said. She describes the events that led to her taking up the instrument as her “second awakening”. Hanley saw a harp for sale online, contacted the New Zealand Harp Society, and talked to Amanda Hume on the phone.
By the end of the conversation, Hume said she would pay for a harp for Hanley and recommended a floor standing, 34 string Paraguayan-type harp from the United States. This was just before Hanley’s fall, and just as she started her recovery “the harp arrived a month later.” Hume recommended Hanley take tuition from harp tutor Rod Thomas. “Because I can’t read music, Rod taught me how to find the notes I was hearing in my head on the harp.” Learning the basic skills of a harp takes around two years but Hanley gave her first performance just a week after acquiring “Ohomairangi” which is when the harp received its name. “A sound healer from Australia asked me to play with her,” Hanley said. “A kuia in the audience, Te Raina Ferris, stood up Continued on page 6
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