Jazz and Pop Harp Concert Feb. 2 at library

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Robbin Gordon Cartier, a harpist from East Orange, New Jersey, is the featured performer at the fifth annual New Orleans Jazz and Pop Harp Concert at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie. The concert is free and open to the public.

Cartier is a teacher in the East Orange School District where she directs the harp program that she originally created for the Elizabeth School District. She has joined the faculty of Kean University in Union, New Jersey as Concert Artist/Adjunct Harp Faculty. Performance credits include appearances at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City; the New Jersey Performing Arts Center; the Pablo Casals Music Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the National Symphony Orchestra of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Cartier has appeared on several television shows and recordings and at events honoring Lord Guinness, Cicely Tyson and Sir James Galway. She was a member of the orchestra for the Three Irish Tenors concerts and Clay Aikens “Make a Joyful Noise” tour. Cartier is a Salvi Concert Artist and presented master classes and a concert at the French ambassador’s residence in Bogota, Columbia for the Salvi Harp Foundation.

Other artists who will perform with Cartier include the following:

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Patrice Fisher is a Latin jazz harpist who favors the music of Brazil and Cuba. She is a graduate of Tulane and Wolf Trap and lives in New Orleans, where she has been composing and performing since the 1980s. She has also appeared at numerous international jazz festivals with her group, “Arpa,” including Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala. She has recorded 15 CDs of original music, the latest being "Resilience." She has performed for more than 30 years at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Fisher also performs Celtic music and is director of the New Orleans Celtic Harp Ensemble. She is a Certified Music Practitioner and uses improvisation to play for patients in hospitals, schools, nursing homes and hospices.

Luke Brechtelsbauer is a New Orleans eclectic harpist, who performs regularly with Helen Gillet and Wazozo World music group. He is a Celtic Harper from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He studied with Anna Vorhes. He has performed in Scotland, Shanghai, China and Brazil. He is also a professional clown and a bagpiper.

Rebecca Babin is a professional harpist living in Baton Rouge. She teaches private music lessons full time and is a multi-instrumentalist who plays harp, piano, guitar, and upright bass, though harp is her specialty. Babin showcases the harp in two original bands. Hurricane Becca and her Outer Band is a rock band with harp, drums, bass, accordion, trombone, and clarinet. The Wilder Janes is a folk and harmony band with harp, banjo, marimba, mandolin, bass, and guitar. Babin makes guest appearances with many other Baton Rouge musicians playing both upright bass and harp.

Cassie Watson is a native of Brooklyn and now lives in New Orleans. Watson took an interest in harp as a young adult. She studied and plays various genres of music. She has played in various venues - from a relaxing retreat or traditional Irish pub to the Festivals at Lincoln Center.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.