Primarily I’ve been developing the method with an aim of changing the common attitude towards the harp as “a big exotic mesmerizingly gurgling thing”. Even professional musicians still have an old-fashioned opinion about this instrument: they see it as a not so serious instrument that can successfully enrich the sound of an orchestra, but is totally unbearable for your ears after a 5-minute solo performance. Unfortunately, such an opinion had reason to evolve.

The harp is a relatively young instrument in its modern form. The increased sound range and double-row pedal system greatly expanded its capabilities in comparison with the simple diatonic or even lever harp. But these improvements occurred quite recently (about 150 years ago) on the scale of the millennial history of the instrument, and unfortunately while they have granted more opportunities, at the same time they have substantially complicated the technique of performance. So it had to accelerate getting out of the cradle of simple traditional music-making with a natural scale and softly stretched strings, and fly straight to the heights of virtuoso classic solo performance. There was absolutely no need to perform complex technical elements on the predecessor of the modern concert harp; it did not take a lot of muscle strength to extract the sound; the unpretentious repertoire of that time did not have high demand for speed or accuracy of the fingers; and there was nothing much to make interpretations of.

Piano, violin, flute and other classical instrumental schools, step by step, generation after generation evolved and grew up, stimulated by the ingenious, complex, and deep works of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. They developed a colorful palette of their instruments, searched for new expressive possibilities, mastered and learned not to mix different styles, deepened musical concepts and learned interpretive skills. Meanwhile, harpists had to be content with a primitive folklore repertoire, and vocal and instrumental accompaniments that did not require high technical skills or great musical thought.  And only a few pieces were written for the harp (and more often for organ or harp) by great composers.  With the development of the instrument, harpists began to enthusiastically enrich their repertoire with their own, for the most part virtuoso, but shallow works.    

It is only with the advent of the first outstanding virtuosos, who proved that the newly developing instrument has many unique advantages, that the harp finally attracted the attention of classical composers. There emerged a whole layer of romantic and impressionistic music; however, it was not that significant. In attempt to further expand their repertoire, harpists began to turn to piano, harpsichord, organ or guitar music. Yet the performing technique on the young improved instrument turned out to be so complex, that simple and accessible pieces for beginner pianists were often completely impossible to perform even on the modern concert harp. Moreover, the harp school, which had just begun its rapid but rather narrowly localized development noticeably, lagged behind the organ and piano schools, which have rich history and wide distribution. Not to mention the schools of other classical instruments, which have been developing for centuries, and use an extensive original repertoire.

For harpists the twentieth century was marked by the vigorous development of performing techniques. However, the desperate desire of the twentieth century harpists to catch up in their development to the level of other musicians was not supported by repertoire and pedagogical traditions. As a result, the harp school became imbalanced: developing technique at the expense of music. The modern world being in a hurry and rarely engaging in deep reflections unfortunately only worsens the problem.

I dare to declare, based not just on my conviction, but having proven times and again through working with my students, that the harp in its technical and musical expressiveness potential not only can, but should in no way yield to other more widely used solo instruments.

 Our repertoire now numbers not hundreds, but thousands of interesting solo and ensemble works worthy to be performed on high professional stages. A great contribution to its enrichment was made by composers of the twentieth century. There were created many wonderful transcriptions and arrangements.  Both listeners and future performers are steadily getting interested in the harp as a classical instrument.  And we, the current harpists and teachers, must resolutely move beyond amateurship, and elevate our beautiful and beloved instrument to the highest professional level it deserves.   

All it takes is consistent and methodical approach to not just teaching technical skills that allow to avoid any difficulties in performing the most virtuoso repertoire, but also tocomprehensive musical education using the most diverse classical repertoire that has become accessible to harpists as a result of the advances of the instrument. After all, technical fitness for a musician is not a goal in itself, but merely a means of being free in his possibilities of artistic expression.

For the past 30 years I have been engaged in the development of exactly such a methodology covering all aspects of musical performance.

To date the method has been tested and polished on my most consistent students, all of whom have reached the highest peaks of excellence in the shortest possible time regardless of their initial natural abilities and have repeatedly won various national and international competitions.