Camac Blog
In memoriam Joël Garnier (1940-2000)
Coming Up
September 11, 2020
Joël Garnier, le fondateur des Harpes Camac
On the twentieth anniversary of his death, we would like to pay tribute to Joël Garnier, the founder of Camac Harps. We owe our own obsession always to do better to Joël’s spirit of perpetual curiosity, and his ceaseless questioning of established traditions and proven techniques. We would like to remember a man who has shaped the history of French harp making with his innovations and inventions. His most spectacular creation, the “Memory Harp” (Harpe à Memoire), has been honoured with a place in the Musée de la Musique in Paris; the “blue harp” has lost its capital letters, and become a synonym for the electric harp. We also pay homage to a man who always listened to harpists, to their aspirations and their dreams, and who devoted his life as a harp maker to living up to their expectations. Finally, I would like to pay a personal tribute to the mentor who willingly gave me his savoir-faire, infused me with his mindset, and then entrusted his company to my hands. Camac Harps’s adventure continues, to see the day dawn on the harps Joël dreamed of – the harps we dreamed of. Today should be above all a celebration, of the harp and of harpists. We celebrate in memory of a man for whom life was a celebration.
Jakez François
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- At work in his workshop
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- Joël Garnier, Camac’s late founder, was a great fan of the Latin American harp. Camac’s name even has Latin American roots, inspired by the Inca god Pachacamac, a creator god.
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- With Jacques Chirac, former President of France
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- With Pierre Jamet
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- With Suzanna Mildonian, Brigitte Labossière and Chantal Mathieu
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- With Renata Le Provost and Gérard David
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- Joël Garnier presents the first “Blue” to Jean-Michel Damase during the World Harp Congress, Paris 1990
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- With the first “Blue” at the World Harp Congress, Paris 1990
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- Presentation of the Harpe à Mémoire to Isabelle Perrin and Marileine Bouchaud
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- Joël Garnier, 1940-2000
My respect for an engineer who has known how to listen to harpists and whom I met many years ago in San Lorenzo del Escorial (Madrid, Spain) together with my admired Jakez. Go my memory of always in this tribute.
Ah Joel, he was a true gentleman, never forgotten.