Liza Jensen

“Liza is both an excellent technician and a gifted harpist. I know at first hand how useful it can be to combine these skills, and I am very impressed by Liza’s competence and perception. I am delighted that Camac owners may benefit from Liza’s work, as our official international technician. I confidently recommend her to all our clients, for any regulation situation anywhere in the world.”

Jakez François

 

Liza Jensen, our head touring technician

Liza Jensen is one of our international warranty technician for service and repair, and she is also our principal touring technician beyond Europe. A musician herself, she studied the flute professionally, followed by the harp at the Eastman School of Music.

Every instrumentalist engages with the physical realities of their instrument. You delight in what works particularly naturally; get frustrated by what doesn’t, and sometimes you have to accept a limitation. It is also the case that again and again, an artist or a harp maker comes up with a solution that makes what had been thought impossible, possible. They do this through informed trial and error; without a certain expertise, you’re searching in the dark, but no matter how expert you are, you also need the patience to try, try and try again. 

Liza Jensen was no exception. Fascinated by the musical issues presented by the harp’s engineering, she wanted to find out more about it. She went to work with harp makers John Pratt and Pat Dougal. “I would work on my own harp all day. Then, I decided to take my harp completely apart, and put it back together again. I wanted to really grasp how every piece worked.

At the time, I didn’t particularly think of becoming a harp technician; it was more for my professional curiosity as a musician. But I also found that I really enjoyed the technical process – particularly the trouble-shooting! I loved discovering problems, identifying the reasons, and coming up with solutions. This was also something I found very exciting in Camac harps. Joël Garnier and Jakez François have created many genuine solutions to the harp’s structural issues. The Camac instruments are lighter, stronger, quicker and easier to regulate, and hold their intonation better. With a Camac, you will also never suffer the nightmare that is a broken pedal rod right before a concert.

Pat Dougal is sadly no longer with us. His patience and kindness inspire me to this day, as well as his generosity in sharing his knowledge both with other technicians, and with harpists. Pat believed both in helping harpists, and in empowering them to help themselves in emergency situations like broken pedal rods. I do my best to keep his spirit alive in my own work. I give many technical workshops at harp festivals throughout the world, that harpists may better understand their instruments and learn basic fixes themselves. In addition to my studio in Brooklyn NY, I maintain a busy schedule of tours throughout the United States and South America, Asia and Australia – and anywhere in the world I’m called to go to!”