Claire Jones teaches harp to Samuel L. Jackson

Harpist Claire Jones found herself giving an impromptu lesson on the harp to none other than Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson last week.

Claire Jones, The former official Harpist to the Prince of Wales, met Jackson at a charity event to raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Samuel L Jackson was the compere for the evening while Claire was performing with Michael Bolton.

Much to Claire’s surprise, the multi-award winning actor professed a great love for the harp: “He told me that the harp was the very first instrument he saw as a child. His mother showed it to him when they were somewhere and he’s been fascinated by the instrument ever since.

“He was fascinated by the harp, totally entranced by it, so I gave him a short lesson during the interval – he was quite good, and very charming! I don’t know if he’ll take it any further, but it would be great to see more ‘tough guys’ taking up the instrument. There are lots of fantastic male harpists, but there is still a tendency to think of harpists as women. It would be great to have a strong male figure inspire a generation of boys to take up the harp.”

This week, Claire travels to Hong Kong to play with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, where the performance will include works for harp by Karl Jenkins and Bach.