Book Offer
This will close in 10 seconds
Almost €40,000 has been raised as part of a fundraising effort for the Highest Harp Fundraising Concert, which seeks to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.
The initiative will see an ambitious team climb Mount Kilimanjaro in just under a month’s time, followed by a harp performance at 19,340 ft in the Himalayas, to raise funds for the charity.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common, life-limiting autosomal recessive genetic disorder. It is an inherited chronic disease which primarily affects the lungs and digestive system, with symptoms usually starting in early childhood and getting worse over time.
Ireland has the highest incidence of Cystic Fibrosis in the world – roughly 1 in 19 Irish people are said to ‘carry’ one copy of the altered gene that causes Cystic Fibrosis.
The Highest Harp Concert has been organised this year in memory of Desmond Gentle, who was project leader of the Highest Harp Concert on the mountain in 2018.
Desmond, who was excited about the prospect of repeating the harp performance at 19,340 ft to raise more funds, following the climb at 16,000 ft in the Himalayas in 2018, sadly died suddenly from thrombosis ten days after returning home.
Siobhan Brady, who achieved a Guinness World Record by performing the concert alongside Mr Gentle in 2018, will be playing the Celtic harp to break the record, and will be accompanied by her father, Sean, and the Highest Harp Concert team.
The harp used to break the Guinness World Record for the highest harp concert is a ‘Janet’ Camac harp, which weights around 11 kg. Organisers explain that this instrument must be carried up the mountain by four team members in a specially adapted case with four ‘pole’ handles.
In addition, the concert is held at an elevation of approx. 5,000 m or 16,000 ft and above, at which height oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is greatly reduced, with around half the oxygen density found at sea or ground level – which means that holding the concert is extremely challenging. The descent requires adequate preparation on the part of all team members, and still carries some risk, with this year’s team posting images of their preparations online:
Only 4 weeks till we fly to Kilimanjaro!
The team had a beautiful hike through Glendalough this weekend. We had great company on this adventure as some employees from @fujitsu_ie . were able to join us! #hiking #adventure #ireland #worldrecord #harp #highestharp pic.twitter.com/YjXq0ksel4— Highest Harp Concert (@HighestHarp) June 19, 2023
“This is our unique 65 Roses Challenge as part of the 65 Roses Day campaign and we are looking to raise as much money as possible to help Cystic Fibrosis Ireland continue to support people with Cystic Fibrosis in Ireland. All costs for this project will be covered by our sponsors so all donations will go directly towards the funding of supports and services for people with CF,” organisers say.
The total target for the climb has been set at €100,000 with under four weeks to go.
Footage of the group’s first Highest Harp Concert, performed at 4,954 m on the 6th of September 2018 above the summit of Singla pass, Himalayas, Ladakh, India, received international coverage, being featured on both the BBC and RTE:
You can read more about the Highest Harp concert fundraiser here.
.
This will close in 10 seconds