Isabella Krapf interview

01:30 - Isabella is from Vienna, Austria

01:39 - Vienna is a centre of classical music, which is what Isabella started learning first on piano

02:12 - Felt restricted by only playing classical music and wanted to branch out from that

02:40 - Received first harmonica age 8, the Hohner Educator harmonica (which is like a chromatic without a slide)

02:59 - Received a chromatic age 10 as wanted to play all of The Blue Danube waltz

03:10 - Played several instruments when young: piano, percussion, trumpet and voice, still playing these now

03:31 - Focused on the harmonica as felt was talented on it and there weren’t any other harmonica players in Vienna

04:11 - Played classical music and easy listening on the harmonica in the early years

04:35 - Was partly inspired to make her living from harmonica after school headmaster said it wasn’t possible

05:09 - Has made her living from harmonica, having a lot of harmonica students since being 19 years old (also some concertina and piano students)

05:55 - The popularity of the harmonica is the musically rich city that is Vienna comes from being very popular in years gone by

06:19 - In the 1960s there was a big competition for harmonica in Vienna, with many ensembles taking part

07:18 - Started teaching harmonica at an adult education centre and how improved as a harmonica teacher

07:49 - Played at the famous Musikverein concert hall in Vienna at age 20 which helped with her career

08:28 - Has long had a deep interest in the history of the harmonica and put on harmonica exhibitions

08:52 - Played in orchestras, with a guitarist, pianist and had a symphony written for her

09:25 - Isabella played a part in keeping the Seydel factory in business by ordering 1000 ‘boomerang’ harmonicas when Seydel were looking for new investors in 2004

11:10 - Isabella also had the idea of adding the Seydel signature onto the Boomerang harmonica: which Seydel still use on all their harmonicas today

11:24 - What is the Boomerang harmonica

12:35 - Harmonicas with lots of different shapes

13:40 - Has a great understanding of the history of the harmonica

13:51 - The beginning of the harmonica (in Europe at least) was in Vienna, with a factory there pre-dating the ones in Klingenthal and Trossingen

14:02 - Oldest chromatic harmonica that Isabella is aware of is from the 1850s and the factory also made high-end ivory harmonicas

15:05 - Austrian factory closed in 1922 to bring an end to harmonica production in the country

15:47 - Isabella also played a part in Seydel taking on the manufacture of the Renaissance harmonica from Douglas Tate

16:46 - Isabella runs harmonica exhibitions using her collection of two thousand harmonicas

17:56 - Has photographs of harmonica collection but these aren’t currently available online

19:34 - Taught a large group of North Korean music students to play harmonica, first visiting North Korea in 2011 and four times in total up to 2013

20:43 - The students hadn’t played harmonica before, with the only harmonicas available in North Korea being tremolos

21:11 - Isabella took some orchestra harmonicas on her first visit to North Korea

21:40 - All the students were musicians who played different instruments from the harmonica

22:23 - Had 120 students in North Korea

22:47 - Several of the North Korean conductors spoke German, helping Isabella to communicate with the students, with Isabella learning some Korean later

24:55 - A group of 15 students came to Vienna for one and a half years

25:56 - Attended the World Harmonica Festival at Trossingen and the female North Korean students played in the jazz category

26:15 - The variety of music available in North Korea

26:54 - The students were highly dedicated and practised hard

27:52 - The North Koreans appearance at the NHL festival in Bristol UK and other concerts in Trossingen, Vienna and Graz

29:00 - The North Korean ensemble played a composition for harmonica ensemble by Hohner published in the 60s

29:28 - Isabella is no longer involved with the North Korean students as she is busy with other ventures

30:47 - Got to know Jerry Adler well towards the end of his life, after he wrote an autobiography: “Living From Hand To Mouth”

31:54 - Spent ten days with Jerry Adler and heard lots of his stories from his time in Hollywood

32:29 - Jerry gave Isabella lots of his old records and reels and made a double CD for him

32:40 - There was a presentation for the Jerry Adler album and Isabella played with Jerry and Howard Levy at the concert in Chicago

34:08 - Jerry Adler was Larry’s younger brother, Larry taught Jerry and the two performed together

34:35 - Jerry played in lots of Hollywood movies

35:08 - Became interested in playing Bossa Nova music after a visit to Brazil following an invite from Pablo Fegundas

36:11 - Isabella founded The Bossa Company quartet last year and has enjoyed good success with them in Austria

37:33 - Approach to playing Bossa Nova on the chromatic

38:01 - All the members of the Bossa Nova group were found on Facebook

38:23 - Releasing an album with The Bossa Company in September 2024

39:35 - Runs breathing therapy workshops to help people with breathing conditions

41:21 - The benefits playing harmonica can have for people with breathing difficulties

43:25 - Two of the North Korean students won competitions at the Trossingen World Harmonica Championships

43:41 - Teaches private and group lessons

43:46 - No longer teaching at the Austrian university

44:20 - Has written articles, including for the US publication: The Harmonica Educator

44:33 - Has played in various countries including: the US, UK, Germany, Morocco, Brasil, Estonia

45:06 - 10 minute question: currently working on practising for an opera performance

45:49 - Likes to practise with backing tracks

46:36 - Explains the importance of breathing through the harmonica, rather than blow and draw, and not holding too much air in

49:47 - Plays the 14 hole Suzuki Sirius

50:18 - Plays some diatonic and ran a workshop for diatonic earlier this year

50:57 - Blues harp is a technique, not a type of harmonica

51:41 - Does some harmonica maintenance, although doesn’t enjoy it

52:29 - Isabella has created a video demonstrating approach to playing diatonics in the styles that might have been used in the past

53:40 - Plays diatonics in different tunings

54:01 - Doesn’t use overblows

54:32 - Embouchre: mainly puckers except for octaves

54:48 - Mic is Sennheiser MD421

55:11 - Uses the PA for amplification

55:45 - Effects: a little reverb sometimes, and turns up lows and down the highs

56:33 - Goes for a natural sound

56:53 - Future plans: performing on an opera (The Moon Wears A White Shirt) in Vienna with her students, The Bossa Company album release and plan to go back to Brazil