Katie Ott: “I Hope My Students Surpass Me”

By Chris Manson March 6, 2008 Issue

“I would love to sing with this group,” says harpist Katie Ott following an appearance with the Okaloosa Chamber Singers (OCS) at Destin United Methodist Church. “I’d be too nervous, though. I sound like a young boy when I sing — straight tone, no vibrato.”

The 26-year-old musician’s instrumental skills are another matter. Ott solos during the program entitled A Festival of Hymns. She first appeared with Marilyn Overturf’s group when she was a freshman at Fort Walton Beach High School 10 years ago. She teaches the harp at her home in Miramar Beach and as an instructor at Pensacola’s University of West Florida.

Ott founded her Gulf Coast Harp Ensemble—also prominent during the hymns program — in 2003 “to give each student the opportunity to listen to each other,” she says. “They got along so well and played so well, it turned into a group.”

Music was a mainstay in the Ott family home. “When we were young, my family had a musical group,” she says. “My brother played cello. My sister played violin. Mom sang, and Dad played piano. I had to play the mallet bells, which I didn’t feel was a significant role. At the time, my dad (Dr. David Ott) taught at DePauw University and introduced me to the harp teacher. I was seven. I fell in love with her, and through her I developed a love and passion for (the instrument). Through my own teaching, I try to be someone like my own teacher was to me. It really is a friend role.”

Tonight, Ott and her student ensemble had intended to perform Spirituals Medley arranged by Joyce Rice. But she tells the audience the weather has caused unexpected damage to some of the harps’ expensive strings. “My dad says you spend half your time tuning the harp and the other half playing out of tune,” says Ott. Instead, the quartet plays Dyades No. 1 and No. 5 and it sounds just fine.

“One thing people don’t realize because they’re watching your hands is that there are seven pedals at the bottom,” Ott tells me when I express my intimidation with the instrument. “Your feet are just as busy as your hands. The farther along you get in harp studies, the more difficult it is. You can feel natural doing it, but it’s an instrument you always have to work at.”

Later, Ott joins the OCS men and tenor soloist Jim Jordan for Come Ye Disconsolate, followed by The Voice of My Beloved Sounds (Spring) with the women’s chorus. Both songs are part of arranger Alice Parker’s Melodious Accord (A Concert of Praise), a work adapted from the 1832 shape-note hymnal Genuine Church Music. Ott also performs solo on Nancy Gustovson’s Great Day. She chose the song to show a different side of the harp, “the fancier side.”

She is booked up through the end of April with symphony and opera appearances extending to Pensacola and Mobile. “The live audience is what gives you the extra oomph,” Ott says. “That fire. If it wasn’t for that, music would never truly come alive.” Her concert schedule is posted at www.gulfcoastharpist.com.

“Although I love to hear her play, my greatest joy is watching the impact she is having on the community,” says Ott’s father, who will soon retire as conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Northwest Florida.

Ott, who has played under her father’s direction many times, says, “Nothing is more thrilling, because he’s so passionate. You can rehearse, but when you get into a concert, you see the look in his eyes, and he pumps you up.”

The Beat Recommends:
• Burial: Untrue (Hyperclub). Hypnotic trance music—or whatever it’s called—usually leaves me cold, and I can’t quite explain this record’s emotional pull.
• Los Campesinos!: Hold on Now, Youngster (www.emusic.com). The wackiest post-punk band around.
• Squeeze: East Side Story (American Beat). Proof that not every pop effort of the ‘80s has aged poorly.
• David “Fathead” Newman: Diamondhead (High Note). Fine R&B-influenced jazz from onetime Ray Charles collaborator. The highlight here is a lovely version of Billy Joel’s best song, New York State of Mind.
• DVD: The Other Side of the Mirror—Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 (Columbia). Murray Lerner’s documentary highlights Dylan’s oft-ignored sense of humor. I can’t abide Joan Baez, but there are plenty of great performances here, both acoustic and (horror!) electric.
• DVD: The Stax/Volt Revue Live in Norway 1967 (Reelin’ in the Years). Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Booker T and the MG’s and other legends at their soulful peak. Do you like good music? Hell, yes!
• The Raveonettes: Lust Lust Lust (Vice) Their noisiest effort to date--a thing of beauty.
• Nellie McKay: Obligatory Villagers (Hungry Mouse) A feminist with a sense of humor.

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