Meet the Customer: Mark Norris Harps
We took some time out recently to catch up with our long-standing customer, Mark Norris of Mark Norris Harps, to find out more about the company and the important part our timber plays in the craftsmanship of his amazing instruments.
Let’s start with an easy one… What do you do?
I have been making and servicing high quality harps for professional players for over 35 years.
How did you get started?
I initially trained in the making of harpsichords, spinets and clavichords before establishing my own workshop in Scotland in 1981, developing harps with my wife who is a professional harp player and composer.
What makes your harps stand out?
All of my harps are specially made to order. I use carefully selected timber around a carbon fibre core, which makes my harps much lighter and more robust. This aids transportation and stable tuning. Using such high quality timber also helps my harps to look as exquisite as they sound.
How did you come to work with Thorogood?
I have been buying timber from Thorogood for the past 25 years. I first came to work with them when I was searching for suppliers of American Black Walnut, from which around 50% of my harps are made. Thorogood supplied the right type of wide cut boards I needed, which are quite difficult to find. The fact that they have the exclusive contract to import Horizon wood boards from the United States (which are exactly what I need), and have always dealt with me fairly and treated me like a valuable customer even though I only make a few modest orders a year, means I’ve never had any reason to look elsewhere.
Where can we find you?
You can find out more about my work on my website at www.norrisharps.com. One of my harps was also recently featured on BBC’s The Voice, being played by the wonderful singer and musician Anna McLuckie…
You can see other videos and audio of my harps being played over on my Players page.
Blog | 6 years AGO