If you have been lucky enough to be at your local library when the Singing Harp troupe is presenting their version of the Grimms Brothers’ The Frog Prince or The Golden Bird, you might be surprised at the range and complexity of human experience presented in these classic stories. The three-person ensemble uses original harp music as well as theater devices as masks, costumes, and a few well-chosen props, to enchant children and adults alike.

Our grant to the Westchester Library System Grant funded presentions of Grimm’s Fairy Tales to enchanted audiences at ten county libraries. The Brothers Grimm are revered figures in German culture for their pioneering work in folklore and language, making the grant to present Singing Harp to Westchester audiences a perfect match for the Rudyard and Emanuella Reimss Fund in the Westchester Community Foundation. Mr. and Mrs. Reimss generously established a fund for the promotion of Germanic culture in Westchester. This fund has supported classical music performances and film series at the Jacob Burns Film Center.

“When the Westchester Library System and Singing Harp came to us with this idea, I was really excited,” said Betsy Bush, Program Officer. “This is the first grant we’ve made through the Reimss Fund to support folklore, an important aspect of German culture. “ The librarians and patrons have been excited, too. Wrote one librarian after a performance, “Our audience ranged from age 3 to grandparents and all of them were held spell bound by the magic created by the talented cast and the original performance. With our limited program budget this was indeed a gift which touched many lives.”