Noted harpist to perform Christmas Eve in Woodbury

Highland Mills - Lay Leader Bob Pollsen will conduct the Christmas Eve service on Sunday, Dec. 24, at the Highland Mills United Methodist Church which will include music by guest harpist Nina Rubin. Rubin will begin playing at 5:15 p.m., with the service beginning 15 minutes later at 5:30 p.m. The regularly scheduled Sunday morning worship service will be held on Dec. 24 at 10:15 a.m. where a special men’s choir will sing. All are welcome to both. Rubin, a resident of Monroe, is a harpist with the Hudson Valley Symphony. She also is Hospital Certified Master of Harp Therapy. An article in the New York Times from Jan. 2, 2005, described her this way:” “When Nina Rubin makes the rounds at the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood (N.Y.), she meanders through the dialysis, medical, surgical and orthopedic units with the one instrument that she says can help any patient feel better, no matter the ailment: a 23-stringed lap harp. Rubin is a trained harp therapist, who says the music can help heal patients who hear it, and that it benefits the staff by relaxing patients. As experienced harp player, she was certified to treat patients through the Beside Harp program, a rigorous course of study in which she had to attend four weekend sessions in addition to classes, and complete an internship at a hospital site the program uses in New Jersey. In addition to learning a repertory, she learned to build on her musical strengths to comfort and soothe those in pain, those under stress and even sometimes to the families at the bedside of the dying. The program emphasizes reaching others through music; among its offerings at the weekend sessions is a seminar meant to inspire students to offer music that will “soothe the savage beast.”