A chance encounter makes hearts beat faster in Australia
The chance encounter of Barbara Veeh (younger daughter of Hermann Veeh) on a train ride in Australia with an Australian musician, who like her has a brother with Down syndrome, led to the fact that the first Veeh harp came to Australia. The young musician visited us in Gülchsheim in 2018 and was enthusiastic about the delicate sound and the simplicity of our instrument. On the spur of the moment, he bought a Veeh harp for his brother’s birthday. Since then, the harp and its younger brother have been inseparable. Finally he could play an instrument too. The family had the idea of making even more people in Australia happy with the harp.
A distributor for Veeh-Harp in Australia, that was the dream from then on. Another visit with a concert in Würzburg followed in autumn 2019. The musician learned everything about the Veeh harp: the history, how to tune the harp, how to change strings, what services to expect, music notation, meaning of the courses and so on. A day in the workshop rounded off the visit. The plans took shape.
We were very happy about this new contact and had no idea what big challenges it would bring for both sides: The long distance, the language, the right advertising material, legal and financial hurdles at the beginning.
The measures initially required to open up the Australian market are funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), for which we are very grateful.