Where: Wellington, Embassy Theatre
When: Wednesday 17 Dec, from 3 pm

Little did German-born harpist Asni imagine, when she first went to see "Fellowship of the Rings" two years ago, that the movie would spin her life out of orbit and have her end up on the other side of the globe –eye to eye with cast and crew and right smack in the middle of the celebrations that surround the release of "Return of the King" in the film’s native Wellington.

An internationally recognized specialist on Medieval and baroque harps, Asni is currently teaching at Victoria University Wellington, as well as getting herself involved in Wellington’s vibrant cultural life in various other ways. Besides being a musician, Asni is also an accomplished painter and has some background working for tv and the film industry.

So overwhelmed was she by the accomplishments of the first "Lord of the Rings" film that she decided it was time to make some radical changes in her life, and that New Zealand was the place to go: "If they can pull off something like that, it can’t be a bad place to be for someone like me!"

Chance, or fate assisted her: On an internet movie fan forum she made friends with a former Victoria University music graduate, who put her in touch with the university’s music department. Eight months and many, many emails later she boarded the plane to embark on a three month tour of the country – giving recitals and holding workshops at universities throughout the country, and visiting some of the filming locations on the way. It was a case of love at first sight: and when she was eventually offered the small teaching position at Victoria, she accepted more than gratefully. So far, she has had no reason to regret that decision: the NZ government’s current focus on building up the creative sector has not only enabled her to obtain one of the coveted talent visa, tailored particularly to freelancing artists – Wellington also opens up many opportunities to broaden her creative spectrum, something she’s found extremely hard to do in her native Europe.

A fan of Tolkien’s imaginary universe since her early teens, Asni claims that her choice of instrument has got a lot to do with reading Lord of the Rings: the harp is probably the one musical instrument that is played most often by characters in Tolkien’s books. But when Asni came to her first harp lesson, she was disappointed to see the big and rather clumsy modern instrument. Only when she discovered the smaller and lighter harps that were used in the Middle Ages and baroque period did she feel she had found what she had been looking for.

Asni will be providing live music between films in the foyer of the Embassy theatre at the Lord of the Rings marathon on Wednesday (17 December). She has already performed at the "Return of the Ringers" party at Skyline restaurant and at the Medieval Fair in Chaffers park on premiere weekend.
To her, these performances are a personal thanksgiving: arriving too late to get a chance to be involved in the movie’s actual production – other than being part of a crowd of rugby fans providing battle noises for the third movie – she feels that at least in this way, she can contribute something to the wonderful phenomenon that "Lord of the Rings" has become.
- Asni email: harp@paradise.net.nz asni.net