By Susan Shinn

Salisbury Post

LEXINGTON — The sounds of a harp are beautiful, peaceful, soothing.

Callie Lane makes it look so easy.

The 16-year-old, who lives with her family in Lexington, has been playing the instrument since she was 9 years old.

Now Callie, who’s a junior at Central Davidson High School, plays for receptions around town for places like the Arts United for Davidson County and Childress Vineyards, and performs at local nursing homes, too.

“She’s really coming into her own as a musical performer,” says Eric Salzwedel, the arts council’s director. “Her playing adds a very special ambience.”

In second grade, Callie began taking lessons from Carla Mitchell, who was then the music teacher at Southwood Elementary School. Now Carla lives in Lake Wylie, S.C., but comes to Lexington once a month to give lessons to Callie and other students in the area.

“From the beginning, she was extremely talented,” Carla says. “She’s put in a lot of time. She’s a beautiful girl inside and out.”

Callie says of the harp, “It’s so different. It’s not like anything else.”

Adds her mom, Kathy Cashion, “You’re not only doing your hands but your feet.”

Callie has a three-quarter harp — a size smaller than you’d see in a symphony orchestra — which has foot pedals.

She tunes the instrument herself. The red strings are Cs; the black strings are Fs.

It’s on rollers so it moves pretty easily, although it is heavy.

Callie began taking lessons on what’s called a lever harp.

She traded up as she progressed.

“They’re not cheap instruments,” her mom notes.

At first, Callie says, her teacher helped her concentrate on learning hand positions and how to curve her fingers correctly. Then she started reading music.

“I liked it right off,” Callie says.

So did her mom.

“We started at the same time,” Kathy says. “I’ve always thought it was a beautiful instruments, and I just felt like it was something she and I could do together. I just basically play for myself.”

Like most high-schoolers, Callie stays busy with a number of activities. She’s on her tennis team at school, which went to the second round of the state 2-A playoffs.

“We haven’t had a team do that except for the past two years,” says Callie, who’s played the sport all three years of high school.

She’s also a member of Lexington Cotillion and volunteers at the animal shelter. She’s taking a full load of classes this semester and next.

Callie has an older stepbrother, Matt, and her stepdad is Joe. The family has two dogs, including Ruedi, a 12-year-old poodle who loves hearing his young mistress play the harp.

Callie is also a new member of the Davidson County Youth Leadership, a group similar to Leadership Rowan.

“I think I’m really gonna like it,” she says.

Even with all these activities, she’s continuing her harp classes and playing.

Callie warms up by playing scales and arpeggios. Even these simple exercises sound wonderful.

Then Callie starts playing a series of glissandos from the piece called “Gram’s Lullaby.”

The first few years she took harp, Callie practiced 45 minutes a day, six days a week, her mom says. Now, she practices a couple of days a week and on weekends.

While most harp music is classical or soft rock, Callie favors country music. Kenny Chesney is her favorite singer.

Callie is preparing for her Christmas and spring recitals with her fellow harpists. Right now, she’s considering a career in accounting or international business, but she doesn’t want to leave her harp behind.

“I don’t want to stop playing,” she says.

Like her mom, she wants to play for herself. She’d also like to play more for local events.

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If you’d like to have Callie Lane play for your next event, call her at 336-249-4788.

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Contact Susan Shinn at 704-797-4289 or sshinn@salisburypost.com.