More News

It's grading day at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale, which means that there are no students, leaving music teacher Nucleo Vega in his empty classroom surrounded by rows of music stands and instruments.

On another day, Nucleo Vega might be teaching students his trade — the drums — or just "jamming," but today he's talking about something that most of his students don't know anything about: his music career. Vega, 32, is the drummer for Greenbelt-based music group Harp 46. The band and its name were formed around the harp played by April Vega.

"April had a [miniature concert harp], and it was missing a string, so it had 46 strings. This was around the time of Blink 182, and Harp 46 is kind of a quirky name," Vega said.

Along with April Vega who plays the harp, Nucleo Vega plays the drums with his brother, Posido Vega, who plays bass guitar. April and Nucleo Vega are married and live in Greenbelt, and Posido Vega lives in Columbia.

When they're not playing with the band, April Vega is an arts education specialist at Greenbelt Community Center and Posido Vega works at Bank of America.

"I first heard Harp 46 a little over 4 years ago at church in Bethesda," wrote Greenbelt resident Pamela Hamlin in an e-mail. "The selections that they played were very eclectic...ranging from Celtic tunes, hymns, jazz, pop covers and many wonderful original compositions . . . I never knew a harp could do so much."

For Nucleo Vega, one of the most important things in music is the ability to bring different cultures and forms together, something he also does as a teacher. When William Wirt Middle shifted from predominantly black to predominately Hispanic students, he started learning Spanish to communicate better. Nucleo Vega knows firsthand how it feels to be an outsider, beginning with his childhood in Howard County. There were few Filipinos in his neighborhood and even then he was excluded because he only spoke English.

Through music, especially the drums that he began studying in middle school, Vega learned that "music was universal."

Together, the members of Harp 46 have released three albums: "Harp 46" in 2003, "Passage" in 2005 and "Angels With Us" in 2007. Their latest album, "Entanglement," will debut Nov. 7 with a live performance at the New Deal Café in Greenbelt.

Vega said this album is "edgier" than any of their past albums. "Entanglement" also features guest performers Bonnie McManaman on violin and Posido Vega's fiancée, Amanda Lee, on vocals.

"This music is completely like not normal harp music," Nucleo Vega said. "Just the instrumentation itself, this is not just solo harp. You also have African drums and Middle Eastern drums and bass mixed in with it. It's just not typical."

One of the preconceived notions the band faces is that harp music is only elevator music. Nucleo Vega disagrees.

"Our music is generally considered world fusion, which is like just combining everything from Celtic to African to folk, and I feel like this one is a little edgier in that it's not just harp always in the forefront," Vega said. "We're all taking more turns in the spotlight, but it still has the Harp 46 chill vibe."

E-mail Jordan Attebury at jattebury@gazette.net.

Harp 46 will be at the New Deal Café, located at 113 Centerway, from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit the band's Web site at www.harp46.com.