Search 'harperscraft
Awards
Mike's virtuosity of the autoharp is world reknowned, as this growing collection of awards and tributes testifies ....
World International Autoharp Champion 1987
At the 1987 World Championship held in Winfield, Kansas, USA, Mike blitzed a top class field with some of the fastest and most original playing ever seen.
"I really cut loose," Mike recalls, "I gave the Autoharp a real thrashing and they gave me a few marks for enthusiasm. I know I made quite a few errors, but they seemed to overlook those."
One of the four pieces he played was the much abused "Old Joe Clark", to which he gave a particularly original arrangement.
To conquer the USA, the home of the autoharp, is no mean feat. as the Worcester Evening News described it ... " It's a bit like the Wild West being cleaned up by Dixon of Dock Green or Wimbledon FC winning The Superbowl!"
Autoharp Hall of Fame
Those elected to the Autoharp Hall of Fame must have had a significant, long-standing, positive impact on the autoharp community. The honorees are selected by a panel composed of knowledgeable autoharp musicians and enthusiasts who are proficient in autoharp history.
A maximum of two honorees have been selected each year since the inauguration of the award in 1992. Mike's name now resides alongside the best in the history of the Autoharp.
On induction in 1997, Mike was proclaimed as "Today's Pied Piper of the Autoharp"
On the left is a copy of Mike's citation for
the
Autoharp Hall of Fame
Click the image to enlarge/reduce it.