OLTREMARE - A NEW ALBUM FOR SOLO HARP

ABOUT ME AND OLTREMARE

Hello! I’m Danielle Riegel, a Dutch-French harpist based in Portugal and performing throughout Europe.

I have played the harp for most of my life. I trained in The Hague, Amsterdam, Lyon and Berlin, and spent sixteen years as principal harpist of the Symphony Orchestra of The Hague.

After more than 35 years as a professional musician, classical music remains the foundation of everything I do, while my musical world today also embraces minimalism, crossover, improvisation and influences from other musical traditions.

And now I have created something I have wanted to make for a long time:

Einaudi on Harp – Oltremare, a new album featuring eleven works by Ludovico Einaudi, reimagined for solo harp.

It was professionally recorded in the Netherlands and will be released internationally by Challenge Records on 16 October 2026.

Through this crowdfunding campaign, I hope to raise at least €9,000 towards the core recording costs of bringing Oltremare to life.

WHY THIS ALBUM

For years, after concerts, people kept asking me: “Where can I listen to your music?” I realised I needed an album.

A recording that could travel further than I can — to listeners, press, radio and concert organisers around the world.

I wanted it to represent where I had arrived musically after a lifetime with the harp.

That became Oltremare.

WHY EINAUDI

Ludovico Einaudi began with a strong classical and contemporary-classical background, but his musical world expanded far beyond it — through minimalism, folk, pop, African and world influences and electronics.

I recognise something in that journey.

My own musical life began deeply rooted in classical music and has gradually expanded through contemporary music, improvisation, folk and world traditions, ambient soundscapes, crossover and other influences.

And something happens to me when I play Einaudi.

The repetitions, gradual development, long melodic lines and openness take me remarkably quickly out of my mind and into feeling, intuition and imagination.

Sometimes into peacefulness. Sometimes into passion. And sometimes into serenity

You don’t need to understand his music, you can simply feel it.

OLTREMARE ~ BEYOND THE SEA

Living close to the Atlantic in Portugal deepened that connection.

After many years of a very busy professional life in the Netherlands, nature, space and the ocean gradually became part of my everyday life — and part of my musical world.

Oltremare means “Beyond the Sea.”

There is the physical Atlantic that now surrounds my life, but for me it also means looking beyond what is immediately visible and rational — towards intuition, imagination, emotion and connection.

That is the world from which this album emerged.

WHY EINAUDI ON HARP

A piano and a harp both contain strings, but our relationship with them is very different.

On the piano, pressing a key activates a hammer that strikes the string. On the harp, my fingers touch and release the strings directly.

That allows me to shape subtle differences in colour, attack and dynamics through touch.

The harp also continues to resonate after a string is played. Other strings can respond sympathetically, while harmonics and overtones create a rich world around the sound.

Combined with Einaudi’s repeating patterns and long melodic lines, this can create a deeply immersive listening experience.

I played the concert pedal harp for most of my professional career, but for Oltremare, I deliberately chose the smaller lever harp because I experience a different kind of physical and creative freedom with it.

On this instrument I can explore the most subtle differences in colour and articulation, but also great expression and intensity - sometimes reaching the very limits of this instrument.

THE ALBUM

Einaudi on Harp – Oltremare contains eleven works by Ludovico Einaudi:

Nuvole Bianche · Oltremare · I Giorni · Primavera · Passaggio · Nefeli · Monday · Flora · Indian Yellow · Almost June · Natural Light

The album was professionally recorded in the Netherlands and will be released internationally by Challenge Records on 16 October 2026.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND OLTREMARE

Although Oltremare began as a very personal musical idea, an album like this is never made by one person.

Over the past year, a wonderful international team has helped me turn the music into a professional recording, physical album and visual world:

• Recording, sound, editing, mixing & mastering
: Frerik de Jong — Kleinman Audio

• Record label: Challenge Records International


• International digital distribution
: The Orchard

• Film & video
: Melowave Studio

• Algarve photography
: Carrie

• Content creation
: Danica & Ralph

• Website redesign
: Kasia

From recording and mastering to photography, films, design, distribution and promotion, every person has contributed another piece to the world around Oltremare.

WHY CROWDFUNDING - AND WHERE WILL YOUR SUPPORT GO

Creating a professional acoustic album at this level is a substantial undertaking.

For Oltremare, it was important to me to capture the harp as naturally and faithfully as possible — its resonance, warmth, detail and the subtle differences in colour and articulation. That meant working with a specialised classical music sound engineer, professional recording equipment and a carefully chosen acoustic recording location.

My first crowdfunding goal is €9,000, corresponding directly to the core costs of creating the professional recording:

• €6,500 — Recording, editing, mixing & mastering

  • Working with a specialised classical music sound engineer throughout the recording and post-production process.

• €2,500 — Recording location

  • 3½ days in a carefully chosen acoustic location in the Netherlands, giving us the time and space needed to record eleven works and capture the natural sound and resonance of the harp.

FIRST GOAL: €9,000

But creating the recording is only the first part of bringing an album into the world.

The complete investment in Oltremare is approximately €15,000.

BEYOND THE RECORDING — APPROXIMATELY €6,000

This includes €2,500 for professional films and video production, alongside photography and artwork, content creation, website redesign, CD production, promotional materials and the many other elements involved in presenting and bringing Oltremare to audiences internationally.

This is why €9,000 is my first goal, rather than the ceiling of the campaign.

If we reach €9,000, your support will have helped cover the core professional recording costs of Oltremare.

If we go beyond that first goal, every additional contribution will help cover more of the complete ±€15,000 investment and support the next phase: bringing the album to listeners through film, visual content, physical CDs, publicity, promotion and international outreach.

WHY IS CROWDFUNDING IMPORTANT

Today, music is available almost everywhere through streaming.

That’s wonderful for reaching listeners around the world, but streaming income doesn’t come close to financing a professional acoustic production like this.

And simply placing an album online doesn’t mean people will discover it.

The music still needs to reach press, radio, playlists, concert presenters, venues and new audiences.

For me, Oltremare is therefore much more than a CD or a collection of streams.

It allows someone who hears me perform to continue listening wherever they live — and it becomes an international calling card that can travel to press, radio, festivals and concert organisers.

Crowdfunding helps build the bridge between making the music and helping it find its audience.

GET EXCLUSIVE REWARDS

I wanted the rewards to offer different ways of becoming part of Oltremare.

There will be signed albums and personal dedications, special campaign rewards, private harp experiences and lessons, and intimate private concerts.

And one particularly personal reward grew directly from the landscape behind the album.

Oltremare by the Sea

Along the Algarve coast, I have been collecting shells and small natural treasures carried in by the Atlantic.

From these I am creating a limited collection of unique framed Oltremare by the Sea pieces.

Each is handmade from materials I personally found along the coast, so no two will ever be identical.

A small piece of the landscape that inspired the album, created especially for this campaign.

Explore the rewards and choose the one that speaks to you.

PLANNED SCHEDULE

+ Info

Follow the journey of Oltremare through my website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and LinkedIn.

BECOME PART OF OLTREMARE

An album begins with a musician and an instrument.

But it only truly begins to live when somebody listens.

If this music speaks to you, I would love you to become part of Oltremare.

Choose a reward, support the campaign, or share it with someone who might connect with the music.

And help carry Oltremare beyond the sea 💙