By Gina Hall

The next time your child complains about having to practice piano, tell them about Carly Syta. From Saturday, Oct. 16 at 9:19 a.m. until Sunday, Oct.17 at 10:53 a.m., Syta played her harp almost continuously - a total of 25 hours, 34 minutes. She set a new Guinness World Record for marathon harp playing, breaking the old record of 24 hours, 30 minutes.

Syta, a Westchester resident, is currently a senior at Notre Dame Academy High School. She set the record on school grounds, playing all day, all night and into the next day as witnesses took shifts and recorded every song she played. She played according to the Guinness World Record marathon guidelines - every song had to be at least two minutes long with no more than 30 seconds between and no song could be repeated until four hours had passed. Syta played Broadway tunes, standards, pop, classical and Disney music. She was allowed five minutes of break time after each full hour of playing.

“I focused on playing one song at a time and tried not to think about how much longer I had to play,” she said. She said she became tired at about 5 a.m., but found her second wind with cookies and energy drinks. She reported having a sprained finger, extremely sore shoulders and a very “ tired brain” after her marathon.

What’ s next for Syta? She's heading off to college next year along with her ever-present harp, making beautiful music wherever she goes, but probably in shorter increments.