“Basic training, here I come!”
Not an exclamation typically heard from an up-and-coming young harpist, but this is the heartfelt reaction from 26-year-old Anna Odell who won the recent audition for the Air Force Concert Band principal harp position.
“I am honored to join the U.S. Air Force Concert Band in Washington, D.C.,” says Odell who received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto in 2012, followed by an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. “I would like to especially thank my family and amazing teachers and mentors for their unwavering support. I’m so thrilled to join this elite group of musicians and I couldn’t be happier.”
Odell will replace Eric Sabatino who has served as the Air Force Band’s principal harpist since 1994. You can read Harp Column’s conversation with Sabatino and several other harpists in the U.S. military bands in our July/Aug 2003 issue.
Odell heads off to basic training in early 2016 and hopes to join the band sometime in the spring. Read more about her on her website.
