The American Harp Foundation (AHF) has announced the winners of its 2026 competitions, including the Anne Adams Awards and Marcel Grandjany Memorial Competition. Both competitions took place June 1–3 in Nicholas Music Center at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Lauren Swain is the winner of the Marcel Grandjany Memorial Prize and will receive an award of $3,500. Swain has studied for eight years with Nashville-based professor Carol McClure and earned her Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM) in 2023. Daniel Reeder and Joshua Ho earned honorable mentions. Reeder is currently studying at the Eastman School of Music. Ho is pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. The Grandjany Memorial Competition was established in 1979 by the American Harp Society, funded by Bernard Grandjany in honor of his father Marcel Grandjany and enhanced by bequests from Mary Wheeler and Hermine Herbring.
Isabel Cardenes, Kathryn Horton, and Jenny Li are the three winners of the Anne Adams Awards. Cardenes is pursuing her master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music. Horton is currently a senior harp performance major at the University of North Texas. Li is pursuing advanced music studies in harp performance at Carnegie Mellon University. Each winner receives a $3,000 scholarship award for full-time study of the harp, thanks to the support from the Anne Adams Fund, the Sally Maxwell/Doris Calkins Fund, and the Jack/Doris Nebergall Funds.
Julianne McCollough is this year’s winner of the Kathy Bundock Moore Memorial Scholarship, a non-renewable $2,000 scholarship for university study in an undergraduate harp program. McCollough is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. The award is given annually based on applications submitted to the AHF. It was established in honor of longtime Colorado harp instructor Kathy Bundock Moore.
Learn more about these competitions and awards on the AHF website. Watch a recording of the winners’ recital on the organization’s YouTube channel.
