The American Harp Foundation (AHF) has released new details about its upcoming 2026 Awards, including the Anne Adams Awards, the Marcel Grandjany Memorial Competition, and the addition of the new Lucile Lawrence Award. The 2026 AHF Awards competitions will take place June 1–3 in Nicholas Music Center at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The competitions will conclude with the winners’ recital at 3 p.m. on June 3, which will be open to the public and livestreamed online.
More information, including application instructions, will be available soon on the AHF website. Applications for the Anne Adams Awards, Marcel Grandjany Memorial Competition, and Lucile Lawrence Award are due March 30, 2026.
Lucile Lawrence Award
Thanks to the generosity of recent donors, the Foundation is announcing the Lucile Lawrence Award for 2026. This competition was previously scheduled to be held virtually in 2025, but is now set to take place live alongside the Adams and Grandjany competitions June 1–3. The Lucile Lawrence Award will include a prize of $3,000 for study of the harp at the undergraduate or graduate level. The AHF says in a press release, “The purpose of the Lucile Lawrence Award Fund is to provide scholarships for deserving harp students and to help fund worthwhile projects that honor and perpetuate Miss Lawrence’s legacy, and that promote the harp in the world.”
Required repertoire for the 2026 Lucile Lawrence Award is as follows:
- Carlos Salzedo, Variations sur un thème dans le style ancien, Op. 30 (including printed cut)
- André Caplet, Deux Divertissements
- Choose one of the five etudes in Modern Study of the Harp by Carlos Salzedo
Supporting materials for the application must include:
- A summary of current musical and/or academic accomplishments
- Certification of matriculation in an appropriate academic institution and program of study
- The recommendation of her/his teacher(s) or others with sufficient qualifications to evaluate the applicant on the applicable criteria
Anne Adams Awards
The Anne Adams Awards are open to advanced students who are members of the American Harp Society and who are enrolled full-time in colleges or universities through a master’s degree, or other post-high school institutions. Three scholarship awards of $3,000 each for full-time study of the harp will be given to the top finalists, thanks to the generous support from the Anne Adams Fund, The Sally Maxwell/Doris Calkins Fund, and the Jack/Doris Nebergall Funds.
Required repertoire for the 2026 Anne Adams Awards is as follows:
Solos:
- Marcel Tournier, Deuxième Fantaisie de Concert (ed. Carl Swanson)
- Paul Hindemith, Sonata for Harp
- Henriette Renié, Pièce symphonique en trois épisodes
Opera and Orchestral Excerpts:
- Giuseppe Verdi, La forza del destino, Overture, harp 1
- Bedřich Smetana, cadenza from Vyšehrad (from Má vlast)
Marcel Grandjany Memorial Competition
The Marcel Grandjany Memorial Competition is open to members of the American Harp Society ages 35 and under as of March 30, 2026. The Grandjany Memorial Competition has one winner, who receives an award of $3,500. This 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.
Required repertoire for the 2026 Grandjany Memorial Competition is as follows:
- Marcel Grandjany, Rhapsodie
- J.S. Bach (arr. Marcel Grandjany), “Largo” from Violin Sonata no. 3
- Manuel de Falla (arr. Marcel Grandjany), Spanish Dance No. 1
Kathy Bundock Moore Memorial Scholarship
The Kathy Bundock Moore Memorial Scholarship is a non-renewable $2,000 scholarship which may be awarded annually to any student studying at any university. However, priority will be given to Colorado residents and to those who are attending a Colorado school. The AHF says, “Kathy Bundock Moore was both a harp instructor for the University of Northern Colorado and a private harp teacher in the state of Colorado for over 30 years. She worked diligently to increase the effectiveness of the harp instruction in Colorado. It was her wish to fund a scholarship for students enrolled in an undergraduate music degree program with a specialization in harp. Her family and friends are supporting a fund within the Foundation to make her wishes a reality.” (Note: this information for the Kathy Bundock Moore Memorial Scholarship was originally published Jan. 8, 2025, for the 2025 application cycle, which was due May 1.)
Visit the AHF website for more information about the history of the Foundation, its awards and scholarships available to harpists, and lists of past winners and donors.
