harpcolumn

Babirak releases second album

Babirak releases second album

Harpist Stephanie Babirak will release her second album, Rotten Fruit, on June 12, with the lead single, “Hey Cain,” out now. According to a press release, Rotten Fruit is “a meditation on goodness, guilt, and the things we inherit—drawing from biblical imagery to...

Campiche releases debut solo album

Campiche releases debut solo album

After releasing two albums with her quartet, harpist Julie Campiche makes her solo recording debut with her new album Unspoken. Campiche says her compositions on the album honor the contributions of women in society. “Female strength is what makes the world go round,”...

Willemze releases new album

Willemze releases new album

Joost Willemze releases his new album Rhapsodos on March 13 on 7 Mountain Records. In his liner notes to the album, Willemze says the album title refers to a professional traveling musician and storyteller in ancient Greece who performed epic poetry such as Homer’s...

Bertrand releases album inspired by 19th-century salon of Amalie Beer

Bertrand releases album inspired by 19th-century salon of Amalie Beer

Harpist Anne-Sophie Bertrand is releasing her album Amalie’s Cosmos on Pentatone on Mar. 13. Bertrand says the album invites listeners to imagine the musical, philosophical, and scientific exchange that took place at the 19th-century salon of Amalie Beer in Berlin....

Afanasieva releases album featuring music of Piazzolla

Afanasieva releases album featuring music of Piazzolla

German harpist Ekaterina Afanasieva recently released her eighth album, Histoire du Tango, featuring the music of Astor Piazzolla. Released on the Arpa Nueva label, the album includes Afanasieva’s solo harp arrangements of Piazzolla’s Estaciones Porteñas, Oblivion,...

Ní Scolaí releases debut album

Ní Scolaí releases debut album

Dublin harpist Emer Ní Scolaí has released her debut album, Aiséirí (Resurrection), featuring both original compositions and arrangements of traditional Irish airs, hornpipes, reels, and O’Carolan tunes. “Aiséirí is a story of resurrection,” Ní Scolaí says. “It is a...

Jackson releases new EP

Jackson releases new EP

Harpist Ashley Jackson will release her new EP, Cover Girl, on Feb. 27 on Decca Records US. Cover Girl includes new arrangements of music by female pop artists such as Nina Simone, Whitney Houston, and Arooj Aftab. “Cover Girl allowed me to dig into the depths and...

Finch releases album of original compositions

Finch releases album of original compositions

Welsh harpist Catrin Finch’s new album Notes To Self marks her first collection of solo compositions in a decade. Finch will release the album on Feb. 27 on the bendigedig, a label run in partnership between ARC Music International Ltd and Mwldan. Finch also begins a...

Parkins releases album honoring legacy of Mills College

Parkins releases album honoring legacy of Mills College

New York-based harpist and composer Zeena Parkins released her album Lament for the Maker in December 2025, titled after a poem by Jack Spicer. Parkins explains, “In 2022, with the closing of Mills College imminent and my bicoastal life coming to an end along with it,...

Urwin releases second solo album

Urwin releases second solo album

Irish harper, composer, and songwriter Aisling Urwin recently released her second solo album, The Other Place. Though the harp is central, the album also features field recordings of streams, birdsong, storms, a grandfather clock, bells, and old wind-up toys, as well...