Paul David Wren (1964-2017) was a beloved member of the Mile Hi Chapter of the American Harp Society in Colorado. He served as principal harpist of the Aurora Symphony for 14 years, played for various local groups including the Colorado Wind Ensemble, the Evergreen...
As 2017 comes to a close, we're looking back at another fascinating year of harp news we reported on here at Harp Column. The past 12 months have been rich with amazing opportunities for harpists and celebrations of their success. We gathered for festivals large and...
Pasadena-based harp retailer Pacific Harps launched a fundraiser for their Harp in the Schools program, which works to provide harp lessons and rental harps to California schools. Following recent government budget cuts to public school music programs in the state of...
Indian American singer and harpist Sheela Bringi was recently profiled by NBC News. Passionate about infusing the music of her heritage with the American genres she heard growing up, her goal is to “bridge worlds” with her work. Bringi tells Monica Luhar of NBC News,...
Madeline Olson is the first prize winner of the 29th Nippon Harp Competition. The three-round competition took place on Nov. 15-19, 2017, with second and third prize awarded to Shizuko Mitani and Nagisa Tanaka respectively. “The competition was a wonderful experience....
Met Opera principal harpist Emmanuel Ceysson is profiled in the December 2017 issue of Opera News. Titled “Harp Throb,” Paul Driscoll writes, “Ceysson is charming, loquacious, and brilliantly gifted.” He chats with Ceysson about his childhood growing up behind the...
Shout out to Canadian harpist Janelle Nadeau for her recent feature in Huffington Post. The article, written by Randy Radic, gives a rave review of her newly released album Star of Night – a collection of 10 Christmas tunes. Nadeau, who also provides vocals on the...
The 5th Mexico International Harp Competition and Festival took place Nov. 10-18, 2017. The competition included 33 competitors from 11 countries and offered prizes in four separate divisions. The winner from the young professional division, Enea Cavallo, was featured...
The Hong Kong International Competition has announced repertoire for its fourth competition, which will take place Oct. 4-7, 2018. There are eight divisions, including a level for children ages 6 and below, a professional division for ages 30 and under, and an “open”...
Wilber “Corkey” Christman, 80, died October 16, 2017, in Schenectady, NY. His wife Patricia died in 2014; surviving are daughter Laura Sodders, and sister Alice Gingery and her children and grandchildren. Corkey took early harp lessons with Betty Fuller Meiners and...
