Bethany Caswell is the first prize winner of the 2026 United Kingdom Harp Competition; Caswell is a student of Imogen Barford at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Natalie Lo (Royal Academy of Music) won second prize, and Hanjiao Zou (Royal College of Music) won...
New Orleans harpist Elise McArdle, a.k.a. Mere of Light, released her new album Heat of Ritual on April 24 on the Lighten Up Sounds label. The album features six tracks of acoustic folk harp, analog synthesizer, drum machine, and voice, which McArdle blends using...
Lara Somogyi will release her second album, a [time] patterned, on Aug. 28 via Mercury KX, with the lead single “sojourn” out now. According to a press release, the album is “a work rooted in contemporary classical yet reaching far beyond it, … an intensely human...
The Urban Youth Harp Ensemble (UYHE) is the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the Genesis Inspiration Foundation to support and expand its in‐school and after‐school harp musicianship programs across Atlanta. The foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on...
The Telynau Cambrian Harps Harp Festival is set to return to the coastal village of Llanrhystud, Wales, from May 15–17, 2026. This year’s festival offers an educational program with masterclasses and workshops led by tutors from the Royal Welsh College of Music and...
The Félix Godefroid International Harp Competition has announced the winners of its 9th edition, which took place April 29–May 3 in Tournai, Belgium. The triennial competition is open to harpists ages 35 and under, divided into four categories based on the length and...
Singaporean harpist Lishan Tan is the newly appointed principal harp of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. “I’m really excited to be part of an orchestra with such a rich history and a genuine commitment to its community,” Tan says. “Their focus on education,...
We’re talking with featured performers leading up to this summer’s One Harp World (OHW), a joint conference organized by the American Harp Society (AHS) and World Harp Congress (WHC). It takes place July 28–Aug 3, 2026, in Toronto. This month, we’re featuring five...
Harpist, composer, and producer Floraleda Sacchi recently released a new album titled Joe Hisaishi by Floraleda Sacchi on the Amadeus Arte label. According to a press release, this recording is a tribute to the Japanese contemporary composer Joe Hisaishi and contains...
Laurie Ellen Bolvig Buchanan of San Antonio, Texas, died on Feb. 18, 2026, at age 87. Buchanan was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 28, 1939, to Doris Hevener Bolvig and Col. Lawrence John Bolvig. She earned a degree in harp performance from the Eastman School of...
