Ed.—this article extra is part of the feature article Going Public in the March-April 2019 issue of Harp Column.

Dorothy Ashby / Cass Technical High School

While at Cass Tech and Wayne State University, Dorothy Ashby studied a number of instruments, including harp with Velma Froude. After graduating from Wayne State University, Ashby began playing the harp in the Detroit jazz scene. Ashby’s influence blazed a trail for later jazz harpists, and she even had her own radio show in Detroit. In the late 1960s she moved to California to work in the studio recording business. Ashby can be heard playing harp on the Stevie Wonder song “If It’s Magic” from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life.

Mana Azimi / Mesa Public Schools

Mana Azimi was a prize winner in the 2018 Anne Adams Awards and performed in recital at the 2018 American Harp Society National Conference. Azimi is currently studying harp performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Melissa Dunne / Mesa Public Schools

After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Melissa Dunne served 14 years as the U.S. Army Field Band harpist. Formerly the harp professor at the Catholic University of America, Dunne currently works for the U.S. Department of State in the Foreign Service.

Velma Froude / Cass Technical High School

Upon the sudden death of her harp teacher Laurietta Kink, Velma Froude took over the fledgling harp program while she was still a student at Cass Tech. The head of the music department, Clarence Byrn decided she was the most advanced of the harp students and sent her on the train to study with Carlos Salzedo in Maine during summer breaks. She later graduated from Wayne State University, founded the famed Cass Tech Harp and Vocal Ensemble, and taught hundreds of students during her 49 years at Cass Technical High School.

Harvi Griffin / Cass Technical High School

Early in his career, Harvi Griffin was principal harpist with the Detroit Symphony, National Symphony, and the U.S. Army Field Band. Later he released several jazz harp albums, and in the 1980s and ’90s consulted, along with Greg Buchanan and fellow Cass Tech alumna Susan Mazer for Lyon & Healy to develop the electro-acoustic harp.

Charles Lynch / Mesa Public Schools

Charles Lynch became the harp specialist for Mesa Public Schools in 2015 after completing a doctor of musical arts degree in harp performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Lynch has performed and presented at numerous American Harp Society National Conferences and Summer Institutes. His articles on the Roslyn Rensch Collection have appeared in the American Harp Journal.

Modern Harp Quartet / Cass Technical High School

Comprised of Cass Tech harp program alums Lydia Cleaver, John Wickey, Maurice Draughn, and Anne Brege Owens, the Modern Harp Quartet has performed throughout the United States including at the 2014 American Harp Society National Conference in New Orleans. Wickey and Draughn have published compositions and arrangements, which are available from Harp Column Music.

Mason Morton / Urban Youth Harp Ensemble

Mason Morton was one of the first two students to participate in the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble. Now Morton is the harpist for the classical crossover ensemble Sons of Serendip and has a master’s in harp performance from Boston University. Sons of Serendip was a finalist on season 9 of America’s Got Talent, and can be seen on the current season of America’s Got Talent: The Champions.

Park Stickney / Mesa Public Schools

Currently based in Switzerland, Park Stickney is a master at jazz and improvisation on the harp. He has played Broadway pits in New York and toured with The Fantasticks in Japan. He has five solo CDs, and can be heard on numerous other recordings. Stickney is the visiting professor of jazz harp at the Royal Academy of Music in London, an assistant professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon, France, and teaches harp improvisation at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Pat Terry-Ross / Cass Technical High School

Pat Terry-Ross holds degrees in both harp performance and choral music education from the University of Michigan. For 31 years she taught harp, voice, piano, music theory, harmony, and directed the renowned Harp & Vocal Ensemble at Cass Technical High School. Currently Terry-Ross is professor of harp and choral conducting at Wayne State University, and has been the principal harpist for the Michigan Opera Theatre for over 40 years. She can be heard playing harp on the recordings of many Motown artists, including Marvin Gaye and The Temptations.