Harpist Penny Howk Beavers (1942–2025) was born on August 30, 1942, to John and Aileen Howk, in Joliet, Illinois, where she began her study of the harp at age five, guided by her mother whose loving instruction led the way to a legendary career, as a professional harpist, teacher, and long-time officer of the American Harp Foundation. She is survived by a brother, Bruce (Patricia) Howk, and a sister, Jill (Vic) Genge, and lived in Cambria, California.
Penny began her formal harp training with Sister M. Charles of Joliet, continuing at the famed Interlochen National Music Camp under the guidance of Charles Kleinstuber, where she was a concerto winner, and with Ruth Dean Clark at the University of Michigan, earning her degree in Music Performance. She was the principal harpist with the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bear Valley Music Festival, and was also a recording harpist at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch for many years, where she was the harpist on the Star Wars Trilogy compact disc. She performed and lectured throughout the United States and Europe. She founded and was active on the Board of Directors of the Central California Chapter of the American Harp Society. Penny was the dazzling banquet soloist for the 25th American Harp Society National Convention in Denver, Colorado, a performer/lecturer for Salvi Pop Festivals in Santa Barbara, California, and a featured artist at the Florida Summer Harp Festival in Orlando, Florida, and co-hosted a special event at the International Pop and Jazz Harpfest in Tucson, Arizona. She represented the United States on a panel of guest speakers and performers at the World Harp Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. She created four solo albums, along with many harp arrangements published by the Vanderbilt Music Company. Penny was the recording harpist in countless movies, and shared the stage with many featured celebrities. She was an essential part of the music ministry of her Cayucos church, performing each Sunday, even during much of her final illness, and prior to that played regularly in her Fresno community. She was a musical mother to many young harpists, a number of whom developed significant careers. She was a member of the Central Coast Wedding Professionals and a lifelong member of the American Harp Society. Penny was devoted to the American Harp Foundation, working closely with her beloved friends Jack Nebergall, Sally Maxwell, and Wenonah Govea, and served as the Treasurer and Director of Donor Relations on the Foundation Board of Directors for many years.
Penny loved the harp, her family, her friends, her pups, her church, and her Cambria community. She was passionate about getting into her bright red Prius to drive enormous distances so that she could be an essential part of the American Harp Foundation Competitions Crew, never hesitating to roll up her sleeves to tune a roomful of harps, take over the reception desk and gently guide nervous competitors, heft concert grand harps onto their dollies and roll them onstage, or to schedule a mandatory ice cream break for the crew. Penny never missed a board meeting or a decimal point in her meticulous treasurer’s reports. Her fierce loyalty, generosity, and joyful presence will be greatly missed. Fortunately she left an enormous legacy of service to all things harp, with recordings, students who turned Penny’s nurturing into a career foundation, and her lasting impact via dedicated service to the American Harp Foundation, in which a scholarship will be created in her honor. A YouTube channel will soon be created of her recordings.
Private services will be held in Penny’s Cayucos church. Those wishing to contribute to the Penny Howk Beavers Scholarship Fund can reach out directly to the American Harp Foundation.
—Carrie Kourkoumelis
