News
News
News
News
Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts Available
I’m really pleased to share that my latest publication Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts is now available
through the following places:
There will also soon be options for purchasing the book through Harp Column Music, Sylvia Woods Harp Center, and Harp.com. The book is available as both a hard copy and a digital PDF (although some places only carry one version) and contains works by Lili Boulanger, Johannes Brahms, Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Fauré, Gustav Holst, and Camille Saint-Saëns. My hope is that when a harpist will be performing a piece of choral repertoire, they’ll be able to turn to my book as an excellent resource and use the parts for learning, rehearsing and performing.
September 2025​
World Premiere with Trio Sirènes
Trio Sirènes (Marcia McHugh, flute; Karin Brown, viola; Jacqueline Pollauf, harp) is looking forward to giving the world premiere of Seven Chakras, a piece written for the trio by composer Brian Prechtl. Join Trio Sirènes for two performances this month:
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Sunday, September 21 at 3:30pm
Community Concerts at Second
Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD
Trio Sirènes gives the world premiere of Seven Chakras by Brian Prechtl and performs
Taiwanese Folksongs by Chen-Yu Huang on a program of mixed chamber music.
More info is available here.
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Tuesday, September 30 at 7:30pm
The Spire Series
First and Franklin Church, 210 W. Madison Street, Baltimore, MD
Trio Sirènes gives the opening season concert for the Spire Series. The program will include Seven Chakras by
Brian Prechtl, alongside music by Maurice Ravel, Chen Yi, and Pietro Locatelli.​
September 2025​
Harp Column Monthly Music Club
I'm so pleased that Harp Column Music, an online harp music distributer, has selected my composition Rose Red for a September pick of the month. I'll join them on Wednesday, September 10th at noon (EDT) on Zoom for a presentation and Q and A about Rose Red.
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September 2025​
​Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts is about to be published!
I’m delighted to announce that my latest publication, a compilation of harp parts from choral music, is currently being printed, after a few twists and turns in the process. I am really excited and proud of this new book.
The book contains seven works:
Ein deutsches Requiem, op. 45 (A German Requiem) by Johannes Brahms
Vier Gesänge, op. 17 (Four Songs) by Johannes Brahms
Requiem, op. 9 by Maurice Duruflé
Requiem, op. 48 by Gabriel Fauré
Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, op. 26, Group 3 by Gustav Holst
Oratorio de Noël, op. 12 (Christmas Oratorio) by Camille Saint-Saëns
Soleils de Septembre (Suns of September) by Lili Boulanger, trans. by Jacqueline Pollauf
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For each work, I have re-notated the original, not making any changes to the part, but simply making the notation clear and easy to read. I spent a great deal of time thinking about what would be helpful for any harpist playing each work. I added many cues to the newly notated harp parts and then added other harp specific information, such as pedal markings, enharmonic equivalents as needed, the tuning for the lowest two strings, etc. Also, I adjusted the layout of all of the parts to make the page turns work as well as possible, as a poor page turn causes so much stress! Finally, I researched each work and composer and have provided a text introduction for each piece, which includes some background information and notable points about each work. My hope is that this book will make learning and performing these parts smooth sailing for the harpist.
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​More information, including details about where to purchase the book, will be available soon.
August 2025
Atlanta Harp Center Harpist of the Month
The Atlanta Harp Center is featuring me this month as their harpist of the month! Check out their Instragram and Facebook for all kinds of fun and creative posts.
August 2025​
Recent Duke Ellington Videos
I'm always creating and posting videos on my YouTube Channel. Some are solo videos, others focus on harp repair, and some videos are specifically for students. Lately I've had the pleasure of learning a couple of beautiful Duke Ellington arrangements and sharing these.
July 2025​
New Choral Recording Project
I'm so pleased to share that the Maryland State Arts Council has awarded me a Creativity Grant for a new choral recording project. Collaborating with the Emmanuel Choir under the direction of Christian Lane, I'll be creating a video of Gustav Holst's Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op. 26, Group 3. This evocative work for treble voices and solo harp is a lovely suite of short four pieces, and my edition of the harp part will be included in my forthcoming publication: Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts.
June 2025​
Watch Hangin' with the Harp
On May 20th, I gave a presentation for Hangin' with the Harp, an online monthly event organized by the Atlanta Harp Center and hosted by harpists Mary Jane D'Arville and Robbin Gordon-Cartier. I really enjoyed the opportunity discuss collaborating with choirs and playing choral music. If you missed the event, you can watch a video of the Zoom session below (or by clicking here).
May 2025​
Hangin' with the Harp Presentation
On Tuesday, May 20th at 4pm (EDT), I'll give a presentation for Hangin' with the Harp, an online monthly event organized by the Atlanta Harp Center and hosted by harpists Mary Jane D'Arville and Robbin Gordon-Cartier. Each month, a different guest harpist shares their expertise with the audience of harpists. I'm looking forward to discussing choral music. The event is free, but registration is required. Click here for more info.
May 2025​
Solo Recital
On Sunday, May 4 at 3pm, I'll be giving a solo recital at the beautiful Cathedral of Mary our Queen (5200 North Charles Street) in Baltimore, Maryland. This large church has resonant acoustics that suit the harp admirably and I'm so pleased to be featured on their concert series. Admission is free; a goodwill offering will be taken.
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Program:
• Apunte Betico by Gerardo Gambau
• Trois Morceaux by Gabriel Fauré, trans. Micheline Kahn
• Watching the Wheat by John Thomas
• Sonata in C Minor by Giovanni Pescetti, trans. Carlos Salzedo
• Sarabanda e Toccata by Nino Rota
• Vers la Source dans le Bois by Marcel Tournier
• Danse and Toccata by Aram Khachaturian, trans. Vera Dulova
April 2025​
Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts Update
So many harpists have expressed excitement about my upcoming publication of harp parts from significant choral repertoire. The book will include complete harp parts from composers Gustav Holst, Johannes Brahms, and Gabriel Fauré, among others. The publication date will be announced soon! Here are a couple of photos of the process.
March 2025​
Trio Sirènes Performances
Trio Sirènes (Marcia McHugh, flute; Karin Brown, viola; Jacqueline Pollauf) has really been enjoying our performances at different libraries around Maryland. We appreciate the Baltimore Symphony Musicians Foundation for their support of this! Here are some great photos of us from the Hereford Library Branch, in Hereford, Maryland.
February 2025
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Performances with the Library Bookmobile
The Baltimore County Public Library arranged several solo harp performances in conjunction with their bookmobile. I've been traveling to different locations around the Baltimore area, including retirement homes and senior centers, and giving a short performance at each. Patrons can enjoy some music, browse for books, or some combination of both!
February 2025
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New Publication
For the past two years, I’ve been working on compiling a book of harp parts from choral repertoire. Of course, harpists can perform as soloists, with chamber ensembles, and with orchestras, but there is also a wealth of repertoire for choir that involves harp. There are many works within this repertoire that are both challenging and rewarding.
For myself, in studying harp at the Peabody Conservatory, most of the emphasis with ensemble playing was on orchestral works. When I graduated, I had a good grasp of the most challenging orchestra parts, even if I hadn’t yet had a chance to perform them. However, I soon found myself performing regularly with a variety of choirs in addition to playing with orchestras. I knew very little about the choral repertoire and found some challenges to various notational aspects and performance practice. As the years have gone by, I’ve found much satisfaction in performing choral repertoire over and over again. These works have become a familiar and well-loved part of my performing career.
Several years ago, I had the idea of compiling and re-notating several harp parts from choral repertoire. In doing so, I wanted to collect some of the most important parts for harpists in one place. I also wanted to re-notate everything for clarity, using modern notation, and to provide helpful information for the harpist, including cues, pedal changes, and some suggested fingerings. I am really proud to announce that the project is finally nearing its conclusion and “Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts” will soon be available both as a print book and a digital PDF! More details will be coming soon.
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January 2025
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Trio Sirènes Performances
Over the next few months, I'm looking forward to performing with Trio Sirènes (alongside Marcia McHugh, flute and Karin Brown, viola). We are so pleased to have been awarded a grant through the Baltimore Symphony Musicians Foundation to share music throughout Maryland. We will be performing at four libraries in four different counties around the state.
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We'll be playing a variety of music with works by Georg Philipp Telemann, Miguel del Aguila, and Chen-Yu Huang. Throughout each performance, we will speak about the pieces and answer some questions from the audience.
All of the performances are free and open to the public.
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Hereford Library Branch,
February 8, 2025, 2:00pm
Hereford Library Branch of the Baltimore County Public Libraries
16940 York Road, Hereford, Maryland
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Westminster Library Branch
February 15, 2025, 11:00am
Westminster Branch of the Carroll County Public Libraries
50 East Main Street, Westminster, Maryland
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Havre de Grace Library
April 1, 2025, 6:30pm
Havre de Grace Library, Harford County Public Library
120 North Union Avenue, Havre de Grace, Maryland
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Central Library Branch
April 26, 2025, 12:00pm
Central Branch of the Howard County Library System
10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Maryland
January 2025​​
