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Welcome from the SVCAHS BoardDear SVC AHS members and other friends of the harp,
Thank you for visiting our website. We are a dynamic chapter, consisting of over 80 harp enthusiasts including professionals, teachers, students, amateurs and fans. We were honored to receive the Chapter of the Year Award from the American Harp Society in both 2010 and 2014. Every season we sponsor many wonderful concerts, details of which can be found on our Upcoming Chapter Events and Recent Chapter Events pages. As a harpist or parent of a harpist, you are invited to everything we do, and your participation is what makes it all worthwhile for us,. If you are a harp enthusiast, please check back frequently to see the high quality performances we sponsor. Our Event Calendar also lists public events where you can hear our member harpists performing. Congratulations to our Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble for their continued success and outreach. They were selected to perform at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong in 2017, and at the American Harp Society National Conference in June, 2018. If you are looking for a harp teacher or to hire a performing harpist for a special event, please view the links at the top of the page for information about our members who teach and perform. 
We want to send out a huge THANK YOU! to Janet Hamm, who generously donated her Venus Model 75 (Premier) 46-string semi-grand pedal harp to the Silicon Valley Chapter of the AHS for use with the Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble.
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Upcoming Events
Student Education Sessions 2024. Registration deadline is January 28, 2024. Public recital will be March 3, 2024 in Menlo Park, CA.
We are working on details to present renowned harpists in concert in 2024. See our confirmed Chapter and Member events under the Event Calendar tab.
We are working on details to present renowned harpists in concert in 2024. See our confirmed Chapter and Member events under the Event Calendar tab.
Student Education SessionsSES is an annually recurring event, sponsored by the American Harp Society. Participants, from the youngest and newest harp students through advanced pre-college musicians, prepare two harp pieces and perform them for an adjudicator in Session I. The adjudicator gives verbal and written feedback to the student to help them practice and improve. Session II takes place a month or so later, in the form of a public recital with all of the participants.
Our SES sessions have been very well attended, with typically 16-34 performers of various ages and levels. Our adjudicators have been renowned and highly qualified performers and instructors. We are so grateful to our director, Sonya Yu, who has made our chapter's SES program so successful, she is now leading the program for the entire American Harp Society. |
Most Recent Events
Fall Recital - October 28, 2023. SVCAHS sponsored a harp recital in Santa Clara, featuring 4 soloists, students of Esther Lee and Kristal Schwartz, followed by a concert by the chapter-sponsored Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble, under the direction of Sonya Yu. Zahara Arora, Michelle Huang, Chloe Gao and Bianca Gao were the featured soloists. The concert was well attended with over 80 guests. You may view the program and listen to an mp3 recording of the entire recital if you missed this wonderful event. Additional photos and videos can be viewed. Thanks to Esther Lee for coordinating this first chapter recital. We hope to have many more to come!
Fall Gathering - October 1, 2023
We had a wonderful turnout for our annual Fall Gathering, held at the Palo Alto home of Tamara Mead. Two harpists gave lovely outdoor performances for the group. Liliana Abraham (center photo), a student of Linda Rollo and granddaughter of Debbi Ricks, and who was a finalist in the recent AHS National Competition junior division, performed The Harp Solo from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti and La Source by Albert Zabel. Next, Renee Qin (left photo), a Stanford senior who is studying with Dan Levitan, performed the Handel Harp Concerto in B♭Major.
Graduating Senior Reception - May 20, 2023
We celebrated our graduating senior, David Lin, at a reception and recital at his home in Sunnyvale at 3 pm on May 20, 2023. David is a very accomplished young harpist, whose passion for the harp has led to numerous accomplishments and awards. He was selected to perform in the Focus on Youth Concert at the 2022 World Harp Congress, and won 2nd prize at the Hong Kong International Harp Competition, and 3rd prize in the 2022 Korea International Harp Competition Youth Division. He won his first awards, the Bronze and the Harpiana Prize at the Yvonne La Mothe Schwager Harp Competition in 2017 and again in 2019. He has also won awards at the Enkor International Music Competition and the United States International Music Competition and has been recognized by many other organizations including CMEA. In 2021, he was a finalist for the American Harp Society National Competition.
David is currently attending UC Berkeley, pursuing his interests in business, economics and AI, as well as continuing harp orchestral roles.
Student Education Sessions - April 15 Recital
SVCAHS held our annual Student Education Sessions (SES) Recital, part of the AHS curriculum, at 1:30 pm on Saturday, April 15, 2023. The recital was open to the public and was held at New Community Church, 1100 Middle Ave, Menlo Park, CA. Our 2023 Student Education Sessions included 24 performers. Our Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble YES program also performed three pieces at the recital. Video of those performances can be seen on our SVCAHS Youtube channel.
SES is an annually recurring event, sponsored by the American Harp Society. Participants, from the youngest and newest harp students through advanced pre-college musicians, prepare two harp pieces and perform them for an adjudicator in Session I. The adjudicator gives verbal and written feedback to the student to help them practice and improve. Session II takes place a month or so later, in the form of a public recital with all of the participants.
Our SES sessions have been very well attended, with typically 16-34 performers of various ages and levels. Our adjudicators have been renowned and highly qualified performers and instructors. In 2022 and 2023, we had the honor of having Annabelle Taubl as our adjudicator. Her biography is available here.
Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble (YES)
The SILICON VALLEY YOUTH HARP ENSEMBLE (also known as Youth Ensemble Success, or Y.E.S), is sponsored by the Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Harp Society, has gained recognition and become sought after for community performances since its inception in January, 2014. The ensemble has performed in the chapter's String Fever/Harp Extravaganza concerts, numerous local venues and for nonprofit organizations, as well as being invited to play for the 2017 World Harp Congress in Hong Kong, and at the 2018 American Harp Society National Conference. The first piece the ensemble recorded is Christmas Combo, arranged by its director, Sonya Yu. A sample of the Christmas recording may be heard at this link: Jingle bells
The young ensemble members (aged 8-16) not only play the harp well, but also learn the qualities of leadership, management, technology skills, and the discipline to work with professional recording specialists. You can find more information about joining the Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble, and about its future performances at www.harpyes.org.
The young ensemble members (aged 8-16) not only play the harp well, but also learn the qualities of leadership, management, technology skills, and the discipline to work with professional recording specialists. You can find more information about joining the Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble, and about its future performances at www.harpyes.org.
Student Scholarship Program
The Silicon Valley Harp Society is devoted to helping harp students with special financial needs. If you are a harp student with a special financial need and would like to apply for scholarship funding, please provide the following information: 1) Name, 2) Address, 3) Telephone, 4) Email Address, 5) A description of your financial need, your family support, and for what purpose the funds would be used. Please tell us why you would like scholarship assistance and what your goals are as a harpist.
Send this information to Lynne Rovin, Scholarship Committee Chair, at svcahs@gmail.com
The Silicon Valley Harp Society is devoted to helping harp students with special financial needs. If you are a harp student with a special financial need and would like to apply for scholarship funding, please provide the following information: 1) Name, 2) Address, 3) Telephone, 4) Email Address, 5) A description of your financial need, your family support, and for what purpose the funds would be used. Please tell us why you would like scholarship assistance and what your goals are as a harpist.
Send this information to Lynne Rovin, Scholarship Committee Chair, at svcahs@gmail.com
About Us
The Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Harp Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.