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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. |
Upcoming Chapter Events
The Silicon Valley Chapter of the AHS is sponsoring Alexander Boldachev in concert Sunday, September 27, 2026. Venue is TBA. Alexander will also give a 2-hour Master Class on Saturday, September 26.
Boldachev is an internationally acclaimed award-winning harpist, giving brilliant performances in both classical and popular music, and working as an improviser, arranger, and composer for film and theatre. This video shows his wide range of performance genres.
He has been an invited Professor in the Royal Academy of Music, Herb Alpert School of Music in UCLA and Milano Conservatory, and currently is adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. He is the founder of the Zurich Harp Festival and World Harp Day.
Save the date for an exciting concert and bring your friends!
Boldachev is an internationally acclaimed award-winning harpist, giving brilliant performances in both classical and popular music, and working as an improviser, arranger, and composer for film and theatre. This video shows his wide range of performance genres.
He has been an invited Professor in the Royal Academy of Music, Herb Alpert School of Music in UCLA and Milano Conservatory, and currently is adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. He is the founder of the Zurich Harp Festival and World Harp Day.
Save the date for an exciting concert and bring your friends!
The Contra Costa Performing Arts Society is sponsoring our student member, Charlotte Trinh, for her freshman recital on Sunday, January 25th at 2:00 pm at Grace Presbyterian Church. The address is 2100 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA 94595. Charlotte will be joined by 2 cellists and a flautist in providing an hour of solo and chamber music, including works from Paradisi, Ravel, Grandjany, Rossini, Massenet, and Pierné. Light refreshments will be served after the concert. Invite your friends, all are welcome! Please contact Charlotte Trinh at [email protected] for any questions. Flyer is attached. Program:
Pietro Dominico Paradisi - Toccata
Gabriel Pierné - Impromptu-Caprice
Marcel Grandjany - The Children's Hour
Maurice Ravel - Introduction and Allegro (with piano)
Jules Massenet - Meditation from Thais (with cello)
Gioachino Rossini - Air and Variations (with flute)
Camille Saint-Saëns -The Swan (with cello)
Our annual Student Education Sessions will have a video submission date of March 22, 2026. Our 2026 Adjudicator is Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and was Gold Medalist of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Our 2026 SES concert will be held in Menlo Park on May 3.
Lynne Rovin is organizing in-person "Harp Socials", where harpists may come and enjoy each other's company and perform a musical selection, or just listen to others. The first enjoyable gathering took place at the home of Tzipora Henig. All are welcome, please bring anything no matter how unpolished - even a technique that you're working on and want help with. It's not a recital! Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to tzipora and check your newsletter for the exact address and contact phone number.
Pietro Dominico Paradisi - Toccata
Gabriel Pierné - Impromptu-Caprice
Marcel Grandjany - The Children's Hour
Maurice Ravel - Introduction and Allegro (with piano)
Jules Massenet - Meditation from Thais (with cello)
Gioachino Rossini - Air and Variations (with flute)
Camille Saint-Saëns -The Swan (with cello)
Our annual Student Education Sessions will have a video submission date of March 22, 2026. Our 2026 Adjudicator is Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and was Gold Medalist of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Our 2026 SES concert will be held in Menlo Park on May 3.
Lynne Rovin is organizing in-person "Harp Socials", where harpists may come and enjoy each other's company and perform a musical selection, or just listen to others. The first enjoyable gathering took place at the home of Tzipora Henig. All are welcome, please bring anything no matter how unpolished - even a technique that you're working on and want help with. It's not a recital! Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to tzipora and check your newsletter for the exact address and contact phone number.
Chapter News
Our 2025 Student Education Sessions recital was Saturday, March 29 at New CommunityChurch, 1100 Middle Ave, Menlo Park. 22 students participated in this year's sessions, and 16 students performed at the recital, ranging from our newest and youngest students to advanced high school students. All performed wonderfully. See photo album.
Our 2026 Adjudicator will be Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and was Gold Medalist of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Our 2026 SES video submission deadline is March 22 and the concert will be held in Menlo Park on May 3.
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 2:00 pm. We held a social event honoring Dan Levitan for his for his many years of music contribution to the Silicon Valley, especially in his 40-year role as Principal Harp of the San Jose Symphony. The event was held at the Palo Alto home of Tamara Mead and was well attended. Dan told stories about his start as a harpist and many other experiences as a professional harpist. He also performed a variety of music for the audience.
Our 2026 Adjudicator will be Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and was Gold Medalist of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Our 2026 SES video submission deadline is March 22 and the concert will be held in Menlo Park on May 3.
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 2:00 pm. We held a social event honoring Dan Levitan for his for his many years of music contribution to the Silicon Valley, especially in his 40-year role as Principal Harp of the San Jose Symphony. The event was held at the Palo Alto home of Tamara Mead and was well attended. Dan told stories about his start as a harpist and many other experiences as a professional harpist. He also performed a variety of music for the audience.
Join us on Facebook to learn about harp happenings in the Silicon Valley and Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Feel free to send your upcoming events to our Communications Chair, Tamara Mead at [email protected]. https://www.facebook.com/SVCAHS
Continue to scroll down for more information on our Student Education Sessions and our Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble
Continue to scroll down for more information on our Student Education Sessions and our Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble
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.
The deadline for video submissions for SES 2026 will be March 22, 2026. The SES II Recital will be held Sunday, May 3, 2:00 pm at New Community Church in Menlo Park. 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. |
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.com.
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.com.
The Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble (YES) enjoys some time together in March of 2025.
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.
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 [email protected]
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 [email protected]
About Us
The Silicon Valley Chapter of the American Harp Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.