Upcoming Chapter Events
In-Person Harp Socials are resuming in 2026. Address and phone will be posted in our newsletters. All are welcome! This is not a recital - just a place to share your music and love for the harp. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to [email protected]
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 2:00 pm. Our Annual Student Education Sessions recital will take place at New Community Church, 1100 Middle Ave, Menlo Park, CA. The recital is free and open to the public. Come and hear the wonderful harpists in our chapter! SES is an annually recurring event, sponsored by the American Harp Society, under the official name of Auditions and Evaluations. Our own Sonya Yu oversees the AHS national program. Participants, from the youngest and newest harp students through advanced pre-college musicians, prepare two harp pieces and perform them, via video submission, 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 two later, in the form of a public recital with all the participants. This year's adjudicator is Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and winner of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Video submissions will be due March 22, 2026. Registration information will be available in January.
May, 2026. Our own Naomi Sun, who was the first prize winner of the Advanced Division of the 2025 AHS National Competition, is now a senior at Rice University. We have asked her to present her Senior Recital in the Bay Area this upcoming spring. Date and location TBA.
September 26/27, 2026. Internationally renowned harpist, Alexander Boldachev, will be giving a concert and Master Class for our chapter. We are currently working to finalize venues for him. The two-hour Master Class will take place on Saturday, September 26 and the concert on September 27.
The first ever AHS Harp Ensemble Festival, will be held in Summer 2027. (The link provides all the information about ages, divisions and rules.) SVCAHS is planning to send TWO youth harp ensembles to the festival, thanks to a very generous $3000 matching grant from Karen Gottlieb: The Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble (YES), led by Sonya Yu ([email protected]), and the San Jose Youth Symphony Harp Ensemble, led by Kristal Schwartz ([email protected]). Please contact Sonya or Kristal for information about joining these two established ensembles. Additionally, harpists can enter as duets, trios or quartets, or form their own ensembles.
Sunday, May 3, 2026, 2:00 pm. Our Annual Student Education Sessions recital will take place at New Community Church, 1100 Middle Ave, Menlo Park, CA. The recital is free and open to the public. Come and hear the wonderful harpists in our chapter! SES is an annually recurring event, sponsored by the American Harp Society, under the official name of Auditions and Evaluations. Our own Sonya Yu oversees the AHS national program. Participants, from the youngest and newest harp students through advanced pre-college musicians, prepare two harp pieces and perform them, via video submission, 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 two later, in the form of a public recital with all the participants. This year's adjudicator is Katherine Siochi, principal harpist of the San Francisco Symphony and winner of the 10th USA International Harp Competition. Video submissions will be due March 22, 2026. Registration information will be available in January.
May, 2026. Our own Naomi Sun, who was the first prize winner of the Advanced Division of the 2025 AHS National Competition, is now a senior at Rice University. We have asked her to present her Senior Recital in the Bay Area this upcoming spring. Date and location TBA.
September 26/27, 2026. Internationally renowned harpist, Alexander Boldachev, will be giving a concert and Master Class for our chapter. We are currently working to finalize venues for him. The two-hour Master Class will take place on Saturday, September 26 and the concert on September 27.
The first ever AHS Harp Ensemble Festival, will be held in Summer 2027. (The link provides all the information about ages, divisions and rules.) SVCAHS is planning to send TWO youth harp ensembles to the festival, thanks to a very generous $3000 matching grant from Karen Gottlieb: The Silicon Valley Youth Harp Ensemble (YES), led by Sonya Yu ([email protected]), and the San Jose Youth Symphony Harp Ensemble, led by Kristal Schwartz ([email protected]). Please contact Sonya or Kristal for information about joining these two established ensembles. Additionally, harpists can enter as duets, trios or quartets, or form their own ensembles.
Member News and Events
Tuesday, April 28, 3 PM. Workshop featuring Scottish Harpist Rachel Hair. $35/person. RSVP for payment instructions and address.
7:30 PM Free Concert featuring Rachel Hair. Swedenborgian Church, 2107 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Both events sponsored by BACAHS.
Saturday, May 2, 2026. 1:00 pm. The Bay Area Harp Foundation ensemble will give their end of year youth harp ensemble concert. 2700 Booksin Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125. For tickets and additional information see Eventbrite
We are so fortunate that several of our Bay Area harpists have opened a new, centrally located full-service harp store in Hayward. The opening weekend of The California Harp Center was March 28/29, and the store carries a multitude of new Lyon and Healy, Salvi, Camac and Aoyama pedal harps, as well as Dusty Strings, Triplett and Harp-E lever harps, and some rental pedal and lever harps. The spacious showroom is open by appointment. Please visit Californiaharpcenter.com for information and appointments.
After 37 years, Diana Stork is stepping down as founder and director of the Multicultural Music Fellowship (MCMF). The Director “reins" have been passed on to longtime Board member, Alexis Lyon, whose work in MCMF has focused on music, harp education and outreach. MCMF is thrilled to have her on board, and hope our Bay Area community will support her work in the coming years. www.multiculturalmusicfellowship.org.
If you’d like to read about Diana’s years as director of MCMF, Diana’s work was featured in this article in the Folk Harp Journal.
Please email svcahs (at) gmail.com with your member news and upcoming events to share!
7:30 PM Free Concert featuring Rachel Hair. Swedenborgian Church, 2107 Lyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Both events sponsored by BACAHS.
Saturday, May 2, 2026. 1:00 pm. The Bay Area Harp Foundation ensemble will give their end of year youth harp ensemble concert. 2700 Booksin Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125. For tickets and additional information see Eventbrite
We are so fortunate that several of our Bay Area harpists have opened a new, centrally located full-service harp store in Hayward. The opening weekend of The California Harp Center was March 28/29, and the store carries a multitude of new Lyon and Healy, Salvi, Camac and Aoyama pedal harps, as well as Dusty Strings, Triplett and Harp-E lever harps, and some rental pedal and lever harps. The spacious showroom is open by appointment. Please visit Californiaharpcenter.com for information and appointments.
After 37 years, Diana Stork is stepping down as founder and director of the Multicultural Music Fellowship (MCMF). The Director “reins" have been passed on to longtime Board member, Alexis Lyon, whose work in MCMF has focused on music, harp education and outreach. MCMF is thrilled to have her on board, and hope our Bay Area community will support her work in the coming years. www.multiculturalmusicfellowship.org.
If you’d like to read about Diana’s years as director of MCMF, Diana’s work was featured in this article in the Folk Harp Journal.
Please email svcahs (at) gmail.com with your member news and upcoming events to share!