Dr. Noël Wan

Lauded as “a huge talent [with] hidden power and amazing maturity” (Bart van Oort), Taiwanese-American harpist Dr. Noël Wan made her international debut with the Utrecht Symphony Orchestra in 2010. She has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia and has been featured as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, the Muziekgebouw, American Harp Society Summer Institute, World Harp Congress, and Yellow Barn Summer Music Festival. Among her international distinctions are Gold Medal and the Mario Falcao Prize in the 12th USA International Harp Competition; First Prize and the Forgotten Lore Prize in the 2010 Dutch Harp Festival Competition; Grand Prize in the 2014 Carmel Music Society Competition; and Second Prize in the 2013 Nippon International Harp Competition, 2015 Korea International Harp Competition, and 2021 Prix Orford Musique. Additionally, her artistic and scholarly work has been supported by the Illinois Distinguished Fellowship, Chimei Arts Foundation, Presser Foundation, and Ontario Arts Council.

Dr. Wan is an alumna of the University of Illinois (BM, DMA) and the Yale School of Music (MM), and her primary teachers include Ann Yeung, June Han, Chimei Hung, Erika Waardenburg, Dan Yu, Doug Rioth, and Linda Wood Rollo. As an educator and scholar, she has contributed to Harp Column, The Collective, and The American Harp Journal, where she has written on philosophy, music education, and feminism. Dr. Wan has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Western University; this fall, she will be the new Assistant Professor of Harp and Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. Currently, she divides her time between Florida and Ontario, and when she isn’t at the harp, she enjoys reading and taking leisurely walks with her husband Patrick and their tuxedo cat Georgina.

Brandee Younger

A leading voice of the harp today, harpist, composer and educator Brandee Younger defies genres and labels.  Recently signed to Impulse! Records, home of the Coltrane legacy, Younger has performed and recorded with artists including Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Common, John Legend, The Roots, Stevie Wonder, and Lauryn Hill. In 2019, she released her fourth solo album, Soul Awakening, and her original composition “Hortense” was featured in the Netflix Concert-Documentary, Beyoncé: Homecoming. This same year, Ms. Younger was selected to perform her original music as a featured performer for Quincy Jones and Steve McQueen's’ “Soundtrack of America.” Ms. Younger’s ability to seamlessly inject the harp into arrangements and venues where it has historically been overlooked is a testament to her deep love for and exemplary command of the instrument.

Ms. Younger earned her Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance and Music Management at the Hartt School of Music and her Master of Music at New York University where she serves on the harp faculty.  Past residencies and masterclasses include The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), University of Birmingham (UK), Howard University, Drexel University, Princeton University, Tulane University, Trinity College, The Hartt School, University of Michigan, DePaul University, and Berklee College of Music. 

She holds leadership positions through the Apollo (theater) Young Patrons Steering Committee and the American Harp Society, Inc. where she serves as Director at Large. As a concert curator, Ms. Younger has presented performances for venues including “Divine Ella,” part of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s annual Women’s Jazz Festival.  As well, she has organized series for Brookfield Arts including Harp On Park, “highlighting the diversity of the harp and the contemporary importance of an ancient instrument,” Her Song, featuring the works of women composers and most recently, the intimate and socially distant "Brookfield Encounters". 

“No harpist thus far has been more capable of combining all of the modern harp traditions — from Salzedo, through Dorothy Ashby, through Alice Coltrane — with such strength, grace and commitment.” - The New York Times

Rhett Barnwell

Well known and respected as both a classical and celtic harpist, Rhett Barnwell’s expertise and talent extend beyond the harp.  He performs professionally on cello, French horn and organ as well as being in demand as a conductor, composer and arranger.  Rhett specializes in performing and arranging inspirational music for the harp, focusing on music for healing, sacred and meditative settings.  He  recently joined the Harp Column Academy faculty as the Inspirational Music Specialist.

Rhett is the founder of Seraphim Music, specializing in music designed for use in church, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes and concert settings.  Through Seraphim Music, which is distributed in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia, Rhett has gained international acclaim as a composer and arranger and continues to receive commissions for both new works and arrangements.  “A Serenade for the Soul,” a compilation of traditional hymn arrangements, original compositions, and classical pieces, is used by harpists in therapeutic, sacred, and concerts performances around the world.

Mr. Barnwell has been a featured presenter and performer at harp festivals and conferences including the 2016 American Harp Society National Conference, 2017 AHS National Institute, Southeastern Harp Conference, Somerset Folk Harp Festival, Harp Journeys, Beginning in the Middle and Southern Harp Festival. He regularly facilitates workshops and concerts for American Harp Society chapters throughout the U.S.  Since 2007, he has organized the biannual Liturgical Harp Conferences, which have drawn harpists from all over the country. He has also given concerts throughout the U.S., Ireland, and Italy. Rhett has served on the Board of Trustees of the Historical Harp Society, and as the CD Review Editor for the Folk Harp Journal.

Mary Jane D’Arville

Mary Jane D’Arville, along with her husband David, is founder of the Virginia Harp Center and Atlanta Harp Center, East Coast harp resource centers with locations in Georgia, New Jersey and Virginia. For several years, Mary Jane was harp instructor at the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond, as well as serving as director of the Richmond Public Schools Harp Program.

Over the years, she has performed with several regional orchestras including the Richmond, Savannah and Charlottesville Symphony Orchestras as well as maintaining an active freelance career and teaching studio. In 2002, Ms. D’Arville performed with the Salzedo Ensemble at the World Harp Congress in Switzerland. She is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University where she received her MFA in Harp Performance.

Robbin Gordon-Cartier

Robbin Gordon-Cartier directs the harp program in the East Orange School District at the Cicely L. Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts. She is a Concert Artist/Adjunct Harp Faculty member of Kean University in Union, NJ. Robbin has served as the 2nd Vice-President and Director at Large of the American Harp Society.

Mrs. Gordon-Cartier performs regularly in the New York metropolitan area with credits including appearances at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Robbin is a Salvi Concert Artist and has presented a week of master classes and a concert at the French ambassador's residence in Bogota, Columbia for the Salvi Harp Foundation.

Joel Ross 

“Ross’ playing erupts through the layers of lush arrangements like consistent currents of electricity, high-powered and full of luminous energy” — DownBeat 

For the past several years, Joel Ross has been refining an expression that’s true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer released his anticipated Blue Note debut KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim. He’s topped the DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star category for vibraphone and in 2017, he became one of the youngest artists to receive a coveted Residency Commission from The Jazz Gallery. With the release of Who Are You? (Blue Note, 2020), Ross shares the culmination of a year-long exercise in experimenting and risk-taking on and off the bandstand. 

Inspired by mentor Stefon Harris’ empathetic, whole-self approach to articulation, Ross has adopted an entire ethos dependent on truthful, ongoing communication. Honesty persists throughout his sets. And with each release, he reaffirms a commitment to authentic discourse, particularly among the members of his band Good Vibes: Jeremy Corren, Immanuel Wilkins, Kanoa Mendenhall and Jeremy Dutton.

A steadfast improviser, Ross saturates live sets with a lyrical intuition that’s equally grounded in melody and phrasing. He plays the moment. Rather than impose energies on the music, he allows moods to set, linger and transform. In recent years, he’s engaged established artists of similarly tenacious voices, including Makaya McCraven (Universal Beings, 2018), Maria Grand, Kassa Overall, Nicole Mitchell, Gerald Clayton, Melissa Aldana (Visions, 2019), Walter Smith III (In Common, 2018), Georgia Anne Muldrow, Jure Pukl (Broken Circles, 2019), Rajna Swaminathan, Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Marquis Hill (Modern Flows Vol. 2, 2018), who penned liner notes for Who Are You? 

For more information on new music and performance dates, visit iplayvibes.com and follow Joel on his social channels at @imjoelmross. 

Lyra Society Harp Ensemble

Maryland Classic Youth Harp Ensemble

Founded in 2005 by Elizabeth Hainen, Principal Harpist of The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Lyra Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that promotes cultural equity through access to harp education. Lyra's core program, Glissando!, brings harps, harp lessons, harp presentations, and college and financial aid guidance at no cost to children in the Philadelphia and Bronx, NY school districts. 100% of Lyra Society's students graduate and attend college or university every year and many are first in their families to do so.

The Lyra Society Harp Ensemble directed by Maryanne Meyer, is composed of Lyra's Glissando! program middle and high school students. Lyra's core Glissando! program, brings harps, harp lessons, harp presentations, and college and financial aid guidance at no cost to children in the Philadelphia and Bronx, NY school districts. The Lyra Society Harp Ensemble has performed with renowned artists, like Hilary Hahn, Ann Hobson Pilot, Elizabeth Hainen, and Jennifer Koh on stages across Philadelphia and the Bronx.

The Maryland Classic Youth Harp Ensemble is directed by Monika Vasey Rhodes, and celebrates its 19th year, rehearsing at Strathmore Hall as part of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras. The harp ensemble has been invited to perform at numerous events including the Camac Harp Festival in Alexandria, VA, the Christopher Newport University Harp Festival, Maryland Day at Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Concert Series, American Harp Society D.C. Chapter events.

The ensemble has been fortunate to receive coaching from artists such as Edmar Castaneda, Nikolaz Cadoret, Jacqueline Pollauf, and Sarah Fuller. Members of the ensemble perform regularly in MCYO orchestral ensembles and Young Artists of America, as well as attend prestigious summer programs such as Interlochen, Brevard, Curtis Summerfest Harp Colony, the American Youth Harp Ensemble Summer Institutes, and Young Artists Harp Seminar.

Liza Jensen

New York based harp technician Liza Jensen travels the world regulating both lever and pedal harps. Liza is a problem solver who works with the harpist's individual needs and her musical background provides her with the experience to understand her clients. Liza studied harp mechanics with her mentor and friend, the late Patrick Dougal. His inspiration continues and she wishes to carry on his ideals by educating the harpist and empowering their inner technician. Currently Liza is the Principal International Technician for Camac Harps of France.

Throughout the weekend Liza will be booking appointments for harp regulations. If you would like to schedule a regulation with Liza you can contract her directly, please see her contact information below:

e-mail: lizacjensen@gmail.com | Phone: 917-696-5974