Harp Teachers

SOPHIA is glad to list Arizona harp teachers. Please contact SOPHIA to request contact information on a listed teacher or to be listed as a harp teacher.

Rebecca Foreman. NW Tucson

Rebecca has twice been a finalist in the national competition sponsored by the American Harp Society and is a recipient of the Society's coveted Ruth Lorraine Close Award. She is principal harpist with Tucson Pops Orchestra and appears frequently in ensembles and as a soloist in the Tucson and Phoenix areas. Rebecca is also a music educator with the Amphitheater Public School District and an active harp instructor in both Tucson and Phoenix.

Lorna Govier. SE Tucson

Lorna began playing harp at the age of 12 in the Milwaukee Public Schools Harp Program under the direction of Jeanne Kahn. She kept up her love of harp throughout college and her engineering career by taking lessons at the Eastman School of Music with Jung Kwak and later learning aural tradition Irish music from Kathy DeAngelo. After her move to Tucson in 2004, she enjoyed playing primarily Celtic music professionally. In 2008, she began performing classical pedal harp professionally. She currently performs with Mary Bouley as part of the Gemini Duo. Lorna currently organizes the Saguaro-Old Pueblo Harpers In Arizona (SOPHIA). She teaches harp privately in Tucson. www.southwestharp.com www.thegeminiduo.com

Patricia Harris. NW Tucson

Patricia is principal harpist for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Patricia is on the roster of the Arizona Commission for the Arts and performs for many venues with many different styles of music. Enjoying the variety offered in her music making, she is a regular performer at St. Philips in the Hills Church as well as a frequently engaged artist for weddings and other social events. Patricia enjoys teacheing and has students ranging in age from eight to over eighty. Her new duo with Christine Vivona is called Two Harps, Ninety-Four Strings. She is also Vice President of the AHS Foundation and Co-Chairman of the Anne Adams Awards Auditions honoring her mother.

Dr. Carrol McLaughlin. Central Tucson

Carrol is the head of the University of Arizona Harp Department. Carrol has toured extensively as a soloist throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Canadian-born harpist holds the degrees of M.M. from the Julliard School of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona, where she was teaching assistant to Susann McDonald. She also studied extensively in England with Russian harpist Maria Korchinska. Carrol became head of the harp department in 1982 and in 1994 with the recipient of the UA Five Star Faculty Teaching Award for Excellence. She has performed highly sucessful debut recitals in Carnegie Hall, New York and Wigmore Hall, London and has performed extensively as concerto soloist with orchestras throughout the US, Japan, Russia, Canada and South America. Carrol was represented in the US for thirteen years by Columbia Artists Management, and is on the Board of Directors of the World Harp Congress. She is the director of Harp Fusion, the U of A harp ensemble, which has performed in Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Czech Republic. http://www.cfa.arizona.edu/harpfusion/

Jacqi Musselman. Phoenix

Jacqi is a lifelong musician and is a teacher with the Harp Foundation. Jacqi has played extensively at St. Joseph's pediatrics as part of "The Angel Song Program". She studied with Laurie Riley in the Clinical Musician certification Program and attended several therapeutic music conferences, taking workshops from many of todays therapeutic harp gurus. She has studied accelerated learning and brian-based learning techniques extensively, and likes to use those techniques in the Harp Foundation classes, as well as in her private teaching.

David Pavlovich. Bisbee

David has forformed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America. He has produced four CDs, which include classical, Celtic, Latin American, jazz, pop and original compositions. He is the founder of several therapeutic music programs troughout California and Arizona, as well as the author of several articles and one book on the topic. Information on lessons and workshops can be found on his website www.harpistdavid.com .

Jennifer Robertson-Tessi. Sahuarita.

Jenny started playing the harp at the age of 11. She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where she earned Bachelors and Masters degrees in Harp Performance. She has played with many orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, and enjoys playing a variety of music ranging from Irish to classical to opera. She moved to Tucson in 2000 where she now teaches, plays gigs and raises her daughters Lindsey and Emily. Jennifer plays both pedal and lever harps. http://www.pickpluckmusic.com.

Dr. Heidi Tims. NW Tucson

Heidi was Adjunct Assistant Professor of Harp in spring 2008 and leader of HarpFusion at the University of Arizona as a sabbatical replacement. Heidi completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree summa cum laude in Harp Performance with a Musicology minor in 2007 under Dr. Carrol McLaughlin at The University of Arizona, where she was Gradate Teaching Assistant for harp. In spring 2007, she was named the Outstanding Teaching Assistant for The University. In fall 2005, Heidi was awarded the Graduate Creative Achievement Award by the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona. She graduated from the University or Arizona with her Master of Music Degree summa cum laude in 2005 and earned her Bachelors of Music in Instrumental Performance magna cum laude from Oklahoma City University in 2004. She has been Assistant Principal/Second Harpist with the Phoenix Symphony since 2005 and maintains a private teaching studio in Tucson, AZ.

Dr. Christine Vivona. NW Tucson

Christine received a Master of Music from The Julliard School in 1986 and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona in 1989. She has appeared extensively in New York and Arizona, performing in the Chaminade and Bisbee concert series, the Tucson and Phoenix symphonies and is currently on the roster for the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Dr. Vivona frequently appears with symphonies in the Southwest, performing both classical and jazz pieces arranged for harp and symphony or band. Since 1986 to the present, Christine has been an entertainer on various cruise ships throughout the world. in May of 1991, she was a major prizewinner at the Lyon & Healy International Pop and Jazz harp fest. Christine was showcased in the June 1997 Jazzfest in Monterrey, CA. She started the harp program at Arizona State University in Tempe in the fall of 1989 and taught there until Spring 2000. She surrently lives and teaches in Tucson with her musician husband, Rob Boone, and sons jesse and Cory. Her 2 solo CDs, "Radiance" and "Red Hot & Blue" receive airtime as well as her flute and harp CD "Women in Black" with Sandy Schwoebel. Recently, Christine has been playing in various jazz clubs. www.christinevivona.com

Alla Yashneva. Greater Phoenix Area

Alla Yashneva was born in Tuapse, Russia; a small town in southern Russia on the Black Sea. Alla first became interested in music at the age of six.

When she was eight years-old, Alla took private piano lessons for just one year. However, a lady came to her and asked her if she would like to try another instrument. This lady was Mariana Sholokhova. Marianna took Alla to the harp studio. Alla immediately fell in love with the harp. She says, “If someone asks me why I choose the harp I always say I did not choose the harp; the harp chose me!”

At fifteen Alla entered college after passing the examination. She decided to become a professional musician. She attended the musical college for four years; she was accepted into the conservatory where she studied for six years earning her Masters degree. While there, she became a teacher. In 1992 she was promoted to Deputy Director of the college where she worked for another ten years. In 2002, Alla was offered a teaching position in Hong Kong at the Music and Drama Institute where she both taught and performed.

Alla was performing in Hong Kong when she met the man who would become her husband. They eventually moved together to Phoenix, Arizona.

Alla has many memorable performances. Some of her favorites included playing for the new president of Hong Kong. She enjoyed her solo recitals at St. John's Cathedral. After coming to the United States, she performed for Brian and Sandra Day O'Connor (Supreme Court Justice); a CBS television special; Indy race car driver, Danica Patrick; and Janet Napolitano Inaugural Dinner. Recently, she performed at the Orpheum Theatre with the Phoenix Symphony, the Celebrity Theatre, as well as the new Performing Arts Theatre in Peoria.

Alla has played over 50 weddings and 20 corporate events since moving to the Phoenix area with many more to her credit while living in several countries. She also enjoys teaching harp to aspiring students through private teaching, workshops, and through the production of instructional materials.
www.russianharp.com