Sunday | October 26th | 2 – 6pm
Please join us at the home of Henry Heines in San Francisco for our first BACAHS event of the 2025-26 season as we formally welcome Katherine Siochi, Principal Harpist of the San Francisco Symphony, and Ellie Kirk, Principal Harpist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, to the Bay Area! Refreshments will be provided by BACAHS, and Katherine and Ellie will each perform a solo.
RSVP information went out to membership. If you did not receive the link, please email bacahs@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you there!
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| Harpist Katherine Siochi is an internationally award-winning soloist and one of the leading orchestral harpists of her generation. She joined the San Francisco Symphony as Principal Harp in the 2023–24 season, appointed by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Katherine previously held positions as Principal Harp of the Minnesota Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. Additionally, she has performed as Guest Principal with the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Equally accomplished as a soloist, Katherine is the Gold Medalist of the 10th USA International Harp Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious harp contests. In 2024 she made her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony performing Debussy’s Danses, and has performed solo concerts in Hong Kong, China, Israel, and at Lyon & Healy Hall in Chicago. After winning the Young Professional Division of the American Harp Society’s National Competition, Katherine toured for two years as their Concert Artist. In 2021 she released her solo album Nocturne on Lyon & Healy Records. Katherine is on the harp faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Aspen Music Festival, and coaches harp for the SFS Youth Orchestra. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of Nancy Allen. |
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| Praised for her “especially fine contributions” and “standout solo work”, Eleanor Kirk joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra as Principal Harp in 2025. She previously held principal positions with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and served as Acting Principal Harp with the Santa Fe Opera (2024), the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra (2022-2023), and the Detroit Opera (2023-2025). From 2018-2022, she was the Principal Harp of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and regularly performs as a guest with the top orchestras in the country.Highlights of the 2024-2025 season include guest principal appearances with the Chicago Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony; chamber music performances on the Artist Series concerts of Sarasota and the Chicago Symphony’s Chamber Music Series, as well as summer engagements performing Walküre with the Santa Fe Opera and with the San Miguel Chamber Music series.A passionate chamber musician, Eleanor recently joined the Chicago Harp Quartet and has appeared on the Rush Hour Concerts and Dame Myra Hess Memorial concerts, both broadcast on Chicago’s classical music radio station, WFMT. She also participated in a world premiere at the 2024 Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. As a soloist, she has performed concertos with the Bach Week Festival Orchestra and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.Eleanor holds degrees from Columbia University and the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She has served on the faculties of the People’s Music School and the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar. She is a founding member of the 5th Wave Collective, a Chicago-based ensemble devoted to performing and promoting music by women and non-binary composers. |
Fall Welcome Gathering