The 2025 Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Harp Competition was held on April 26 at the OFJCC Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, California. We extend our sincere congratulations to all participants for their hard work, artistry, and commitment.
We are proud to announce the medalists and special prize recipients of the 2025 YLMS Competition for Young Harpists:
Participants should choose one selection from their division. Please note that some selections include multiple movements.
Participants in the Pop category should prepare their own arrangement of the selected music. A written arrangement is not required.
Monetary prizes will be presented to gold, silver, and medalists in each division, as well as for best performance of MusicWorks Editions and Harpiana Publications, as well as for the Pop and Modern works categories.
For Division 1, the William Grant Still Mol’e from Folk Suite No. 2 is out of print. It has been replaced with Beige Nocturne from Around the Clock Suite by Pearl Chertok. A lever harp adaptation for this piece is also available.
Exciting news, the AHS is fundraising! The prize, win 2 Taylor Swift concert tickets in Vancouver plus a $2,000 travel stipend. Each chapter has been given a unique promo code and link so that we can easily track the donations that come in from your community. This is important because… [drumroll please]…the AHS will write a check to each chapter for 20% of the funds they raise!
As you may know, Taylor’s Eras Tour is extremely popular and tickets are very expensive. The tickets we’re giving away are for the last weekend of her tour. This prize has mass appeal, and the more people know about it, the more funds we will raise!
As of this writing, we have raised a grand total of $5,425 in the first week. The sweepstakes runs through November 1st, so we’re doing great!
BACAHS is proud to co-sponsor AHS Concert Artist Kaitlin Miller with Old First Concerts for a recital in San Francisco on Sunday May 19th, 2024 at 4pm.
Kaitlin Miller finds boundless joy in playing the harp and sharing her deep affection for the instrument with her community, and her heart resonates most with romantic French music and the innovative compositions of contemporary artists.
This is a hybrid concert. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here. We look forward to seeing you there !
BACAHS is delighted to sponsor a Masterclass given by Parker Ramsay on April 20th, 2024 from 11am-2pm in downtown San Francisco. The exact location will be provided upon registration.
Please use this page to sign up as a participant or observer, and pay the fee ($20 for participant, $10 for observer) linked below. You may also use this link to signup and this link to pay.
Any questions/comments, please email bacahs [at] gmail.com
When: Sunday, January 14th, at 3pm Where: Harps Etc. (1601 N Main St Ste 106, Walnut Creek, Ca) Don’t miss performances by the BACAHS Chapter Officers harp ensemble and other special guests.
We extend a special thanks to Jessica Siegel at Harps Etc. for providing the space.
RSVP form is in the Newsletter. Please email bacahs [at] gmail for the link.
Redwood Arts Council is hosting a showcase of Bay Area harpists featuring performances by Destiny Muhammad and her trio, The Destiny Muhammad Trio, recent winners of the Yvonne LaMothe Schwager competition, Aden Barbuta, (Gold, Level III), and Aryana Lall (Gold,Preliminary and Salzedo Prize), and, President, Bay Area Chapter of the American Harp Society, Chloe Tula. The event will take place at The Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Hwy N in Sebastopol. A reception with beverages and refreshments will be held in the courtyard following event. This will also function as a fabulous fundraiser for our chapter, so please come out and show your support! For more information, and tickets, please visit www.redwoodarts.org.
The Yvonne LaMothe Schwager Harp Competition 2023 was held at Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA on May 21st. We congratulate all 25 students who made the commitment to prepare for and participate in YLMS 2023.
We are thrilled to announce the following medalists and special prize winners of the 2023 YLMS Competition for Young Harpists:
A very special thank you to our wonderful judges: Sarah Voynow, Karen Gottlieb, Jessica Siegal, and Janice Ortega
We also congratulate the teachers who supported these students through the competition experience: Sonya Yu, Dominique Piana, Lynn Taffin, Kristal Schwartz, Kristin Lloyd, Linda Rollo, Debbi Ricks, Samantha Mulgrew, Esther Lee, Constance Koo, Jennifer Ellis, and Beverly Wesner-Hoehn
And lastly, thank you to our volunteers who made this all possible: Susie Spiwak, Ryan Conrad, Chloe Tula, Kristin Lloyd, Constance Koo and Jennifer Ellis
We are happy to announce that we plan to have an in-person competition this year. The competition will be held at the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA on May 21. The application deadline is May 1. Please see here for further details.
