Pathway - Harp

11th Grade

(Junior) Practical Harpist Bio:

Madison Ford is a dynamic harpist who plucks each string with great passion. As of 2025, she is a 17-year-old high school student in Atlanta, Georgia. She began playing the harp in the 6th grade and became a member of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble (UYHE) at 11 years old. However, it was not until age 13, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that she fell in love with the harp. While the virus meant a quarantine for the world, it meant freedom for Madison as a musician. With the ability to practice at any time, she developed a deep passion for harp. Following the end of the worldwide quarantine, she began to use her unique ability to connect with the musical world around her.

Following the pandemic, Madison began to share her talent with the wider musical community. In 2023, she was accepted into the prestigious Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestras (MYSO), where she served as Principal Harpist during the 2023–2024 season. That same year, she won the MYSO Scholarship for her performance of Adrien Boieldieu’s Harp Concerto in C Major, accompanied by pianist Joel Derringer. In 2024, Madison proudly performed "Pas De Deux" with the Georgia State University Orchestra in their School of Music Annual Holiday Gala Concert. In 2025, she was selected for the Georgia All-State Orchestra, performing in both the 11/12 Symphonic Band and the 9/10 Full Orchestra. She currently serves as co-principal harpist in the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony (AYWS). Furthermore, Madison is still an active member of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble (UYHE), where her music journey first began. Within the UYHE, she plays in the powerful ensemble, "Harpa con Fuoco. "

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Performance Video

I improvised a chord progression over a drummed beat by Nhenze De'Jesus.

10th Grade

(Sophmore) Practical Harpist Bio:

Madison Ford is a dynamic harpist who plucks each string with great passion. As of 2024, she is a 16-year-old high schooler in Atlanta, Georgia. She began playing the harp in the 6th grade and became a member of the Urban Youth Harp at 11 years old. However, it was not until age 13, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that she fell in love with the harp. While the virus meant a quarantine for the world, it meant freedom for Madison as a musician. With the ability to practice at any time, she developed a deep passion for harp. Following the end of the worldwide quarantine, she began to use her unique ability to connect with the musical world around her.

In 2023, Madison was accepted into the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestras. She served as Principal Harpist of the highest orchestra, Symphony, for the 2023-2024 season. While a member, she also won the MYSO Scholarship of Music. The reward of $500 was earned with one of her most prestigious performances, Bolduie Adrien's Harp Concerto in C-Major, with piano accompanist, Joel Derringer.

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Arranging Project

For the arranging project, we were given the freedom to choose any song and write a solo version of it based upon lead sheet and/ or previous arrangement. My piece came along when a fellow musician asked me to accompany their senior feature. They chose the song, Mice on Venus. Once the performance was over, I decided to edit the accompaniment part that I had previously written so that it could be played as a solo.

The song, Mice on Venus, was written for the popular game Minecraft. It was released in 2011 by the artist C418 and written in the key of C-Major. Different sounds and melodies are heard while a player is active in Minecraft. Though many sounds and melodies are random with even more random titles, songs like Mice on Venus are intentionally written and placed within the universe. The artists of Mice on Venus wanted the title to be taken literally, representing the radiation of Venus and the squeaks of the mice. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time writing this piece. Using my chord knowledge, I used the piano lead sheet to write the song accurately. To make it feel more personal and different from any current version of the song, I decided to add arpeggiations and harmonics. With this, I created a unique piece while still keeping the original nostalgia and feel of the song.

Written Score

Below is the score I wrote and used as a guide when filing my video. (When filming, I added arpeggiation, rolled chords, and fermatas when it felt necessary; the recording above will not precisely match the music below.)

Wedding Final Reflection

For this project, we were tasked to do mock weddings in order to prepare us to be practical harpists in the real world. My group decided that we would each learn different genres of songs in order to create a diverse wedding. For instance, my part in the wedding was the processional, so I played a very bright classical song. My partners played other genres of songs, such as Disney and pop, during other parts of the wedding. It was most certainly a very interesting project. On the final wedding day, there were great interruptions in which we had to be prepared for. One interruption was an objection made by a "parent." We had to learn how to quickly resolve a song when the wedding went in a surprising and unexpected direction. In conclusion, this project was most certainly interesting but very fun and helpful.

9th Grade

Class Ensemble Recordings

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