HARP

ABOUT ME...

Rhyland O'Neill is a graduating senior at Charles R. Drew Charter Senior Academy. He is an exceptional student and is devoted to his education. O’Neill has played the harp for 7 years, is a part of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble (UYHE), and is a member of the Georgia chapter of the American Harp Society. Rhyland performs biannually with the UYHE at their Winter and Spring concerts. In 2022, he performed “We Shall Overcome” for a harp ensemble, band, and choir collaboration for the Black Lives Matter Mural Celebration and the high-profile PGA Tour Tournament Breakfast. In 2023, he performed for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Pre-Party at the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center as a part of his quartet, 188 Strings. In 2024, the quartet performed at the Collective Impact Virtual Summit's final webinar session for Stacey Abrams and an international virtual audience of over 400 people. They also performed for the East Lake Foundation's 2024 Party on the Green celebration for the East Lake Cup.

In 2025, the quartet played for the Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Atlanta Chapter's "Savor the Moment": A Celebration of Motherhood Across Generations. Rhyland also played for the Georgia Music Educators Association 2025 Conference in Athens, Georgia, as a part of the UYHE. In late 2025, he played in the Georgia Chapter of the American Harp Society's 50 Harps Concert at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. As a part of his quartet, he also performed for the National Black Arts Festival's Fall Fundraiser at the InterContinental Buckhead Hotel. Outside of the harp, O’Neill is part of Project ENGAGES, a research internship program at Georgia Institute of Technology. Through the program, he placed 2nd in the 2025 Atlanta City Regional Science Fair, earned 2nd Honors at the 2025 Georgia Science and Engineering Fair, and was a Finalist at the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. He also recently qualified for the 2026 Georgia Science and Engineering Fair. Rhyland plays club soccer in the SCCL Champions Division for North Atlanta Soccer Academy and is a Varsity Soccer Captain for Drew Charter, which went 18-1 and won the GHSA AA State Championship in 2025. As a part of the team, he was named to the 2025 All-Region 6AA First Team. Rhyland is an aspiring engineer and is a part of the Johnson & Johnson Bridge to Employment program. He strives to improve at everything he does and is eager to expand his prowess.

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Arranging Project

The song I chose to arrange is Shape of My Heart by Sting, composed by Sting and his guitarist, Dominic Miller. It was released in 1993 and is famously known for its poetic lyrics about a gambler searching for mystical logic in luck rather than money. I chose this song because I thought the guitar parts would fit perfectly on the harp, as they are both string instruments. I plan to arrange and record the main chorus and the first verse, then loop back to the main chorus to end the piece. I also plan to add some improvisation and a drumline.

Melissa's Circle - Susan Raimond

Melissa's Circle is a very standard harp gig piece because it fits almost any event, and you can improvise with it. I have played Melissa's Circle at almost every gig that I have worked at.

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Preseli's Sky - Monika Stadler

I have worked on this piece for a few months now, performing it at Solo & Ensemble for judges.

Haiku #1: The Sparrows Are Playing Hide and Seek Among the Tea Flowers

When I first saw the sheet music for this selection, I was intrigued and confused. My reaction may be due to the uniqueness of the piece or because of how difficult it looked, even though it was fairly easy to play. The hardest part about playing this piece was probably switching techniques every measure. It was a challenge but we figured it out in the end. I enjoyed playing this song because we got to choose our own path to play. For example, if you saw the other class videos, our class video was performed in a different order. I think our performance was good and it sounded even better on camera. If I were to change something, it would be the order to make it different every time.

Haiku #2: Sacred Music at Night; Into the Bonfires Flutter the Tinted Leaves

In this piece, my favorite technique to use is called a rod tremolo, which is when you take a rod and make vibrations in between two strings. It makes a cool sound that I like. I think our video reflected this performance very well. The setting fit the sound of the music, and the video was dramatic, just like the selection. In general, I think that haikus are different to play, but they are also cool. I also think they are good technical refreshers for me and my peers.

Wedding Project

For my wedding project I worked with Alex, Amber, and Axum. Our group name was Arpa - The Sound of New Beginnings. I performed the Prelude, Amber performed the Processional, Alex performed the Ceremony, and Axum performed the Recessional. We created a menu with selections of music to choose from based on this. The songs we ended up playing were Prelude in C, Processional, Can't Help Falling in Love, and Habanera Gris, respectively. We had to practice watching for when to stop which helped a lot. During the prelude, one of the guests knocked down a bunch of chairs and made a big deal about cleaning it up. I had to watch for the wedding coordinator for the signal throughout all of this chaos. I think overall the wedding went well, but I think maybe there was room for more communication and more playing time for the performers. Below is our group menu, as well as some photos from the wedding.

Wedding Menu Page 1

Wedding Menu Page 2

Isle Cut-Off Practice

Consultation Day

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Arrangement Project

The piece I chose is called Moon River which is a cover by Frank Ocean. The song was originally written by Johnny Mercer and composed by Henry Mancini in 1961. It was created for Audrey Hepburn to sing in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The song has been covered by many singers, including Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Louis Armstrong, and Andy Williams on the Andy William’s Show. Frank Ocean’s version was released on February 14th, 2018, and the world fell in love with the song once again.

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