Is there an entry fee?

Yes; there is an entry fee of $30.  Please note that this is a separate and additional fee from the Festival.

Will a harp be provided if I cannot bring my own?

Yes.  A Salvi Diana will be provided for the competitors who cannot bring their own instrument.  

How do I submit my video?

Please send an unlisted YouTube link to hrhfinfo@gmail.com.  Each piece should be filmed in one take, without editing, and should clearly show the entire body (feet included).  

Please use the following name format to submit your video: surname-first name-division, i.e.: Pike-Anastasia-Senior-Video.  The body of the email should include the following details: contestant's name, age, grade, location (i.e., Dallas, Texas, USA), teacher's name, and the titles and composers of the pieces being performed.  

Can I enter the competition if I'm not planning to attend the Hampton Roads Harp Festival?

Yes.  Any student worldwide may enter the competition if they meet the age requirements.  

**ALEXIS WILL ALSO BE GIVING A MASTERCLASS**

Recently appointed principal harpist of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Alexis began her first season with the VSO in the fall of 2023, under the baton of music director Eric Jacobsen. In demand as an orchestral player across the country, Alexis has been invited to appear as guest principal harpist with world class orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Omaha Symphony. Additional performance credits include concerts with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Opera and Sarasota Orchestra.

Alexis served as the principal harpist of the Aspen Music Festival’s Chamber Symphony for both the 2017 and 2018 festival seasons in addition to receiving the sought after Aspen Harp Fellowship. Her festival and summer engagements have gone on to include seasons at the Britt Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival, Artosphere, Music Academy of the West, and The Orchestra of the Americas, where she has worked with pioneering music directors such as Teddy Abrams, Michael Stern, Osmo Vanska and Robert Spano, among others.

At the age of five, Alexis began her harp instruction while her family lived abroad in the Netherlands. Upon returning to the US, she studied with Seattle Symphony principal harpist Valerie Muzzolini before going on to receive her Master’s in Harp Performance at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of New York Philharmonic principal harpist Nancy Allen. Alongside her harp studies, Alexis earned her Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from USC, where she graduated at the top of her class with summa cum laude and Renaissance Scholar honors. Dedicated to spreading her love of the harp to the next generation, Alexis maintains a private studio and also serves on faculty at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA.

Alexis is a native of Portland, Oregon, where she honed an appreciation for the Pacific Northwest’s natural wonders into a love of hiking and scenic photography. When not performing, Alexis can be found anywhere from backcountry mountain trails to a local coffee shop, curled up with a good book.

A dynamic and engaging performer, Kate Loughrey is known for her versatility playing classical, jazz, pop, and folk music as well as her own arrangements and compositions. As a soloist, she has been recognized both nationally and internationally for her playing and is in demand as a concert artist. Notable honors have included placing as a finalist twice in the American Harp Society Foundation Awards national competition; placing as a semi-finalist in the National Alliance for Excellence in Performing Arts competition; and being selected to perform for the Beverly Hills Consortium concert series, the Museum of Making Music's "Harps in the City" concert series, the American Harp Society's National Conference, the World Harp Congress, and the Camac International Harp Festival.

Kate has toured throughout Asia, Europe, and the U.S. as a soloist as well as with The Sprezzatura Duo and the touring ensemble HarpFusion. She has also recorded two albums with HarpFusion, 25th Anniversary Spectacular and Harps On Tour, the latter of which features her transcription of the Boieldieu Concerto in C for 14 harps and orchestra. Her first solo album, Dawn to Dusk, features two of her original arrangements as well as classical and jazz standards for solo harp. She can also be heard on the soundtracks for several television shows, most notably Fargo on the FX network.

In addition to performing, Kate has taught folk harp and concert harp to students of all ages and levels at her private studios in Los Angeles and San Diego. Many of her advanced students have received scholarships and awards to continue their music studies in college, and have successfully auditioned for the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic, Festival Youth Orchestra, Korean Youth Orchestra, San Diego Youth Symphony, and Civic Youth Symphony among other ensembles. Kate has also developed and taught several group classes for beginners, including a harp program for The Museum of Making Music that was featured on KUSI's "Good Morning San Diego" and in the San Diego Union Tribune.

Kate is a member of the American Harp Society, the World Harp Congress, and ASCAP. She has served as Vice-President for the Orange County and San Diego Chapters of the American Harp Society and as an adjudicator for the Auditions and Evaluations program sponsored by AHS. She holds a Master of Music in Harp Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, with additional coursework in music history at the Thornton School of Music. Kate has also studied at l'Ecole Normale de Musique d'Alfred Cortot in Paris and is a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music in London (FRSM), completing the ABRSM syllabus with distinction.

Harpist Nadia Pessoa is an award-winning, multi-genre harpist whose career has taken her to stages across North America, Europe, China, and Brazil. She has been recognized with awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, the National Federation of Music Clubs, Downbeat Magazine, and the American Harp Society. Nadia has appeared as a soloist at Lincoln Center, with the Lima Symphony Orchestra, and the Fort Collins Symphony.

Nadia holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Michigan, and studied with Susann McDonald and Lynne Aspnes, with additional time spent studying in Vienna, Austria. She attended the National Orchestral Institute, Brevard Music Center, Le Domaine Forget’s New Music Festival, the Henry Mancini Institute, Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop, and spent two summers as the resident harpist at the Music Academy of the West.

Nadia performed at the 2002 World Harp Congress in Geneva, and can also be heard on the 2005 recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, winner of four GRAMMY awards, and singer-songwriter Faye Webster’s album “Car Therapy Sessions.”

Nadia currently serves as the harpist for The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” She also frequently performs with the Alexandria Symphony, the Washington Ballet, the Choral Arts Society, the Baltimore Symphony, Richmond Symphony, the National Philharmonic, and other ensembles in the D.C. area. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Washington National Cathedral, the State Department, the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the United Nations, the Vice President’s Residence, and The White House.