Fran Barsby​

​CV34 

Fran is  also our Resident Harpist Pilgrim Harps 
"Fran is a passionate young musician. Her playing and enthusiasm are truly catching!" - Gabriella Dall'OIio
Fran Barsby is a British harpist known for her passion and innovation. Beginning the harp 17 years ago, Fran has played at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, St Johns Smith Square, Birmingham Town Hall, Chichester festival theatre and more. Her solo and ensemble career with groups such as the International Harp Ensemble, Dionysos (cello and harp duet), and various orchestras has taken her around the breadth of Europe. Fran graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2015. In September 2015 Fran achieved her lifelong harp goal and began working for Pilgrim Harps as their resident harpist and online marketing co-ordinator. 
Not only does Fran have a very busy performing career but she also has a passion for teaching. Fran is the harp teacher at the Blue Coat School, Warwick Prep School and Kings High School for Girls as well as teaching privately. Fran is also devoted to helping young professionals find their feet in the music industry. She is director of PoppyHarp publishing, a company dedicated to helping composers and harpists publish their music as well as creating innovative resources for music teachers and students. April 2015 brought the release of a new set of 13 Harp tuition books for students of all ages, parental help guides and advise for teachers. Fran is also the director of the Future Blend Project, a charitable competition organised to help young musicians find their first steps in their careers. 
"Fran is an enthusiastic and energetic teacher, Her approach to teaching my daughter is innovative and engaging. She makes learning fun! My daughter looks forward to lessons and I always hear a lot of laughter coming from the two of them as they learn new things together. "
Zoe 2015
fbarsby@poppyharp.com
07713907808

Jenny Broome

SW11
Jenny Broome studied the harp with Daphne Boden and later with Renata Scheffel-Stein while reading Architecture at Cambridge University.  As a student she had some wonderful musical experiences, including performing the War Requiem in King’s College Chapel as part of the chamber orchestra conducted by David Hill, appearing at the Aldeburgh Festival in a chamber opera by Matthew Best, and at the Edinburgh Fringe in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia.  Jenny now has a busy freelance career as a harpist.  Highlights have come from surprising directions: working for the Royal Shakespeare Company for Richard Jones’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with music by Jonathan Dove, and much later giving the first public performance at very short notice of Dove’s opera Seven Angels for two voices and harp; working with composer Ed Lambert on various chamber works; collaborating with violinist Frances Mason; working with Andrew Parrott to record Berlioz’ trio from the Childhood of Christ; being part of the team for Stowe Opera’s magical production of Rusalka; emotional performances of Peter Grimes with Richard Hickox at the Endellion Festival. 

​Jenny delights in playing chamber music and works regularly with Trio Sospiroso (flute,cello and harp), Arpatagora (strings and harp) and Arcangeli (harp duet).  It is always a particular pleasure to be asked back, and Jenny has been invited to perform at the Harp on Wight Festival in 2014 and 2016, and is delighted to be back at the Buckingham Festival this year.  She has appeared as a soloist in concertos by Mozart, Handel, Debussy, Frank Martin, Bruch, and Ginastera.
 
Recordings include So Sweet a Melody for Somm, with the Hildegard Choir and soprano Emily van Evera; “Summer was in August”, with flautist Rachel Smith, for Campion Cameo; music by Paul Carr for Claudio Records; Francis Grier’s oratorio ‘Around the Curve of the World’ for Somm and Britten’s Ceremony of Carols.  Jenny’s most recent project is a recording with Frances Mason of Victorian music for violin and harp written for the Eissler sisters.
 
 Jenny is keen to encourage the composition of new music for the harp and has worked with various composers, especially Edward Lambert, who has written three exciting new harp works: Concerto Cubico, for trombone, marimba and harp, Short Story, for flute viola and harp, and Speed Matters for violin and harp. 

Audrey Douglas
Audrey Douglas studied at the Royal College of Music and following her studies was harpist with the BBC Northern Ireland and subsequently the Ulster Orchestra. 
Audrey has lived and worked in the Midlands for many years, having playing with several major orchestras and worked on numerous productions for the Royal  Shakespeare Company. 
Audrey has over 20 years experience as a specialist wedding harpist. She is familiar with most venues throughout the Midlands and is recommended by many of them. Audrey has a vast repertoire which is constantly updated and will always try to accommodate any  particular musical requests.​

Julia Hammersley

BS7
Julia Hammersley is a Bristol based harpist who performs regularly with orchestras and ensembles in the region, including: Bristol Classical Players, Bristol Ensemble, Bristol Concert Orchestra, Brandon Hill Orchestra, Bath Symphony Orchestra and Bristol Opera. She is also one half of the flute and harp ensemble, Topaz, with Michelle Krawiec, as well as working with the Clarsach Society on small, 34 string harps. 

She has been involved in running music workshops in various inner-city Bristol schools, Bristol Royal Children's Hospital, for the Bristol and West of England Clarsach Society and events for young children. She is keen to give people a chance to experience the harp and regularly takes a collection of small harps (clarsachs) to events to promote the harp.

Jenny Hill​

OX11
Photograph and biography coming soon
jenny@harpteacher.co.uk​
07977 106656​

Angharad James
I am a freelance harpist based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. I play the harp at weddings, corporate events, with orchestras & other music groups. I am also an experienced and sympathetic harp teacher who gives harp lessons from my home in Cheltenham. I play both classical and traditional music on the Concert and Celtic Harp. I was born in Abergavenny and began studying music in school, gaining Grade 8 with Distinction in both Harp and Piano. I studied the harp at Bristol University where I completed a BA (hons) in Music. I further developed my performing abilities by completing a Postgraduate Advanced Diploma in Harp Performance at the Royal Welsh College College of Music and Drama (Cardiff.) ​

Valeria Kurbatova

NW9
​​​Valeria Kurbatova is an award-winning London based harpist – specialising in both solo harp performances and orchestral harp. She regularly plays for the likes of London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Contemporary Orchestra and is also principal harpist in the London Electronic Orchestra. Regularly performing at high profile events, Valeria has played for audiences ranging from HRH Prince of Wales to the Rolling Stones. Valeria’s radio and TV appearances include performances for BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, Classic FM, Russia Today TV, WNYC Radio and Kultura TV and Netflix.She had her solo debut at the age of nine at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire. Since then Valeria has performed as a soloist and in ensemble groups in numerous concerts, in a vast range of concert halls including: Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall,The Barbican, V&A Museum, The Forge, The Roundhouse, The National Gallery, The Houses of Parliament, Cadogan Hall, Kensington Palace and Westroad Hall.
As a soloist, Valeria has won prizes at a number of different International harp and music competitions such as: Scholarships from New Names Foundation, and Spivakov International Foundation, harp prize at the International Harp Competition in Moscow and Young Talent Award at the Moscow Music Festival.
Passionate about teaching and outreach work Valeria has obtained an
ABRSM Teaching diploma and has been giving harp lessons privately in London since 2011 as well as doing workshops in schools and playing recitals in hospitals. Valeria is hub ambassador for harp at the London Philarmonic Orchestra and works with Royal Greenwich, Southwark and Lambeth Councils in London. Valeria is also a harp teacher at the London Russian Music School and the Mountview Academy.

Counties covered: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, London, Oxfordshire and Surrey​ ​​

Becki Luff

OX14
Graduating with a Masters degree from The Royal Northern College of Music in 2018, under the tuition of Eira Lynn Jones, Becki regularly works alongside composers to develop new music for the harp. This has led to experiences such as: performing in the Wigmore Hall, premiering Amir Konjani’sAnima Projection and joining the Future Blend Project in creating and performing a new works concert for the instrument. 
Becki has worked extensively with the composer Paul Patterson, giving the European premiere of his piece Scorpions for two harps, and showcasing his harp solo Lizards’ as part of the 13th World Harp Congress in Hong Kong. In November 2019 she joined EUYWO with conductor Yan Cober to perform and tour Stravinsky's Petrushka, as well as two new works. In January 2021 Becki was awarded the Help Musicians' 'Do it differently' Fund as part of the award-winning Chroma Harp duo, which will enable a new commission to be written and recorded for the ensemble. 
Available for recording work, recitals, weddings ceremonies and private tuition; Becki’s creativity shines through her performances and teaching. She has a passion for outreach, and has performed as part of Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now scheme since 2019, through which she facilitates music workshops and performances for care home residents and SEND schools across the UK.

Steph West
Harper and singer, Steph West works as a performer, teacher and workshop leader. Whilst studying early music at the University of Birmingham, Steph fell in love with the clarsach or folk harp and made it her speciality. Steph performs with the British Paraorchestra, with bal / swing band Midnight Patisserie and with Irish / world flautist Jacquelyn Hynes.

A life as a harpist is an unlikely choice for someone with a hand deformity, but Steph has got past her macrodactyly and built her own style of harp playing. She is delighted to have worked with Open Up Music and help the NOYO young musicians on their path.

Back in the folk scene, Steph has worked in both English and Irish traditional music communities, teaching for the English Folk Dance and Song Society and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. Steph has also enjoyed teaching for Goldsmith's University and University of Reading, the Edinburgh International Harp Festival and Guildhall’s Centre for Young Musicians.

Alison Wilson

HP5
Photograph and biography coming soon
clayacre@live.co.uk
07774 236940
For a full list of harpists in your area Please contact Pilgrim Harps on 01342 893242 or email info@pilgrimharps.co.uk 

Would you like to be listed on our 'find a harpist' pages?

Adverts are completely free. 
For more information or to submit your advert email Fran at events@pilgrimharps.co.uk

For the best advert possible you will need to send:
- A short biography max 250 words.
- Contact number
- Contact email
- First part of your post code and the areas you cover. 
- A promotional shot of yourself. 

You can update and edit your advert at any time by emailing events@pilgrimharps.co.uk