Congratulations to everyone who participated in the TCU Summer Harp Workshop! It was so much fun to work with seven amazing Young Harpists over the past three days in masterclasses, harp ensemble rehearsals, and movement classes. Huge thank you to TCU Music Education major and harpist Lyndsey Walker for all of her assistance at the workshop! You can see the live stream recording of the 2023 TCU Summer Harp Workshop Recital here on YouTube. 

Congratulations to current harp student Stella Joy Wilson who was named a Featured Young Composer for the American Harp Society Young Composers Project! Stella worked with professional composer mentors including Caroline Lizotte June 1-4, 2023, as part of the AHS Summer Institute at the Colburn School, Los Angeles. Each composer had a chance to perform their original works at a special concert during the Institute.
​The program is open to harpists aged 25 and under who are national members of the American Harp Society. The Young Composers Project offers an opportunity for young harpist/composers to work with professional mentors to experience, explore, and develop a deep connection to the harp through composition. Learn more about all of the 2023 Featured Composers here!

Congratulations to Sima Galaganov on a beautiful solo harp performance at tonight's TCU Music Preparatory Senior Recital in PepsiCo Recital Hall! Five other graduating high school seniors, four pianists and a vocalist, were also featured on this evening's concert. I know all of her harp teachers these past few years are just as proud of Sima as I am! All of her hard work this year lead to beautiful performances tonight of Lolita la danseuse by Marcel Tournier and La Source, Op. 44 by Alphonse Hasselmans. I will miss you so much next year, and wish you the best in your studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Brava Sima!

Today the TCU Harp Ensemble celebrated our Past, Present, and Future with a recital featuring Music Preparatory harp students, harp studio alumni, and former harp faculty. Our special guests Dr. Laura Brandenburg, Sydney Howell, and Dr. Mallory McHenry returned to campus to perform as a frog faculty quartet with current harp instructor Kela Walton. The program included arrangements by TCU alumni Elizabeth Hames and Nancy Hurrell. This unique concert concluded with all of the Horned Frog harpists past, present, and future performing together as a large ensemble for the finale.
I'm so grateful to all our many guests for joining us, and so proud of my students for their hard work this semester!
​Click here to view the PDF program

I can hardly believe my first semester teaching at Texas Christian University is rapidly concluding. Tonight students from both the University harp studio and the Music Preparatory harp studio performed a program of pieces by Andrès, Debussy, Dussek, Tournier, Press, Salzedo, and Waddington that all share French connections. I'm so proud of everyone's hard work to make this beautiful recital happen!

Click here to view the PDF program

​Thanks to Mary Jane D'Arville and Robbin Gordon-Cartier for having me on the October episode of Hangin’ with the harp! Nothing like being live online!

The Atlanta and Virginia Harp Centers Present, "Hangin' with the Harp: ​Enchanting Effects - How to weave magic into your music with Kela Walton"
"Halloween is around the corner and there’s magic in the air! Join wizard Kela Walton as she shares some of the coolest special tricks that can only be conjured up by the harp! An active performer and innovative teacher, Kela will show you how to enchant your audience with various techniques used by composers like Andres and Salzedo to take the mystery out of the markings. So get on your broom, or rather, bench, and get ready to defy gravity!"
A PDF for this presentation is available HERE

My brother Andrew and I performed for a very special Pentecost Sunday service at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church in Arlington. We celebrated the retirement of Pastor Debra Crumpton with cello and harp duet renditions of two of her favorite hymns: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and Be Thou My Vision. You can watch the entire service livestream video above.

I'm very excited to announce that I will be teaching at the TCU Summer Harp Workshop this July 6-8, 2022!
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The TCU Summer Harp Workshop offers 3 days of harp ensemble, solo masterclasses, and interactive sessions about the harp uniquely customized for the participants enrolled. Each day will begin with a focus on physical wellness through stretching and yoga designed for harpists. Kela Walton will offer individual instruction in masterclasses, as well as ensemble coaching. Sessions away from the harp on customized topics such as: practice strategies, harp history, audition/competition prep, or how to take care of your harp will be offered pending interest by the participants. At the end of the workshop, each participant will have the opportunity to perform on the final recital. This year’s workshop will celebrate being able to create music together again, safely in the same space.

The workshop is open to young harpists 8th grade and above, intermediate to advanced level. Students are asked to bring their own instruments, as the availability of rental harps is quite limited.
Learn more and register online at https://finearts.tcu.edu/music/events-and-programs/summer-camps/tcu-harp-workshop/