Blog News - Kela Walton - Kela Walton

TCU Summer Harp Workshop 2026

7/2/2026

With fourteen harpists on stage for our closing concert on July 2, 2026, the TCU Summer Harp Workshop once again made history with our largest summer ensemble yet. Congratulations to all of the participants on a beautiful performance! These fantastic young harpists were a joy to work with over the past three days in masterclasses, harp ensemble rehearsals, and movement classes. Their positive and supportive attitudes were really impressive. I hope they had a wonderful experience at TCU, and I look forward seeing many of them again next year!

Thank you to our guest artist Jeff Walters who presented an afternoon “Many Ways To Be a Harpist” session about playing jazz at the harp. The students especially enjoyed the pedal and lever slides, and his original composition written just for the workshop: TCU Swing. Another big thank you to my assistant Silvia, a TCU Junior, for her, valuable assistance, enthusiastic attitude, and exceptional leadership everyday at the workshop!

You can watch the recorded livestream of the 2026 TCU Summer Harp Workshop Closing Concert on YouTube (the concert actually begins at 12:25 in the video)

The program was announced from the stage and included harp ensemble repertoire: Deep River arr. by Maurice Draughn, Noche de Fiesta by Alfredo Rolando Ortiz, TCU Swing by Jeff Walters and America The Beautiful; as well as solo performances by Ella, Edie, Macrina, Grace, and Lauren.

December Gig Season Wraps Up!

12/31/2025

Another busy December gig season has wrapped up, and here are some (though not all) of the memorable events my students and I enjoyed adding harp music to this holiday season!

TCU Harp Ensemble presents 3rd Annual "Harp-o-ween Concert"

10/26/2025

This afternoon the TCU Harp Ensemble celebrated the music of the Allhallowtide season with our 3rd annual "Harp-o-ween" recital featuring Music Preparatory harp students and the TCU Harp Ensemble. The program included mystical and mysterious melodies by Glinka, Jaimieson, and more!

Click here to watch the performance on YouTube
Click here to view the PDF program

TCU Summer Harp Workshop 2025

7/2/2025

With our closing concert on July 2, 2025, the TCU Summer Harp Workshop made history with the first ever harp ensemble concert in Van Cliburn Concert Hall. Congratulations to all of the participants on a beautiful and historic performance! These eleven fantastic young Harpists were a joy to work with over the past three days in masterclasses, harp ensemble rehearsals, and movement classes. It was most impressive to see how positive and supportive the were of each other. I hope they had a wonderful experience at TCU, and aspire to see many of them again next year!

Thank you!

Thank you to this year's guest artists Kimberly Snaufer DeRosa and Alexander Coronado who presented an afternoon “Many Ways To Be a Harpist” session about sound therapy and the use of improvisation in therapeutic and healing environments. The students especially enjoyed playing the crystal bowls, Tibetan bells, and electric harp for themselves! A very big thank you to TCU sophomore harpist Silvia for all of her always enthusiastic attitude and valuable assistance everyday at the workshop! Special thanks to Dr. Paul Cortese director of the TCU Summer Music Institutes for many of the photos in the slide show below.

Watch the recorded livestream of the 2025 TCU Summer Harp Workshop Closing Concert on YouTube (the concert actually begins at 15:50 in the video)
The program was announced from the stage and included harp ensemble repertoire: Surf Breakers Waltz by Louise Trotter, Screwdriver Dances by Sonja Inglefield, Constellations by Julia Kay Jamieson, and Incógnita by Stephen Dunstone; as well as solo performances by Gemma, Megan, Selah, Aditi, Vaishavi, and Danatra.

First AHS in Dallas Harp Ensemble Festival!

5/31/2025

The summer began with an historic first, the American Harp Society in Dallas held their first Harp Ensemble Festival on May 31st at UT Dallas. Three ensembles from our studio prepared and rehearsed throughout the spring and received “Superior” and “Excellent” ratings for their performances from the Adjudicators at the festival!

Our studio’s Suzuki ensemble as well as the combined all ages ensemble both received all Superior ratings, the best possible rating, from all three adjudicators for their performances. The adult ensemble from our studio received Excellent ratings from the adjudicators. Everyone worked hard and played beautifully! I’m so proud of each of these students and how much they accomplished in just a few months. I also especially appreciate the effort their families and friends made to transport harps and support us in the audience at the festival!

Congratulations to AHS National Competition Finalist!

5/30/2025

TCU first year student IsabellaGrace competed in the finals of the American Harp Society's National Competition in the Intermediate II Division at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. She began preparing the music over a year ago, submitted a video for the preliminary round in March and was selected to be a finalist in April. She received an honorable mention today, and you can watch her performance in the competition live-streamed on YouTube here.
(She is contestant C and her performance begins at 8:00:10 in the video.)

Congratulations IsabellaGrace on all your hard work and a beautiful performance in the competition!

Spring 2024 Student Achievements

5/4/2025

Several hard working harp students in our studio received accolades this weekend for many their accomplishments this year!
On May 2nd TCU Music Preparatory harp students Atalia and Hadassah performed on their very first solo recital. Madeleine received an award for most recital performances, and all the Music Prep harp students received certificates and medals commemorating all of their accomplishments this year.
In the afternoon on May 4th Harper was invited for a second time to perform on the American Harp Society Dallas Chapter's Annual Student Recital.
Then on the evening of May 4th Madeleine performed Spring Breezes arranged by Richard Meyer and In the Company of Angels by William Hofeldt with the Fort Worth Youth Orchestras String Orchestra. Her performance was a fantastic finale to her very first season of concerts with the FWYO Junior String Orchestra under the direction of Mandy Musser in the fall and String Orchestra under the direction of Sammy Branch this spring!

See and hear moments from this weekend in fun video reel over here on Instagram!

The TCU Harp Ensemble Presents "Texas Connections"

4/13/2025

We were honored to have composers and arrangers Jeff Walters (left) and Cindy Horstman (right) in attendance!

The TCU Harp Ensemble and TCU Music Preparatory harp students presented an afternoon of harp music exploring our Texas connections. The concert featured works for harp ensemble composed and arranged by Texans, as well as music about springtime, nature, and of course Texas! The program included original compositions and arrangements by Gayle Barrington, Whit Dudley, Tasha Smith Godinez, Cindy Horstman, Mary Radspinner, Louise Trotter, Jeff Walters, and more.

Click here to watch the performance on YouTube
Click here to view the PDF program

Christmas with the TCU Harp Ensemble

12/3/2024

On December 2nd and 3rd the TCU Harp Ensemble directed by Kela Walton performed holiday favorites in the lobby prior to the 3rd Annual Christmas Festival at TCU.

Click on the video to hear an excerpt from Carol of the Bells performed by TCU first year students IsabellaGrace and Silvia.

TCU Harp Ensemble presents 2nd Annual "Harp-o-ween Concert"

10/27/2024

This afternoon the TCU Harp Ensemble celebrated the music of the Allhallowtide season with our 2nd annual "Harp-o-ween" recital featuring Music Preparatory harp students and the TCU Harp Ensemble. The program included mystical and mysterious melodies by Gounod, Salzedo, and more. As you can see we dressed to impress!
Click here to watch the performance on YouTube
Click here to view the PDF program