Taking the harp to new heights
Equally at home in concert halls and jazz clubs, harpist and composer Megan Bledsoe Ward has been hailed by Downbeat Magazine for her “sharp musical intelligence” and “scintillating plays of light and subtle colors.” Her debut album was awarded the 2016 Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Instrumental Album of the Year by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts. Ward holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Harp Performance from University of Washington. Ward studied harp with Kathleen Bride at Eastman School of Music, where she holds a Master of Music Degree in Harp Performance and Literature, a Master of Arts Degree in Music Theory Pedagogy, and a Bachelor of Music Degree in Harp Performance and Literature with a Minor in Mathematics. Ward currently performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral harpist with ensembles throughout the United States. She is regularly commissioned to compose and arrange new works for various music ensembles, and leads the award-winning jazz ensemble Pacific Harp Project.
www.meganbledsoeward.com
facebook.com/meganbledsoewardharpist | instagram.com/meganbledsoeward | twitter.com/pacharpproject
www.meganbledsoeward.com
facebook.com/meganbledsoewardharpist | instagram.com/meganbledsoeward | twitter.com/pacharpproject
Press
In Megan Bledsoe Ward the harp has found an advocate to whom attention must be paid. The harp has been unchained. Her harp technique and improvisation ignite a butterfly’s path from one peaceful moment to another. |
The harp is not a visitor, but a card-carrying member of the jazz ethos. Megan Bledsoe Ward has a solid grasp of jazz idiom–she’s not a dabbler or a dilettante...When she ventures into the very dangerous territory of arranging classical pieces in a jazz style, she comes out the other side not just unscathed but triumphant. |
Photos
Photo by Lester Miyashiro
Hair and makeup by Ayumi Miyashiro ![]()
Photo by Lester Miyashiro
Hair and makeup by Ayumi Miyashiro ![]()
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Photo by Lester Miyashiro
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Videos
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Concerto Offerings
Harp Concerto in Bb Major, HWV 294 by George Frideric Handel (1736)
Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1778)
Chorale et Variations, Op. 74 by Charles-Marie Widor (1900)
Concerto in C Minor for Harp and Orchestra by Henriette Rénie (1901)
Danses Sacrée et Profane by Claude Debussy (1904)
Introduction and Allegro by Maurice Ravel (1905)
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in Eb Major by Rheinhold Gliere
Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 45 by Ernst von Dohnányi (1952)
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by R. Murray Schafer (1987)
On Willows And Birches by John Williams (2009)
Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1778)
Chorale et Variations, Op. 74 by Charles-Marie Widor (1900)
Concerto in C Minor for Harp and Orchestra by Henriette Rénie (1901)
Danses Sacrée et Profane by Claude Debussy (1904)
Introduction and Allegro by Maurice Ravel (1905)
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra in Eb Major by Rheinhold Gliere
Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchestra, Op. 45 by Ernst von Dohnányi (1952)
Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by R. Murray Schafer (1987)
On Willows And Birches by John Williams (2009)