PRINCE GEORGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BRINGS A CONCERT HARP TO THE CITY 

The Prince George Symphony Orchestra has purchased a concert grand pedal harp – the first such instrument to reside in the city in decades - and audiences can hear it this month. The instrument is a Salvi Daphne SE 47-string concert harp made in Italy and worth over $20,000. 

“At first, you might think it’s surprising that a harp costs about as much as a car,” commented Ken Hall, Executive Director of the PGSO, “but it starts to make sense when you realize it has just as many moving parts as that car and is largely hand crafted.” 

The harp was purchased through the generosity of Fred & Daniella van der Post and supported by a grant from the Prince George Community Foundation. 

“The Prince George Community Foundation is pleased to support the purchase of this new harp through our Fall 2023 grant cycle to not only support the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, but further support encouraging young artists to pursue musical instruments with the PG Conservatory of Music,” said Stephanie Deol, Prince George Community Foundation Vice-President & Grants Committee Chair. 

Between symphony concerts, the harp will be housed at the Prince George Conservatory of Music, providing opportunities for harpists at the Conservatory to learn the instrument. The Conservatory has an active student harpist community, but until now they have all played on smaller “lever” harps. 

“Having a harp in the city opens up so many possibilities for the symphony,” said PGSO Music Director Michael Hall. “It allows us to present some of the greatest works of the orchestral repertoire as they were intended by the composer - without having to ship a large delicate instrument back and forth from Vancouver. It also allows us to support local harpists in a very practical and exciting way. We’re very grateful that Fred and the PGCF are allowing us to support the wonderful musicians of our community in this way.” 

The instrument will be unveiled to the public in a short recital by Vancouver Opera Principal Harpist Joy Yeh on April 27. She will be joined by PGCM Artistic Director Shoshanna Godber, who will demonstrate the lever harp and the differences between the two instruments. A reception is included in the ticket price. 

A week later, the harp will be onstage at Vanier Hall for the symphony’s final mainstage concert of the season. There it will be featured in Fauré’s Requiem on May 5. The program will also include Jocelyn Morlock’s My Name Is Amanda Todd, and the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. 

Tickets for both performances are available online at PGSO.com