Williamsburg Youth

Harp Society

About Us

The Williamsburg Youth Harp Society is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to providing children in the Williamsburg, Virginia area with an enriched educational experience through study and performance on the harp.  We offer group classes, private instruction and the opportunity to participate in performing ensembles.

The Williamsburg community has enjoyed the music of harpists from Rawls Byrd Elementary School and Berkeley Middle School since 1996, when Cynthia Crum, a harpist and music teacher at Rawls Byrd, began teaching students on a few rented harps.  With the assistance of Helping Harps, a parent organization formed to give both financial and administrative support to the program, that program has grown to include more than 50 harpists and 23 harps today. 

Although based in public schools for more than a decade, the Rawls Byrd-Berkeley harp program was privately funded from its inception.  In 2006 parents voted to end the school-based program and to form the Williamsburg Youth Harp Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to the success of the new private program. 

Today our programs are located at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, thanks to the generosity of Sentara.  Our programs are available to all children ages 8-18 in the area.

Board of Directors

President:  Jennifer Tierney
e-mail:
williamsburgyouthharp@cox.net

Vice-President:  Dr. Lisa Odabasi
e-mail:
rjalpino@yahoo.com

Secretary:  Dr. Katherine Rahman
e-mail:
krahm@wm.edu

Director:  J.D. Briggs
(Community Member)

Director:  Ginger Ambler
e-mail:  vmambl@wm.edu

E-mail: williamsburgyouthharp@cox.net