P.C. has an event of this year’s Presbyterian College Performance Series scheduled for today. Vonda Darr, the principal harpist for Symphony Orchestra Augusta, will perform Tuesday (Jan 14th) at 7:30 p.m. in Edmunds Hall on the PC campus. Her performance will include repertoire from both classical and contemporary sources.
Dr. Porter Stokes, chair of the PC Music Department, said “Harpists are rare breeds—and having the opportunity to hear a harp recital, see the instrument used in a variety of ways up close, and listening to the harpist converse about the instrument and repertoire is, indeed, a special event.” Dr. Stokes said “Ms. Darr is one of the finest harpists in this part of the U.S. and is in demand throughout the region.”
A founding member of the Lyra Vivace Chamber Orchestra, Darr also serves as principal harpist for the Augusta Opera. She performs with the North Carolina Symphony, the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, the Hilton Head Symphony, the South Carolina Philharmonic and the Wilson Symphony.
She began studying the harp at age six with Gladys Hubner in Minneapolis, Minn., and played with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies through childhood. She studied with Gretchen Van Hoesen in Pittsburgh while earning a bachelor of arts degree in harp performance from Geneva College. Darr appeared in the PBS Christmas special, “Home for the Holidays,” with opera singer Jessye Norman, recorded in 1998 in Augusta.
The January performance is the third of the Five Concerts of Distinction at PC. The two remaining concerts include a Feb. 3 performance by Andrew Willis and the March 10 performance of an Irish band.
Tickets are $5 for general public and $3 for PC students, faculty and staff. More information is available from the PC Department of Music at 864-833-8470.