_ABOUT

Katia is an eclectic modern-classical harpist. She is passionate about solo and ensemble performance,  writing new music for the harp, and teaching.

_PERFORMANCE

She graduated from The Sydney Conservatorium of Music with High Distinction (2022), mentored by renowned international soloist, Alice Giles AM. She performed as a semi-finalist at The Dutch World Harp Competition (April 2024); won third place in the BASEL International Harp Competition (September 2023); was awarded the Quinquin Foundation Scholarship for Young Talents in Classical Music (2021-2022), the William and Marie Souter Encouragement Awards for Aspiring Concert Stage Instrumentalists (2018-2020, USYD); and the Bachelor of Music Scholarship for Excellence (2017, UoM). 

COMPOSITION

<sup>Currently, Katia is commissioned to write a 10 minute harp duet with amplication, electronics (synthesisers, sampling, hardware effects, and Ableton), and video. The premiere is forecasted for late 2025 to early 2026. Previously, she’s completed commissions for Penta Harp Ensemble (“Electra;” a 7.5 minute harp quintet), The Hush Foundation (“Luminescence” a 4 minute harp and marimba duet, 2024), and the AMEB Harp Syllabus (two études for Grade 7, List A, 2021).

In 2024 Katia was awarded two feature spots by the World Harp Congress Spectrum, for her compositions “Araneae” (harp solo) and “Entwine-Unravel-Renew” (viola, harp and flute). She has also written two modern classical harp books - “Sonorous Strings,” and “The Sonorous Harp” (for lever and pedal harp 2021, rev., 2024).</sup>  

BACKGROUND

^{Katia comes from a Croatian migrant family. She started playing harp at the age of 8 with Xanya Mamunya (student of Alice Chalifoux). During adolescence, she broadened her horizons with learning languages, living overseas (in Spain, France, Germany and Croatia), teaching English, and rallying for Human Rights causes. As a young adult, she decided to fully dedicate herself to the harp. Her life experience has been important in fostering her creativity, determination and hard work, passion for music, and desire to pass on what she has learnt to others.} 

︎HOME

Katia is a passionate Salzedo method teacher, with 5+ years of teaching experience.

End of Year Student Concert, 2024

︎ She is currently living in Melbourne, and teaches privately from Fitzroy and St. Kilda.

︎ She has a valid WCC.

Katia’s Aims as a Teacher:

︎ To make the harp more accessible and inclusive. 

︎ To provide students with a strong technical and musical foundation in the harp.
 
︎ To cater lessons to the student’s area of interest (genre and style) and goals (professional path or hobby).

︎ To broaden students’ musical experiences; expose students to performance and different genres of harp playing, involve them in ensemble settings, train their aural perception, and develop their musical theory knowledge (relevant to the goals of their practice).

︎ Email Katia or request her CV

^{Where can I rent or buy a harp/harp accessories?}

^{Harp Maintenance Videos}

^{Videos for Kids}

Alice Giles AM shows you how to ︎ Make your own Rubber Band Harp

︎ Harpist Amy Turk performs:
“Beauty and the Beast”
Legend of Zelda videos

FAQs

_{How old do I need to be to start the harp?}

_{Students can begin lessons from around age 6... and there is no age limit!} 

^{What are the red and blue strings?}

The red strings are C and the blue strings are F. This just repeats over and over!

<sup>The Harp uses three types of strings:
1. Silk wrapped in steel; the lowest register.
2. Animal gut; the middle register.
3. Nylon; the highest register.

The longer the string, the longer it resonantes.</sup>

<sup>- It’s called a ‘lever harp’ because it uses levers to  control the key setting. They can be made from metal or plastic. They move up and down to shorten or lengthen the string. This changes the pitch by semitones.
Levers can be moved during play to create accidentals.

- Lever Harps range from small to medium in size, varying from 2 to 5 octaves.

- They have low tension strings, so are appropriate for children whose hands and fingers are developing.

- Lever harps are not suitable for orchestral playing because they cannot fully modulate during play, and they don’t have a sufficient range of strings.</sup> 

- It’s called a ‘pedal harp’ because it uses foot pedals to control the key. Like the levers on the lever harp, the pedals (controlling discs) shorten and lengthen the strings by a semitone. All D strings on the harp are attached to the D pedal, all C strings to the C pedal, and so on. There are 3 positions (flat, natural, and sharp). This means that every string on the harp can have 3 positions at any one time during play! Pedals can be moved during play to create accidentals, or to fully modulate between keys. The left foot controls the left 3 pedals, and the right foot the right 4 pedals.

- Pedal harps are large in size, having a standard of 6.5 octaves.

- They are high string tension, so are appropriate for adults whose hands and fingers have developped.