The American Harp Journal, the flagship publication of the American Harp Society, serves as a vital source of information for the harp community, containing articles designed to advance the knowledge and skills of harpists and the harp community, and to leave an accurate record of the society's activities. The Journal is a scholarly publication which embodies the AHS mission by including content of interest to multiple facets of our diverse community. AHS members, institutional subscribers, and paid advertisers receive the full color Journal twice yearly. The AHS is committed to maintaining a high quality print publication while simultaneously exploring options for alternative digital access.
Download and review the submission guidelines before proposing an article. We look forward to hearing from you!
Obituaries may be submitted with this form.
The American Harp Society also invites submissions to The American Harp Journal Collegiate Writers Award, with an application deadline of March 1, 2023.
Discover advertising rates, deadlines and technical specifications and make your reservation at "Advertise in the American Harp Journal".
Visit the AHJ Extras page for supplemental materials from past issues.
All complete issues of The American Harp Journal are available online. This collection of all Tables of Contents can help identify issues with articles of interest by searching for a particular person or topic.
Each individual issue is also searchable, and can be downloaded or printed. (Using "Print" will allow for printing to PDF for a range of pages or an entire issue.) More recent issues included hyperlinked references and advertisements.
We are delighted to also offer the searchable collection of our predecessor Harp News from the 1950's-1960's. A publication of the Northern California Harpists Association, Harp News was dissolved in the fall of 1966 and the "physical properties" passed on to the American Harp Society. Volume 1 No. 1 of The American Harp Journal was published in the spring of 1967; read the letters on pages 3-4 from President Lucien Thomson and Editor Sam Milligan for more detail about Harp News and the creation of the Journal.
Emily Laurance, Editor
Cleveland-based harpist Emily Laurance is currently Principal Harp with the Firelands (Sandusky) Symphony and performs frequently with many Northeast Ohio ensembles. Dr. Laurance was formerly Principal Harp with the Stockton (CA) Symphony Orchestra and Professor and Chair of Music History at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her recording credits include Luciano Berio's Sequenza II on Neuma Records as well as the Squirrel Nut Zippers album Perennial Favorites, which won the Recording Institute Association of America's Gold Sales award. In addition to degrees in harp from the Oberlin and the New England Conservatories, Dr. Laurance received her PhD in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, after which she was a postdoctoral fellow at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, where she conducted research in music for voice and early pedal harp. She has taught harp and music history at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University and is currently Visiting Associate Professor of Musicology at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Dr. Laurance serves as Editor for the American Harp Journal.
Individuals are welcome to submit nominations for others or themselves to serve on The American Harp Journal Editorial Board. The nomination form is open year-round, and the pool of candidates is reviewed on an as-needed basis when those currently serving rotate off the Board. There is no need to re-nominate someone from year to year.
