About Harps of Grace
The Harps of Grace ensemble was organized in the spring of 2003 by local harpists who have a desire to play and perform together. They enjoy holding concerts for retirement communities, schools, churches, and public events. Currently, Harps of Grace has eleven members and is directed by Dayton Philharmonic principal harpist, Leslie Stratton.
Most of the harpists play full-sized pedal harps, which you would commonly see used in a symphony orchestra. These concert harps have seven foot pedals that are used to change the pitch of a whole set of strings. A few members play lever harps which have fingertip operated levers for each string which must be adjusted each time the string plays a different note, such as playing an F and then an F-sharp.
The members of Harps of Grace have a variety of backgrounds, but all have in common being students of the harp who come together sharing a love of making beautiful music.