Photos by Tim Hacker
Mesa Public Schools has the largest harp program in the country, and it’s providing learning and life skills opportunities for students one string at a time.
In 1974, the program started with one student at Carson Junior High School. Today this enrichment program reaches 230 students at 16 schools. It is available to any band or orchestra student starting in seventh grade, continuing through their senior year.
Dr. Charles Lynch, district harp specialist, shares that while the harp is an incredible instrument, it can be expensive. Mesa Public Schools makes playing the harp accessible for all who are interested in playing it. “It’s a really cool instrument that appeals to a broad range of students,” Dr. Lynch says. “People often have images or stereotypes of what people play. My students come from a variety of backgrounds and play different instruments.”
Dr. Lynch says students connect with the harp for several reasons. Some like how it sounds. Others like the vibrations on their fingers or hands, or the act of plucking the strings, while other students like the active coordination of using their feet and hands.
Harp students have the added responsibility of learning a second instrument. It teaches students to be self-starters and to balance school and personal responsibilities.
A HOMEGROWN LOVE
Dr. Lynch is a former Mesa Public Schools harp student. As a student, he discovered the program after attending a presentation at Taylor Junior High School given by Karen Miller, the district’s first harp specialist.
“There was no way my family could afford a harp, and the district’s program makes it attainable for students and families,” Dr. Lynch said. “I started the same way that my students are learning the harp today.”
It wasn’t until college when Dr. Lynch became a music major that he invested in his own strings. He eventually earned his doctorate in harp and strongly believes the program opened an entire world to him.
“I hope this program instills a love for the instrument,” he says. “Whether students continue in college or simply play for the enjoyment of it, there are incredible opportunities.”
For more information about the harp program, please visit mpsaz.org/arts.