Musical Background

Donna grew up in northern Illinois in a small farming community. She began piano lessons at age seven and has performed throughout her life with the piano. When living in St. Louis with her husband and two daughters she was a church organist for ten years and played for many events including weddings. Today she plays piano once a week at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and frequently performs at receptions and parties.

Her early music background also included saxophone and cello. One of her joys was playing in a Community Band with graduates in the summer. In this band she was introduced to the big band sounds of the thirties and forties.

In 2000 in Phoenix she began focusing on the Celtic harp. Lessons followed from a Celtic harpist and then from a classically trained harpist. She also completed a course on computer assisted music composition through the Phoenix Creative Youth Theatre.

She has studied with Suzanne Balderston as a member of the Phoenix Harp Foundation and with Dr. Alfredo Roland Ortez with emphasis on the rhythmic style of Latin American music. She has taken several workshops at the Sylvia Woods Harp Centre in Los Angeles.

A highlight of her studies was a course at An Chu'irt Chruitireachta in Ireland. Irish jigs, O'Carolan tunes and folk melodies were played with a final performance at the end of the course. There was a focus on learning ornamentation of traditional Irish melodies with instructors such as Gra'inne Yeats.

Arizona Music Background

As a member of the Phoenix Harp Foundation, Donna recently performed at the Las Noches de Las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden.  It was an ideal spot to play traditional Christmas Carols, ethnic tunes and of course, Feliz Navidad.  She also performed a Phoenix Art Museum Antique event. She is a member of the Phoenix Harp Society. Her interest in using harp for healing led to teaming with a yoga teacher to bring harp music to yoga sessions.  She has also taken a workshop with Christina Tourin at ASU on using the harp for healing.

Future Goals

Continuing to play for weddings, receptions, country club events, yoga sessions and teas are goals for the future. More CDS including an Irish Folk Music CD and original and favorite songs for children are in the works. Donna's harp music was recently featured as part of a Fountain Hill's Children's Theatre production.