Music and the other arts are the most potent demonstration that, in the heart, we are all one community.
~ Jan Swafford
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Vonda Darr has been the principal harpist for the Symphony Orchestra Augusta since 1993, and has been performing regularly with the North Carolina Symphony since 2008. She is a founding member of the Lyra Vivace Chamber Orchestra, and began as principal harpist for the Augusta Opera in 1998. She also performs with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra (SC), the Hilton Head Symphony, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and the Wilson Symphony.
Vonda began studying the harp at age six with Gladys Hubner in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and played with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies through childhood. She studied with Gretchen Van Hoesen in Pittsburgh while earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in harp performance from Geneva College.
She has been a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra Augusta, the Wilson Symphony, the Lyra Vivace Chamber Orchestra, the Augusta Symphony String Quartet, the University of South Carolina Chamber Orchestra, and the Georgia Southern University Orchestra. Adding variety to her repertoire, Vonda has performed with such diverse artists as LeAnn Rimes, Olivia Newton-John, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd, Art Garfunkel, Doc Severinson, The Four Tops, America, Don McLean, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Marvin Hamlisch. She also appeared in the PBS Christmas special, "Home for the Holidays," with opera singer Jessye Norman, recorded in 1998 in Augusta.
Mrs. Darr has recorded two solo harp CD’s, “Prayers Without Words" and "Hear the Angels: A Christmas Collection." She performs solo and chamber concerts throughout the Southeast and maintains a private harp teaching studio.
Debrah studied Violin Performance at SUNY Fredonia and CUNY Brooklyn College with Cornelius Dufallo and Liang Chai. She can be found on stage with many regional orchestras and performing organizations, including the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Catskill Symphony as Principal Second Violin, Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes as Assistant Concertmaster. During July she serves as Principal Second Violin at the MostArts Festival.
As a chamber musician, Debrah is a member of several string quartets, including the Castalia Quartet, and has performed as a member of the Star Trio and with other small ensembles across New York State.
A dedicated pedagogue in the Cooperstown NY Region, Debrah has been teaching violin and viola in Upstate NY for 17 years. She has been the conductor of the Preparatory Orchestra of the Little Delaware Youth Ensemble in Oneonta, NY since 2016, and is the conductor of the Youth Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes Junior String Ensemble for the 2020-2021 season.
Kate,
My son is getting married at our home in Evans on October 16, 2021 . It is a small wedding of approximately 130 people, and will be held outdoors. We are beginning to plan the music for the wedding and wanted to incorporate a “String Trio”with violin or viola, cello, and flute. My friend Stan Pylant, recommended that I contact you since you schedule wedding events through “In Praise of Music”. I would appreciate you contacting me so that we could discuss the possibilities of special wedding music.
Sincerely,
Jan Key
706-294-0330