Monica Schley is Seattle’s most versatile harpist. Classically-trained, she freelances in many styles: new music, chamber, improvisational, avant garde, jazz and rock. She leads a modern chamber jazz trio, The Daphnes, and has worked with Secret Chiefs 3, Butch Morris, Evan Flory-Barnes, Jherek Bischoff, Eyvand Kang, Masada, Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis, Jim Knapp, Hey Marsailles, Ahamefule J. Oluo, Kanye West and many other artists.
Monica is available for virtual events, private & corporate engagements, weddings, recording, live performance, funerals, and harp instruction. As a Certified Clinical Musician, she plays for hospitals and hospice. As a teacher, she has a home studio in Seattle a with Dusty Strings Music.
Wedding Harpist
Wedding Song Examples:
Hildegard von Bingen for Harp
The book is out! Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp is now available from Mel Bay Publications. This collection of sheet music includes fifteen of Hildegard’s song arranged for the harp. Regarded as a mystic, herbalist and healer, Hildegard von Bingen lived from 1098-1179. She was proficient in many areas, including composition, and also wrote several books about religion, art, politics, philosophy, and science. Find Songs of Hildegard von Bingen for Harp on YouTube! Sign up for newsletter updates here.
Private Lessons
Monica offers private harp lessons via Zoom and in-person (Seattle area only) by special request. Monica is comfortable with teaching youth as well of students of all backgrounds and ages. Her musical method draws from folk, classical, songwriting, theory, ensemble work, improvisation and pop music using a Salzedo-influenced method. She thinks that everyone’s learning process is a little bit unique, just like the harp. Learn more about taking harp lessons with Monica.
My grandmother (my father’s mother) loved to sing while she cooked. Folk songs, church songs, musical theater numbers, whatever popular songs were on the radio at the time – that’s what she sang throughout the day as she did her daily housework. Because it was the 1980’s, I’d hear Linda Ronstadt and Barbara Streisand, Dolly Read more…
Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) was born in Germany during the Middle Ages, at a time when education and literacy were controlled by the Catholic Church. She was an abbess, visionary, prophetess, herbalist, philosopher, healer, writer, politician, poet, and composer. Despite her claim of lacking formal training in either the Latin language or music, Hildegard produced Read more…
