Short Bio (for press)
Monica Schley, is a harpist, poet, mother, songwriter, wedding musician, harp instructor, bandleader of The Daphnes, and touring artist. Her performance history is a blend of yin and yang, ranging from the intimate sublime to large-scale performance halls around the country. She has played with indie rockers, jazz luminaries and pop stars. As a therapeutic harpist, she worked for five years with Providence Hospice and Highline Medical Center as a Certified Clinical Musician. Some of her writing can be found at www.pyragraph.com, Harp Therapy Journal, Raven Chronicles, Cream City Review, and King County Metro’s Poetry on Buses. She has recorded on over 20 albums, including two of her own self-produced: Harp Carols, and Braids of Kabuya. Monica has received artist residencies from the Espy Foundation and Centrum Foundation, and lives in Seattle, WA with her husband, designer/illustrator Stephen Schildbach, and their two children.
Long Bio (for press)
Monica Schley is a life-long musician. Before moving to the West Coast twenty years ago, she earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where she studied poetry and music. Her main instrument is harp, and she also sings, plays piano and composes. She is a Certified Clinical Musician in hospitals and hospices, a private harp instructor, recording artist, poet, and performer at public shows and private events.
She has had the pleasure to work with pop stars, jazz luminaries and indie rockers, including: Jim Knapp; Eyvand Kang; Jherek Bischoff; Evan Flory-Barnes; Samantha Boshnak; Butch Morris; Seattle Rock Orchestra; Bill Horist; Kanye West; Lori Goldston; Rosalyn DeRoos; Jesse Sykes; and with the bands Hey Marseilles, Secret Chiefs 3; Parenthetical Girls, The Dead Science and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Ms. Schley has toured nationally with Ahamefule J. Oluo’s critically acclaimed show “Now I’m Fine.”
She has composed for site-specific work at Seattle Center with respected fiber artist Mandy Greer, and has worked with artists Sarah Kavage & Adria Garcia for their site-specific Kabuya piece in the King County Parks System. Monica has been a featured artist on Nancy Guppy’s ArtZone (Seattle Channel) and at after hours events at Seattle Art Museum and Bellevue Art Museum.
Ms. Schley leads the modern harp ensemble, The Daphnes, drawing from folk, jazz, classical, Indian raga and classic rock sounds. Her playing has been described as “intricate and determined.” — Jon Rooney, (Ball of Wax Quarterly). Monica is a private harp instructor at Dusty Strings Music and is also a Certified Clinical Musician. She has received artist residencies from the Espy Foundation (Oysterville, WA) and Centrum Foundation (Port Townsend, WA). As a poet, her writing has appeared in Seattle’s Poetry on the Buses, Raven Chronicles, KNOCK, and Burnside Review and her poetry chapbook “Black Eden: Nocturnes” (Pudding House Press) was published in 2010. Some of her other writing can be found at www.pyragraph.com and Harp Therapy Journal.