I can’t believe it is already 2025 and, heralding the new year, is also the brand new revised ABRSM harp syllabus! Back in early 2024, I was delighted to be part of an initial focus group discussing what could be improved upon in the ABRSM harp syllabus, and what I as a teacher would find helpful (or not!) to be included, making ABRSM exams more relevant to the harp students of today. One outcome of that discussion was that I was then asked to write some of the sight reading tests and examples for the new syllabus. It was extremely challenging writing pieces to such a specific brief (each grade had very detailed instructions on what could be included), not least because I was also juggling this with looking after my 6 month old daughter! However, I was really pleased with the samples that I composed and it has been so exciting seeing them in print now that the new syllabus has been published.
I had no input into the selection of pieces for the new syllabus, but I was delighted to discover that two of my original compositions and one of my arrangements had also made it onto the repertoire lists. On the grade 6 pedal harp lists I am proud to announce that my composition Under the Apple Tree is now in list A, and my arrangement of Massenet’s Elegie is included in list B. I am also particularly pleased that my composition Break Up will also be part of the new ARSM repertoire list. Break Up is a challenging piece which packs a lot of variety in both sound and technique in just over 6 minutes. I am really excited to hear other harpists play this and my other compositions and it has inspired me to spend more time this year writing!