POTSDAM -- The National String Project at the Crane School of Music invites interested students age 8-14 to join a beginning harp class.

The class will be offered twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays for 45 minutes scheduled between 4 and 6 p.m. Students will be provided with harps to use during class.

During the class, students will learn harp basics and will play as a group in a small harp ensemble.

They will participate in the National String Project final concert at the end of the semester. The fee is $70/semester. There are small harps available for rental for practice at home.

Classes begin on Sept. 10, 2018.

Dr. Jessica Suchy-Pilalis oversees the harp portion of the National String Project at Crane.

"I'm quite excited: it has been several years since we've offered a beginning harp class," she said. "The harp is a wonderful instrument and students who enter the program tend to return year after year. We've just had enough ‘graduates’ to have room to start a new class. Some of our former students are now playing harp at the college level, either professionally or for personal pleasure. One recent participant appeared as soloist with the Orchestra of Northern New York as a winner of their Young Artists concerto competition."

For further information about the program, Dr. Suchy-Pilalis can be reached at suchyjr@potsdam.edu. To register, contact: Crane School of Music, c/o Lori Dillon, NSP, 44 Pierrepont Avenue, Potsdam 13676, 315-267-2411, dillonlk@potsdam.edu.