Welcome Messages

I would like to welcome you to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the Eleventh World Harp Congress will take place! Vancouver is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and has been rated as the #1 Most Desirable City by the Economist Intelligence Unit. We are nestled between the coastal mountains and the ocean, with gorgeous weather in the summer. Our Host Committee is very excited to bring the world’s best harpists to Vancouver, as well as showcasing some of Canada’s and BRITISH COLUMBIA'S finest harpists and composers. We can’t wait to show you around our city and introduce our audiences to a week of wonderful harp playing!

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh
Chair of Host Committee, WHC 2011

It is both a privilege and an honour to be asked to be an Honorary patron of the 11th World Harp Congress in Vancouver next year.

The harp has been my companion for more than 25 years now, and I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the players whose work led me to this versatile and inspiring instrument — Alan Stivell and Sylvia Wood among them.

If indeed I have played a role in encouraging young players to love this instrument as much as I do, it has been a joyful side-effect of my own work — and one that I could not have foreseen when I began to play.

I am very much looking forward to the Congress taking place in Canada, for the very first time, in 2011.  It is my sincere hope that I will be able to join you at that time.

Loreena McKennitt