I have established a society for blind harpists worldwide. There have been many blind harpists in history, and yet, our instrument has been made all but inaccessible to us blind people due to its excessively expensive pricing and lack of accessible music.
We have a Facebook page and group, monthly Zoom meetings are planned and a bursary is being set up to help members. It won’t be much but every penny helps.
I decided to create this society because my languages skills in Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, German and a bits of Thai and French allow me to reach a lot of people who perhaps don’t have access to or can’t access English language resources. I am using my spare time to learn how to transcribe ABRSM syllaubs music for the harp into braille ready formats, because nobody is doing it for the harp community. I am also planning a yearly in-person and digital concert via Zoom for those who cannot perform in person. I will ask through my Baluji Music Foundation links about renting a space to do this in 2026.
I am applying to the University of Cambridge to research harp pedagogy and proprioception – our sense of joint / limb positioning.
If you know any other blind or low vision people interested in learning the harp, send them to the TOCSOC Facebook page, where they will be able to find resources and join our members group! We currently have members in the US, UK and Japan.
