GreenSpring International Academy of Music and GreenSpring Foundation is pleased to present Claire Jones, former Royal Harpist to HRH King Charles, and GreenSpring’s American Youth Harp Ensemble in concert for the US launch of their history-making album recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London. The concert will feature well-known tunes from the worlds of film, classical, Broadway, and traditional folk music. This once-in-a-lifetime event will be on Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 2:00 pm at St. John’s United Church of Christ, 503 Stuart Circle, Richmond, VA 23220.
Artist Information:
Born in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1985, Claire began her musical education at the age of seven. After excelling at the violin, piano and harp, she graduated as a harpist from the Royal College of Music with First Class Honours in 2007 and in 2009 graduated as an M.A. scholar from the Royal Academy of Music. Claire Jones was one of the first recipients of the Prince of Wales Advanced Study Awards in 2007 and 2008. This award recognised her as one of Wales' most outstanding young talents. In 2007, Claire was appointed Official Harpist to His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, a role she held until 2011, making her the longest serving Royal harpist to date. During this appointment, Claire regularly performed for the Royal Family and their distinguished guests at the Royal Palaces. In April 2011 she performed for the newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at their wedding reception in Buckingham Palace. In 2008, Claire made her concerto debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and since then has gone on to perform as a soloist with some of the World's leading orchestras. Claire is passionate about promoting her instrument as well as performing, and regularly visits schools and communities to speak and demonstrate and is the director of the International Harp School based in Wales. This year will be the third year of the partnership between Summer Harp Institutes based in Richmond, VA with the International Harp School in Wales.
Cardiff born Chris Marshall graduated from Trinity College of Music with a BMus(hons) degree in 2003. Since then he has travelled extensively performing and composing internationally. Performing credits include the BBC symphony Orchestra, English National Ballet, London Mozart Players, The Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Chris has also worked on many productions in London's Westend and International touring show, these include; We Will Rock You, Wizard of Oz, Zorro, West Side Story, Evita, and Elf the Musical. Chris has a passion for playing instruments from all around the world, and it has resulted in seeing him perform on recording sessions for TV and film. He also performs as part of C2 duet with his wife, and former Official Harpist to HRH Prince Charles - Claire Jones. This unique duo has travelled extensively throughout the UK and in the USA. Chris balances his performance schedule with a flourishing career as a composer and arranger. His growing portfolio of compositions, includes the music for Heartstrings which was recorded for Classic FM/Decca in 2012 and was featured on Claire Jones’ album - Girl With The Golden Harp which reached number 3 in the classical charts. Recently, Chris has composed Bluestone and arranged many tracks on Claire’s latest chart topping album Journey. In addition, Chris has composed music for TV adverts including a track for Clogau, shown internationally, and for ‘Fishermans Friends’ currently shown in the USA. At the moment, he is working on his first film and TV series with Capture Studios in the USA along- side producing and arranging a new album with the Portuguese singer, Yolanda Soares.