Molly O'Roark| Harpist|Teacher|Composer|

October 14, 2017

Molly O'Roark was commissioned by the Michigan Harp Day at Michigan State University to write a new harp ensemble work to be premiered at the Harp Day Concert. Additionally, O'Roark held a workshop titled "Make Your Own Kind of Music" with tips and tricks to start composing with what you already know and like to play. A link to the live performance of the new work, "Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi," can be found on the "Listen" page or the button below.  

6/15/2017

While the concert venues at UIUC are largely silent right now, there are exceptions. If it's June, then the dulcet sounds of the harp are heard on the Illini campus. Ann Yeung, UI Professor of Harp, leads a summer program for harp students, and concerts are given as well, played by faculty and students of the harp. On the evening of June 8, I went to the opening concert featuring two of Yeung's doctoral students, Molly O'Roark and Noël Wan, in Smith Memorial Hall...

September 16, 2016

Harp Column blogger, Kristin Finch, writes: When I asked myself who I would like to feature in the first of these blogs one name came to mind: Molly O’Roark.  After seeing her perform as a part of the comedy/harp duo Ginger and Spice at the American Harp Society Conference in Atlanta this summer I felt so excited and inspired to share more about Molly and her projects!  If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Molly, take it from me, she is one of the most genuine, kind spirited, and warm people you will ever meet.  Beyond this, she is one heck of a harpist and has these monster hands that just crawl up and down the instrument with a grace that should be impossible...

6/21/2015

One of the distinct pleasures of this off-semester time of year is the annual Harp Class, organized by Ann Yeung, a University of Illinois professor of harp.

I attended the June 12 concert, a doctoral recital by Ann McLaughlin. I had heard her excellent playing at the previous year's performances and especially while performing in tandem with Molly O'Roark under the duo title, Ginger and Spice...

April 12th, 2015

Studio Visit is a Q&A with a local artist. Here, University of Illinois student Molly O'Roark chats with The News-Gazette's Melissa Merli. O'Roark is finishing a master's degree in harp performance and will work on her doctoral of musical arts degree here as well...

March 22nd, 2015

In its 68-year history the Artist Presentation Society has helped launch the careers of a vast array of instrumentalists and singers, yet not until the current season has a harpist been selected as a recipient of its coveted sponsorship. Memphis-born Molly O’Roark, an alumna of Eastman and a graduate student at the University of Illinois, mounted a program showcasing the wide diversity of styles and techniques of this ancient instrument whose evolution harkens back almost to the dawn of human history.

February 2015

Molly O’Roark and Ann McLaughlin began with an assignment in studio class to choose a themed piece to perform. The pair, grad students in the harp studio at the time, decided to play – and sing – “I Dreamed a Dream” from the famous musical “Les Miserables.”

They found such immense enthusiasm working on the assignment that a few months later in the spring of 2014, they formed Ginger & Spice – a collective name the duo said came their personalities and the hint of red color in their hair.

Ginger & Spice’s music is not only the exquisite combination of glissandi and melodies, O’Roark pointed out.

“We take classical into a different form,” O’Roark said. “Lots of people do commissions. We have to change the game...

New Orleans, LA. June 2014

Molly O'Roark is a winner of the 2014 National Anne Adams Award!  The prestigious biennial competition awards three scholarships for full-time study of the harp. Nine finalists were selected to compete in New Orleans, LA in June 2014. It is held under the auspices of the American Harp Society with funding and support from the American Harp Society Foundation and Lyon & Healy Harps. 

St. Louis, MO. April 2014

Molly O'Roark is named one of the winners of the Artist Presentation Society Auditions. O'Roark is the first harpist to win this award. The objective of Artist Presentation Society is to advance the careers of aspiring classical musicians who reside or study within 250 miles from St. Louis by offering them performance opportunities. The Society holds auditions once a year in St. Louis at which a jury of professional musicians selects winners based on their musicianship, versatility of musical styles and overall readiness to perform in public. Each winner is presented in a full length concert with a paying audience during the following concert season and receives an award of $2,000.

May 2013

Remarks from the Eastman students' association president Molly O'Roark at the 2013 commencement ceremony for the Eastman School of Music.