* After 35 years of promoting the harp throughout the Bay Area, I have stepped down as the director of the Multicultural Music Fellowship (MCMF). The reins are now in the capable hands of Alexis Lyon, a longtime member of MCMF’s Board of Directors. I will be on the Board for our non-profit, and helping Alexis out as needed. But I’m so excited to see what new directions MCMF will be taking in the coming years under Alexis’ direction. Stay tuned by visiting: multiculturalmusicfellowship.org ~Diana
Diana and Alexis at Annual MCMF Board meeting this February
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NEW PUBLICATION: Rivers and Seas
For lever or pedal harp.; Intermediate and intermediate-advanced levels.
Three solo compositions by Diana inspired by Nature’s Wild Waters. For lever or pedal harps; Intermediate and intermediate-advanced levels. Dangerous Waters can be heard on Diana’s youtube channel at: YouTube.com/@dianastork54
New Age Romantic Classical. For lever or pedal harps; Intermediate and intermediate-advanced levels.
“The connection of water to our instrument, the harp, is well-known to most harpists. The ability of a harp to bring forth long, resonant waves of tone, fluid, flowing lines of music, cascading arpeggios and glissandos are some of its most beautiful qualities….. The three pieces in this collection all are inspired by nature’s wild and wondrous rivers and seas, as well as streams of feeling and consciousness within me.”
~DIANA
The 3 pieces have a wide range of tempos – from slow to quite energetic, and express of variety of emotional moods, from calm and meditative, to thoughtful, turbulent and romantic.
It’s available now on this website at: https://harpdancer.com/product-category/books/
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2 NEW HARP BOOKS FOR BEGINNING HARP PLAYERS
A few years ago I began the slow – but steady – project of getting 4 decades of music available in digital forms. This has been wonderfully fun – going back to compositions written decades ago. Some pieces didn’t make the cut, and some pieces I’ve rewritten (sometimes quite significantly). You can check out my new digital offerings on this website under “SHOP”/Books.
My 2 newest books are for beginning and early harp students: First Pieces for the Harp and Early Pieces for the Harp. These books are very dear to my heart and represent over 3 decades of teaching. Both books include my original compositions written for my students, as well as arrangements of world music, classical, holiday music, and more. You can read more about these two books by again going to the Books Section under SHOP.
See Review by Harpist and harp teacher Verlene Schermer at bottom of page.
Afghan Press is my primary publisher. AP not only offers my music in pdf form, but they also offer print-on-demand options. AP allows me to hold onto the copyrights for all my music; this enables me to be able to sell my music myself/on this website, and also through a number of great music publishers (Sylvia Woods, Harp Column Music, Lyon and Healy).
Also, I am very excited to announce that I have just launched my own You Tube channel: www.youtube.com/@dianastork54 This is another slow but steady project. As of now (late February 2025) I’ve nine youtube videos to hear and view. I’m thrilled to have collaborated with my talented niece, Linnea Snyderman on two of these: Heatbeats and Circle of Friends. Please check them out; and check out Linnea’s beautiful underwater modelling at: underwaterlinnea.com
If you are so inspired, please take a moment to give them a “Like”, and if you want to hear more, please hit “Subscribe”. Those likes and subscribes really help a channel to grow, and you will be inviting new listeners into the world of the harp. I also welcome you to leave comments if you feel inspired to do so; I very much look forward to reading them!
I’ve a few performances coming up this Spring. You can find out about these under EVENTS.
With all the chaos happening in the world right now, a retreat into the gentle, but powerful world of harps might be just what you need.
I always welcome your comments and questions.
To a World in Harmony!
Diana
Diana Stork book review by Verlene Schermer
First Pieces for the Harp
I am delighted to review Diana’s charming book for young beginning harpists! With lovely illustrations by Karma Moffett, and sweet tunes Diana has composed or arranged over the years for her students, I am looking forward to putting a young student in this book!
All the tunes are in C tuning, so if a student has only a harpsicle with no levers to learn on, they can play all the tunes in the book.
I played through each tune, and from the start, I was impressed with how musical and how level appropriate they are. We start with a tune on just the red and blue strings, then one on just the white strings, then gradually progress to putting both hands on the harp, and playing simple but very musical tunes. There are original tunes by Diana, as well as tunes from around the world. What a nice surprise when I reached the middle of the book and found a story that weaves all the tunes from the first half into a performable set. The tunes begin to be more challenging in the second half, and as a treat, there is another story at the end of the book that includes those tunes!
Once the student has completed this book, they can move on to Diana’s follow-up book, Early Pieces for the Harp.
This book includes both traditional tunes arranged by Diana, and a few of Diana’s original compositions. All are at an intermediate level and include fingerings. Like the first book, it is beautifully illustrated by Karma Moffet.
You can buy these books directly from her website: HarpDancer.com. Be sure to click “Shop” and then “Books – Print version” some of which are also available as PDF books.