July 24-30, Vancouver plays host to the World Harp Congress & Festival – and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will be there. During this week-long event, more than one hundred of the world’s top harpists (adept in the broadest possible array of musical genres) will perform, and approximately 800 delegates from 40 different countries will also take part.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will perform in three concerts during the Congress and Festival. On Tuesday, July 26th at the Orpheum, Evan Mitchell conducts “World of Harp Concertos, Blues and Techno Harp!” featuring music and musicians from Germany, Turkey, Mexico, the Czech Republic, and the United States. On Friday, July 29th at the Orpheum, Mr. Mitchell conducts “Gala Harp Concertos and Spindrift” featuring Michael Conway-Baker’s Harp Concerto. And the orchestra performs at the festival finale, Saturday, July 30th (led by conductor Ken Hsieh) in a program that features harpists from Vancouver, Japan, Norway, and Serbia – and is followed by fireworks on English Bay.

For more information about the congress and festival, please visit: worldharpcongress2011.com.