Confirmed for October 2025
Robin Grenon & Gisèle Guibord
Festival favourites – back by popular demand!
The originality of this duo formed by Gisèle Guibord and Robin Grenon originates in pleasure and audacity. Since 1996, the duo has delighted listeners with their versatility. They developed, by exploring the world of the harp, a passion for the music of several folk traditions. Through their compositions and arrangements, they have created a unique and innovative sound all their own where the misty Celtic and sunny Paraguayan harps blend in harmony.
Both musicians started their career in classical music, but gradually turned toward other styles and instruments. Both studied at the Montreal Conservatory of Music, Gisèle as classical organist with Bernard Lagacé and Robin as classical guitarist with Stephen Fentok.
Fascinated by Latin music, Robin fell under the spell of the Paraguayan harp, which he studied with Paraguayan Eralio Gill (Montreal) and Cuban Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (California).
Gisèle, renowned concert organist (Europe and Canada), turned to the harp in 1993, when Robin became her teacher. They soon found in each other a kindred spirit in music and in life!
They were guest performers and presenters for: The International Folk Harp Conference in Seattle (1996), Celtic Harpers of Detroit and Windsor, The Toronto HarpFest (2001), The Ottawa Harp Choir (2002), the Cammac Lake MacDonald Music Centre (2002 and 2011); The ROSEQ Summer Tour (2003), I Musici Montreal Chamber Orchestra with soprano Natalie Choquette (2004) and the Festival d’été de Québec for her show La reine et la perle (2006), The Canadian Music Showcase in Ottawa (2008), The Northern Lights Harp Fest in Ottawa (2011, 2013 et 2015), the Domaine Forget International Summer Festival (2008 to 2014 , the Huron Harp Fest in Goderich (2019, 2023, 2025).
As a harp and organ duo, they have performed in Québec for Les Amis de l’Orgue (Chicoutimi, Drummondville, Montréal, Rimouski, Sherbrooke), Les Concerts Lachine, Festival Orgue et Couleurs (Montréal).
They have eight recordings: Djiguedon (2001): Celtic and Paraguayan repertoire; Trace d’Ange (2004): Celtic Christmas; Suite Mariale / Marian Suite (2006): inspired by the life of Mary of Nazareth; Harpe du Paraguay (following their trip to Paraguay in 2007); Close to You (2008): Folk music for Folk Harps; Beatles Melodies (2010): with the Robin Grenon trio, harp, pipe organ and percussion; Harpes d’Irlande (2010): soft Irish ballads for two harps; Parfum d’été (2014): Celtic harps, organ and percussion.
In 1996, Gisèle and Robin co-founded Harpissimo-Québec (the Quebec Chapter of the International Society of Folk Harpers and Craftsmen) celebrating 29 years of existence this year (hundreds of harp circles and concerts, and three recordings).
Sharlene Wallace
Sharlene Wallace lives in a normal Toronto house bursting with an abnormal number of harps. From that tightly strung fortress of song she launches campaigns across Canada, the US, Italy and France with music that listeners describe as Celtic, Classical, South American or contemporary, but it’s really all just Shar. She placed first in international lever harp competitions in the USA and Brittany (you should have seen the victory parades – so many harps) and students and music lovers all over Canada have cherished her performances since the time when the CD was new. She’s played lever and pedal harp with orchestras and festivals everywhere, toured with Ron Korb (flutes), George Koller (bass), Joe Macerollo (accordion) and Susan Piltch (flute, piano). Lately she has been making music with pianist Eric Robertson and fiddle player Anne Lindsay in a trio called Iona Passage. For the record, though, she doesn’t own a passage, just a lot of harps.
Somehow, between all of that travelling and playing Sharlene found time to create nine recordings of her own music and arrangements. Trees.Listen, with co-composer Frank Horvat, was released in October 2024. It’s a nine-piece suite for Celtic lever harp and electronics inspired by the ancient Celtic Ogham script and the book To Speak for the Trees by botanist, biochemist, biologist Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger. This project includes an album, sound installations, and a performance that premiered at the University of Guelph Arboretum in September 2024. One month later, she released Lilac Embers, an album of all Shar-music written for Celtic harp with electronics by Jean Martin.
Sharlene has taught lever and pedal harp privately, in four universities and in workshops across North America, including over three decades for Island Mountain Arts in Wells, BC. She herself has a performance degree from the University of Toronto where she studied with harp oracle Judy Loman, who is 47 feet tall and 172 years old.
Sharlene also is a graphic designer, photographer, part-time pollster and will defend accordion music to the very end.
Stephanie Claussen
Minnesota-based harpist Stephanie Claussen is a performer, teacher and arranger. With interests that span the Celtic and classical worlds, she performs her own mixture of Scottish tunes, J.S. Bach, Debussy, and anything that sounds medieval or French. At the age of twelve she won first place in the Macalester Scottish Country Harp Competition in St. Paul and was named “Most Promising Harpist.” After studying for eleven years with Twin Cities harpist Catherine Victorsen, Claussen obtained her B.M. in harp performance from the University of Minnesota under the instruction of Kathy Kienzle, principal harpist of the Minnesota Orchestra.
As a 2014 recipient of the Arts Tour grant, Claussen performed a program entitled “Eclectic Harp” throughout greater Minnesota, featuring jazz, shape-note, Classical and medieval music. Claussen visited Scotland for the first time in 2018 to attend the Edinburgh International Harp Festival and later competed for, and won, the title of 2018 US National Scottish Harp Champion.
Claussen has released five solo albums and two books of harp arrangements published by Mel Bay. She runs a harp studio in St. Paul and performs throughout the Upper Midwest. When not making music, she enjoys repainting her walls and drinking English Breakfast tea out of a real teacup.
Hannah Flowers
Hannah Flowers is a singer and harpist from St. Paul, Minnesota. Classically trained from a young age, she discovered Traditional Irish music as a teenager and hasn’t looked back since. Known for her sensitive and lyrical accompaniment of songs as well as her syncopated and rhythmic accompaniment of dance tunes, Hannah enjoys exploring the full depth of traditional Irish music and song. She holds a B.A. in music and a Master’s Degree in Irish Traditional Music Performance from Maynooth University in Ireland.
Hannah enjoys an active performing career including performances at the Milwaukee Irish Fest, La Crosse Irish Fest, Minnesota Irish Fair, Minnesota Renaissance Festival, IAM’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, the Celtic Junction Arts Center, as well as many solo shows, programs, and workshops across the US and Ireland.
In the past she has had the opportunity to study in Ireland with master harpists such as Grainne Hambley, Michael Rooney and Michelle Mulcahy. She has had the opportunity to compete in both harp tunes and airs and song (English and Irish) in the Fleadh Cheoil na Éireann in Sligo. Hannah is an accomplished lever harpist and singer and in recent years has developed an interest in Ancient Gaelic harp techniques, which led her to spend summer 2015 studying Ancient Gaelic harp at Scoil na gCláirseach, the Summer School of Early Irish Harp in Kilkenny. In January 2016 she gave a sold out solo performance at the Celtic Junction Arts Center as part of the “Next Step Fund” grant she received from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council to study Ancient harping technique and compare and contrast it with modern lever harp style. Summer 2017 she was awarded a “Gaeltacht Summer Award” through Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange to study Irish Language in the Gaeltacht in Gleann Cholm Cille, Co. Donegal. This experience fueled her fascination with the Irish language and led to her spending the subsequent summers of 2018 and 2019 continuing her Irish language studies in the Gaeltacht in Donegal.
As a singer Hannah found herself drawn to traditional songs in the Irish language and has learned dozens of songs from her longtime teacher, mentor, and friend, guitarist and singer Dáithí Sproule. Hannah’s studies in Ireland has fueled her interest in combining her singing and harp playing and make a name for herself as a harpist/singer with an understanding of both ancient harp techniques and an ear for the more modern sounds and techniques of Irish lever harp. Her passion is accompanying herself on the harp while singing songs, especially songs in the Irish language.
In late 2018 she released her debut album “Amhrán na Cruite/Song of the Harp” which featured twelve songs in the Irish language with harp accompaniment. She was joined on the album by mentor and renowned Irish guitarist Dáithí Sproule, flautist and singer Cory Froehlich, sean-nós dancer Danielle Enblom, and fiddler David Ochs.
Hannah was awarded a Fulbright Student award in 2020 to pursue post-graduate research in Irish harp accompaniment and complete a master’s degree in Irish traditional music at Maynooth University outside Dublin, Ireland. In 2022 she was awarded a First Class Honours MA in Traditional Irish Music.
Following the completion of her Master’s Degree and research in Ireland, Hannah released her second full-length album “Hall-Gate House” in September 2022. The album features solo sets of traditional Irish tunes as well as songs in English and Irish accompanied by guitarist Dáithí Sproule.
Apart from being an active performer on lever harp and as a singer, Hannah is a sought after harp and song teacher privately and at the Center for Irish Music, a non-profit community music school dedicated to handing down the tradition. She has also taught and performed around North America at the Somerset Folk Harp Festival in New Jersey, The Harp Gathering in Ohio, and at many Irish Festivals and Fairs.
Manuel Gamalinda
Harp Technician
Manuel Gamalinda from HarpCare is a Certified Lyon & Healy and Salvi Technicians Guild member. He is only one of two members based in Canada, with experience maintaining and repairing harps made by local Canadian harpmakers. Visit this page for more information on his services and how to book a regulation during the festival.
Sharon Johnston
Artistic Director
Sharon Johnston, B. Mus., is a well-established musician in midwestern Ontario, performing frequently on harp and piano. She runs a busy studio in Goderich, where she directs the Huron Harp School, which has over 35 students ranging from 6 year olds, to seniors. She is a composer, arranger, and recording artist, the most recent being a 2015 solo harp CD entitled Stone and Sand. Sharon is equally at home with classical music in concert settings, organizing harp circles with student performers, or jamming with folk musicians in local pubs.
Sharon is, above all, a teacher, whose mandate is that all students, regardless of musical experience or training, can make music together. She has nurtured a vibrant harp community where students can be found at weddings, churches, pubs, sometimes even on the beach.. Thanks to Sharon, Huron County boasts more harps per capita than anywhere else in Canada!
Huron Harp Fest 