Sharlene Wallace
email | sharlenewallace.com

Shar’s BIOS

Shar Bios (click here)

“It’s not about the harp. It’s about texture, layers, pushing the envelope of spaciousness into the momentum of rhythmic and arrhythmic movement… but mostly it’s about instinct and freedom.”
– Sharlene Wallace

BIO #1 (100 words)

Sharlene Wallace is a Canadian lever and pedal harp player, composer, educator and visual explorer, all through which she expresses her relationship to spaciousness, the natural world and intuition.

Winner of two international lever harp competitions, she has given concerts and workshops across Canada, the United States and in Europe.

Sharlene has released nine albums, including two electronic projects, Lilac Embers and Trees.Listen.

A dedicated educator for over four decades, she has taught pedal and lever harp privately, at four universities and in workshops across North America. Sharlene’s own performance degree was with Judy Loman at the University of Toronto.

BIO #2 (200 words)

Sharlene Wallace is a Canadian lever and pedal harp player, composer, educator and visual explorer, all through which she expresses her relationship to space, the natural world and intuition.

Winner of two international lever harp competitions, Sharlene has given concerts and workshops across Canada, the United States and in Europe and toured with Ron Korb (flutes), George Koller (bass), Joseph Macerollo (accordion), Kim Robertson (Celtic harp) and Susan Piltch (flute, piano). Sharlene is a founding member of the trio Iona Passage with pianist Eric Robertson and fiddle player Anne Lindsay.

Sharlene is an influential figure in the lever harp world for her performances, recordings, compositions, teaching and for her use of this instrument in contemporary and original music. Commissions written for Sharlene include Rodney Sharman’s Music for Lever Harp, Strings and Percussion and Alfredo Rolando Ortiz’s Niagara Moon.

Sharlene’s own compositions are featured throughout her nine independent albums. In 2024 she released two albums for lever harp and electronics: Lilac Embers, an album of Shar-compositions for acoustic and electric lever harps with electronics by Jean Martin, and Trees.Listen, a co-composition recording-performance-environmental project with composer Frank Horvat for Celtic harp and fixed electronics. Trees.Listen’s live performance includes photo / video projections by Sharlene.

BIO #3 (345 words)

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.

Sharlene has played lever and pedal harp with orchestras and festivals everywhere, toured with Ron Korb (flutes), George Koller (bass), Joe Macerollo (accordion), Susan Piltch (flute, piano) and Harp & Holly (Sandra Swannell, Terry Young, Rob Ritchie). 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.

Trees.Listen 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.

Sharlene Wallace BIO for download Download

SHARLENE’S CDs:

the rhyme & the river – Sharlene
Journey of Shadows – Sharlene
Beyond the Waves – Sharlene
Island Mountain – Sharlene
Anticipation – with Susan Piltch (flute, piano)
Q&A – with Kim Robertson (Celtic harp duo)
In Night’s Deep Silence – with George Koller (bass)
Here is Joy – Harp & Holly (with Sandra Swannell, Terry Young, Rob Ritchie)
Trees.Listen – with Frank Horvat (co-composer, fixed electronics)
Lilac Embers – with Jean Martin (electronics)

SHARLENE’S CONCERT HIGHLIGHTS:

CBC Onstage Concert Series (ON)
Celebration of the Arts (ON)
Celtica Festival (Italy)
Elora Festival (ON)
Dryden Concert Series (ON)
Evenement Harp (Quebec)
Festival of the Sound (ON)
Goderich Celtic Roots Festival (ON)
Huron Waves Music Festival (ON)
International DIVA Series (ON)
ISFHC HarpCon (USA)
Lyon & Healy Pop & Jazz Fest (USA)
MERA Schoolhouse Concert Series (ON)
Mississauga Chamber Music Concert Series (ON)
Musicora Music Mania Festival (France)
Ohio Harp Gathering (USA)
Orangeville Concert Series (ON)
Royal Ontario Museum Concert Series (Toronto)
Somerset Harp Festival (USA)
Stratford Summer Music Festival (ON)
THEOP Concert Series (ON)
TVO Studio 2 (ON)
University of Guelph Concert Series (ON)
Vancouver Island MusicFest (BC)
11th World Harp Congress (BC)

Lilac Embers

Lilac Embers CD for review, radio play, exploring (click here)

Lilac Embers Full Album Download

The halo of the setting sun framing the lilac blooms creates a glow of embers igniting.
– Sharlene Wallace

I’m thrilled to share with you my newest and 9th CD Lilac Embers for review and radio play.

This album is a recording of all-Shar-compositions that I wrote for acoustic & electric lever harps recorded through a filter of improvisation and electronics.

About Lilac Embers

Lilac Embers is a deep sonic journey of spaciousness, rhythm, emotion, movement… a place to escape to … to feel … to rest … and dance to.

1. The Stars are Winking at Me (5:42)
2. Deeper than the Quartz (6:00)
3. Foothills Fancy (2:17)
4. A Rose Arose from a Rose (5:56)
5. Perth Manor Muse (4:06)
6. Soul of the Forest (5:06)
7. Three Score (5:30)
8. Sea Changes (4:35)
9. Waiting (4:05)
10. Along the Way (5:06)
11. With Love in Your Heart (4:06)
12. Stillness (3:41)

Total CD: 00:56

These compositions were written since 2016. A few, Stillness, Waiting, Foothills Fancy, Soul of the Forest, and Sea Change I composed during The Pandemic. Jean Martin and myself wanted to explore-experiment together with my music. In 2022, we began with Stillness, innocently as an experiential experiment.

We continued. Never with intent. Only instinct and openness. Never with anything but an openness to create and explore… based on a chosen Shar-composition. And… suddenly we had eleven recorded Shar-composition experiences and one free-improvisation, Deeper Than the Quartz.

We often veered off my written compositions. Often. Delving into intuitive improvisation. Layering sometimes more than twenty harp parts, we played from the instigation of my compositions and in-the-moment exploration beyond “the page” with Jean steering the acoustic harp and electric harp sounds through his electronics with instinct.

Two years through the tail end of Covid we recorded the album. Coincidently, this recording coincided with Frank Horvat and I composing and recording our project, Trees.Listen, with Jean engineering that album as well. Both albums are Celtic harp with electronics, but created in very different manners.

These albums are both deeply and creatively personal and explorative.

I am grateful for the freedom and spacious playing conjured throughout the recording process.

DOWNLOAD Lilac Embers Full Album

LISTEN on your favourite streaming platforms, buy or download:
sharlenewallace.hearnow.com

All music composed by Sharlene Wallace (SOCAN) for acoustic & electric Celtic/lever harps with electronics by Jean Martin and reimagined through improvisation.

Sharlene Wallace – acoustic & electric lever harps
Jean Martin – electronics, engineer (THE FARM, Toronto, Canada)

Produced by Jean Martin & Sharlene Wallace
Engineered, Mixed, Mastered at THE FARM by Jean Martin

Photography Art by Sharlene Wallace
Packaging by Paul Hodgson and Jeannette Hanna

Sharlene recorded Lilac Embers on her 40 string Kortier acoustic harp and Lyon & Healy Silhouette electric harp.

Total CD time 56 minutes
Release Date November 2024
Catalogue SWCD007
UPC 061297965694

Downloadable PHOTOS (click on photo):

Lilac Embers COVER, PACKAGING & LINER NOTES

Through words, music and experiential packaging… like flowers unfurling, Lilac Embers creates an entrance into the unveiling of layers upon layers of sound, images and a tactile sensory journey. Sharlene’s beautiful photography art, the packaging and the music all unfold as an experience.

Packaging

Unwrap the outer packaging to unveil a foldout poster and the CD inside a CD sleeve. All photography-art of lilacs by Sharlene.

Poster – Liner Notes

Included in the CD packaging is a signed poster with “liner notes” for each track.

Each track title is included in a thought, haiku, or play on words that is descriptive of the composition. A thought or suggestion, just enough to give you a context and to allow for your own voyage through the music.

the stars are winking at me, glowing with unknown mysteries of life, the universe and beyond. they sparkle and wink wink back at me reassuringly. the grand expansiveness – questions glimmer endless thoughts – your starry gaze winks.

❦ after the rain. from under the fern. beneath the moss. deeper than the quartz upon which it clings. I listen

❦ the Cariboo foothills fancy nudging the Rockies with their fanciful whisperings of grandeur.

❦ a rose arose from a rose, layers and depths of memories that come and go and twist like a breeze- through the rosarium. inhale. exhale. hold on to this moment. a rose from a rose. swimmingly pink and laughing. a lily of grace

❦ musing. amusing. the minstrel played the Perth Manor Muse while the guests dined in the manner of a manor. it was my muse. and I certainly was, amused!

❦ once upon a time, I lived in a forest of birch and hemlock, aspen, oak and pine. these canopies my ancestors walked beneath. rising towards the constancy of the endless night. ninety sun spirals. shine with gratitude in the soul of the forest.

❦ three score say no more. one step in front of the next. time to feel sublime.

❦ the sea change transforms, washes anew what was to what will be. the wave and current of time beautifully.

❦ wait. breathe. does waiting wait? or is it simply me. is waiting so impatient. while patience waits so gently. breathe. wait.

❦ along the way the trees blur past me. !elds roll gently. and the mountains stand strong.

❦ with love in your heart. all. everything. love.

❦ quiet my soul in the stillness of now.

– ©2024 Sharlene Wallace

Lilac Embers Full Album Download

LILAC EMBERS info one page Download INFO

Sharlene Wallace BIO for download Download BIO

Streaming listening: https://sharlenewallace.hearnow.com/

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sharwallace

Trees.Listen

Trees.Listen for performances, review, radio play (click here)

(click on album cover photo to download)

Music for Celtic harp and fixed electronics
by Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace

Listen to Trees.Listen HERE

About Trees.Listen (click here)

Trees (dot) Listen

Music for Celtic harp and fixed electronics
by Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace

All music composed by Sharlene Wallace and Frank Horvat (SOCAN)
Acoustic lever harp performed by Sharlene Wallace

Produced by Frank Horvat, Jean Martin and Sharlene Wallace
Harp recording Engineered by Darren McGill at Union Sound, Toronto
Harp loop Recordings Engineered by Jean Martin at THE FARM, Toronto
Edited, Mixed, Mastered at THE FARM by Jean Martin

Photography Art by Sharlene Wallace
Packaging by Lisa Horvat

Sharlene recorded Trees.Listen on her Mark Norris Celtic harp.

Total CD time 51 minutes
Label I Am Who I Am
Release Date September 2024
Catalogue LTLP20
UPC 198595676219

TREES_LISTEN_INFO_one_page Download

Walking Deep into the Forest

Canadian composers Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace read my book To Speak for the Trees, my life’s journey from ancient Celtic wisdom to a healing vision of the forest.

They listened with their hearts and turned my words into the music of the harp. This is a universal language that sees no barriers of comprehension. It is understood immediately by everyone.

This music gathers our consciousness to heal all that has passed. It reveals a healthy future for our planet, our only home.

– Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, botanist, biochemist, climate change visionary, author

Trees.Listen (Trees dot Listen)
Music for lever harp and fixed electronics
Co-composed by Sharlene Wallace and Frank Horvat
Performed by Sharlene Wallace, Celtic lever harp
Photo-video projections by Sharlene Wallace

1. Ailm – Pine (4:43)
2. Beith – Birch (5:13)
3. Coll – Hazel (5:28)
4. Dair 1 – Oak 1 (7:43)
5. Eabha – Aspen (4:09)
6. Fearn – Alder (6:13)
7. Gort – Ivy (3:46)
8. Dair 2 – Oak 2 (5:42)
9. Huath – Hawthorn (8:28)

Trees.Listen began with the inspirations of Irish-Canadian scientist and author, Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger and her book, To Speak for the Trees.

Sharlene and Frank’s dream for their tree project as a composition, a performance, a recording, installations and a tree-awareness message was premiered September 6, 2024 at The Arboretum, University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, playing along with the bed tracks and synchronised video projections of Shar’s photographs.

Together, Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace conjured up this project of co-composing music for Celtic harp and fixed electronics under the canopy theme of trees and with a message of listening, noticing, healing and encouraging planting more trees on our planet.

By marrying the traditional harp with electronic textures, we’ve created a unique sonic landscape where the old and the new collide, reflecting our evolving relationship with nature.

It’s about remembering that trees are more than just passive elements of nature – they’re living beings that have the power to heal and sustain us, both physically and spiritually.
– Frank Horvat, composer

How Trees.Listen Grew

Frank Horvat is a pianist, multi-genre composer eco-artist and artivist. Within the vast array of his compositions, he explores themes ranging from the wondrousness of life and love, to the environment and mental health. In a fast-paced world, his music offers sanctuary and forms vivid landscapes and a symphonic tapestry into the soul.

As they began devising ideas for a musical journey together, Frank happened to begin reading Diana’s book, To Speak for the Trees. Diana writes of her education in Ireland by elders who instructed her in the ways of the Brehon wisdoms and in the knowledge of plants and nature.

Trees speak for all of nature. Forests hold the last feral card of life.

Long ago the Celts learned to listen to the song of nature. It was not just music to their ears, life was plucked out of sound and placed into the Ogham alphabet. The writings using this alphabet are called the Ogham craobh. English is based on this step into our global future.
– Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Part of Diana’s enlightenment was of this ancient Celtic Ogham script, a medieval alphabet that named each letter for a type of tree. This is how important trees were to the ancient Celts.

The Irish word for pine tree is Ailm. The first letter of this word (A) is the sixteenth letter of the Ogham script. The first alphabet letter of the Ogham script is B, named after the word Beith which means birch tree. The ninth letter of the alphabet is C, from the Irish word Coll meaning hazel tree. The seventh letter is D, from the Irish word Dair meaning oak tree, and so forth.

This tree alphabet was the seed for our nine-composition forest using the musical alphabet A B C D E F G plus H ( aka B) and dedicating two compositions to the majestic oak tree.

The following is the relationship of the Ogham Script trees and the musical alphabet for the nine compositions written by Sharlene Wallace and Frank Horvat.

musical note	mode / scale	Irish tree word	English tree word
A	A Aeolian	Ailm	Pine
B	B Ionian	Beith	Birch
C	C Ionian	Coll	Hazel
D	D Dorian	Dair 1	Oak 1
E	E Aeolian	Eabha	Aspen
F	F Lydian	Fearn	Alder
G	G whole tone scale	Gort	Ivy (a tree companion)
D	D Mixolydian	Dair 2	Oak 2 (ivy wraps itself directly up into Oak 2)
H (aka B)	B Locrian	Huath	Hawthorn

Each musical letter is the fundamental note heard in its corresponding piece and mode / scale. The “vibe” for each tree composition came through visiting each of the trees and exploring their healing and spiritual properties.

Sharlene and Frank co-composed each tree story through a four stage compositional process.

First they recorded sound bites of harp notes, scales, chords, sound effects, improvisations etc. that related to the musical note of that tree / scale / vibe.
Then Frank took these sound bites and composed electronic bed tracks for each tree composition.
Sharlene then wrote solo harp music to be played on top of each bed track tree, except for “Huath – Hawthorn”, which is an improvisation.
Sharlene and Frank then convened to fine-tune the compositions and Sharlene recorded the solo harp music for the album

Trees.Listen, is the beginning.
Music can wash away worries.
It can centre the heart and give us purpose again.
It explains our connection to nature in memory.
It is never forgotten and lives on in the magic of the mind.
– Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Sharlene experiences life and landscape as a multi-sensory impression of intuition, space and movement through her words, music, art and photography. Photography informed Sharlene’s music writing in Trees.Listen through visiting and revisiting the designated trees. Connecting, feeling the existence, shapes, leaves, their sculptural outlines against a backdrop of sky and weather. To view at arms length the trees as a vista or as a zoomed-in perspective with more or vague detail being viewed. Each composition was meticulously synched with the many photos and videos that Sharlene took. Some are colourized and taken beyond reality, as in the music. The result is a forest dreamscape experience.

Trees offer us the solution to nearly every problem facing humanity today, from defending against drug resistance to halting global temperature rise… They do so even when we can’t or won’t hear them. We once knew how to listen. It’s a skill we must remember.
– Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Under the canopy of Trees.Listen is a recording of all nine compositions available as a CD and on streaming platforms. Frank and Sharlene have deep gratitude for the generous support from the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, for a group of 27 of Sharlene’s harp students who banded together to sponsor “Dair 1 – Oak 1” composition, to the Guelph Arboretum for premiering Trees.Listen and to Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger for her support of Trees.Listen and for her knowledge and advocacy for the health of our planet.

Go out and stand in a forest, any forest anywhere in the world. Stand still. Cover your eyes and see life with feelings. Now you are getting somewhere for yourself and for every creature on this planet. Just. Listen.
– Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Plant a tree. A native species. Or two. Or six… Trees are silent lifelines for humans and the world around us.

These beautiful living sculptures in our landscapes patiently wait for us to stop and listen to their ancient secrets and wisdoms.

The Trees.Listen in Concert + Technical Rider (click here)

Performing Trees.Listen

Trees.Listen is an immersive sonic journey co-composed by Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace and inspired by the profound knowledge of acclaimed botanist and climate change visionary Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger and her book, To Speak for the Trees.

This soundscape comes to life with the intimate and evocative tones of the Celtic lever harp fused with meticulously crafted electronic atmosphere and photo-video projections by Sharlene.

Experience the resonance of trees through the harp’s voice as every movement captures the spirit and wisdom of each tree in sound and images.

Trees.Listen is a musical storytelling experience that weaves the ancient past with modern sound design, offering a new way of “listening” to the planet.

Performances

August 15th, 2023 | Trees.Listen: Birch & Hazel – Sunset Theatre, Wells, BC
September 6th, 2024 | world premiere of Trees.Listen – The Arboretum, Guelph, ON – concert performance with Sharlene playing Celtic harp and electronic bedtracks and video projections created by Sharlene | 3 sound installations of Oak 1, Aspen and Ivy on the grounds of The Arboretum | 9 QR codes on signs next to designated trees in The Arboretum to listen to the Trees.Listen trees rom phones using earbuds while standing infront of that tree
June 14th, 2025 | Listening to the Trees with Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger and performance of Trees.Listen with video projections by Sharlene – Huron Waves Music Festival – Exeter, ON
August 10th, 2025 | Trees.Listen performance and video-projections – Island Mountains Arts – Sunset Theatre, Wells, BC

Photo-video by Sharlene merged with video of Trees.Listen: Ailm-Pine premiere September 6, 2024 at The Arboretum, Guelph, Ontario.

Video of Trees.Listen: Pine, Birch, Oak 1, Aspen, Alder – from premiere performance at The Guelph Arboretum, Guelph, Ontario. Photos/video by Sharlene Wallace.

Trees.Listen Technical Rider (click here)

TREES_LISTEN_TECHNICAL_RIDER_download Download Tech Rider

Concert Title: Trees.Listen
Pronounced: Trees (dot) Listen
Performer: Sharlene Wallace
Composer: Frank Horvat and Sharlene Wallace
Duration: 60 minutes
Performer Contact: Sharlene Wallace | 416.346.6600 | harp.sharlenewallace@gmail.com

Overview: This performance involves a live acoustic Celtic harp alongside fixed electronics. The electronics include pre-recorded bed-tracks. This rider outlines the technical requirements for both live sound reinforcement, electronic audio playback, performer-audible click track and video projection.

Technical Requirements:

Stage Layout

centre stage – projector screen
stage left – harp, chair, music stand, computer, table
Number of performers: 1
Instrumentation: acoustic Celtic harp with contact mics and 1/4″ output
Performance area: on a stage/riser if possible
Performance area size: 7′ x 7′
Please provide 1 armless chair + 1 manhasset-style music stand
Please provide 1 small table next to harp for computer and interface

Audio Equipment – to be supplied by venue

PA System: High-quality PA system suitable for the venue, capable of clear audio reproduction of both live harp and fixed electronics
Speakers: Stereo speakers (front of house)
Mixing Console: Digital or analog mixing console with at least 2 input channels
DI Box (1) for harp
Microphones (1) for harp: Neumann KM184 or equivalent
Cables: 1/4″ cable for harp output + stereo line level 1/4″ TRS from computer interface
NOTE: Recommended to amplify harp with both the harp’s internal contact mic system AND an external microphone

Artist Provides

IEM (Shure) (unless venue prefers to use their own IEMs)
Electronics setup – MAC laptop, audio interface (UA Volt4)
Electronic backing tracks from laptop running Ableton Live – 2 backing tracks:
1 for the audience and
1 for the performer that includes click
Artist can run the electronics from the laptop
Video projections from artist’s laptop running through Abelton Live

Power Requirements

4 dedicated power outlets/strips with surge protection near the electronics table next to the harp

Video Projection Requirements

Video projector
HDMI cable connecting laptop (next to harp) to projector
Video projector
Video projections are run through Abelton Live from the artists computer

Sound Check Requirements

Sound check duration 1-4 hours
at least two hours before performance
Sound and projector technician to be present to assist with setup and mixing during sound check
IEM must be tested during the sound check to ensure proper levels and clarity

Monitoring and Playback

Fixed Electronics Playback: 2 Stereo pre-recorded tracks controlled by the artist via Abelton Live
One track is for the audience
One track which includes click is for the artist

Lighting Requirements

Appropriate dimmed lighting for video projections on the screen
light source over the artist to aid in illumination of strings and artist in the darkened room