Kela Walton

Kela Walton enjoys a varied career as a harp teacher and freelance performer in Fort Worth, TX where she is the Harp Instructor at Texas Christian University and TCU Music Preparatory. She began her musical journey at the age of 5 as a Suzuki piano student. By the age of 11 she finally convinced her parents to let her study harp, and it was love at first lesson.

An enthusiastic educator, Kela embraces teaching with a fun and loving approach. She has maintained a private studio since 1998. It is never too soon or too late to learn to play an instrument you love, and Kela is honored to help students become noble people, with compassionate hearts and disciplined minds, who love music. Before returning to her native Texas, she established the harp program at Buffalo Suzuki Strings in New York, where she taught individual and group harp lessons as well as Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes. In demand as a clinician, she has worked with harp students in ensembles and adjudicated competitions throughout the U.S. She co-directed the Youth Harp Ensemble at the 2016 American Harp Society, National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Kela also previously held harp faculty positions at Temple College, Round Rock ISD, the University of Houston Moores School of Music Preparatory and Continuing Studies Program, Longhorn Music Camp, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. As a performer, Kela served as the Interim Principal Harp with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2017-18 season, as well as for the BPO’s international tour in Poland. Her other orchestral credits include past positions and engagements with the Asheville Symphony, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Corpus Christi Ballet, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, and Waco Symphony Orchestra.

Kela holds a M.M. in Harp Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Houston Moores School of Music where she studied with Paula Page, and a B.M. in Harp Performance from the University of Texas at Austin where she studied with Gayle Barrington. Additionally she was privileged to study with Alice Chalifoux at the Salzedo School in Camden, Maine. Her Suzuki training includes coursework with Sharon Jones, Delaine Fedson Leonard, and Dr. Laurie Scott. Her articles have been published in the Harp Column magazine and the American Harp Journal. Additionally, Kela is also honored to serve on the national Board of Directors for the American Harp Society. When not teaching or performing, she enjoys hiking, running, and practicing yoga.