Hi, I'm John Lozier. I call myself a harper for harmony. I say that anyone who touches the strings of a harp adds harmony to the universe. Everyone can be a harper for harmony.

an inscription on an ancient harp says…

When you but touch my strings
You shall a harper be
When all have touched my strings
The world will be in harmony

This is my calling after a lifetime of different roles and careers (anthropologist, small businessman, bureaucrat, agricultural educator, father, grandfather…). The mission of Harping for Harmony Foundation is to promote harmony and community, locally and globally, through harp music.

It was in Venezuela, in 1991, that I first encountered the harp as a folk instrument. I was immediately hooked. Following the example of my friend John Kovac, I began building small harps from scratch. In 1994, went to El Salvador with kits to make six small harps, like the one in the picture. I commissioned local artists to decorate them, took some home, left others in El Salvador. My trip there was with Companion Community Development Alternatives, on a mission to assist with reconstruction after their civil war. That same year, I started Harping for Harmony Foundation, inspired by a fine potter and friend, Stephen Earp, who had spent time in Nicaragua with Potters for Peace. 

In 2001, I visited Guatemala where I commissioned a carpenter, Rigoberto Hernandez, to build little harps. The work of this carpenter, now a luthier, received recognition in Pepsi’s Guatemorfosis program, and he has produced many harps for Patrice Fisher’s Guatemala Music Teaching Project.

In subsequent years, I have continued to travel, and to support the travel of other harpists to and from Latin America, with the Baquiano program.

Harping for Harmony Foundation is a 501(c)(3) exempt charity in the State of West Virginia, established in 1994. Donations are tax-deductable. FEIN 550746741.