My harp journey: "over 20 years of experience"?

After graduating from university, I spent some time in the corporate world. One thing I struggled with was writing my resume – specifically, the part where you’re supposed to brag about your work. It has always felt like over-bragging to me. So, borrowing from that playbook, it’s with amusement that I sometimes tell people I have over 20 years of experience playing the harp. This usually earns me puzzled looks, so let me share where those 20 years came from.

My mother, Magdalene Wong, was pivotal in this journey. She is a well-known harpist – one of the pioneers of the instrument in Singapore. She started me on harp lessons when I was four. Her training emphasized being a confident performer, which, among other things, meant playing from memory. Ironically, to this day I have to memorize all my music before I perform—not out of discipline, but because my music reading is atrocious.

My mom was committed to training us to be comfortable on stage from an early age. I had my first solo performance at my kindergarten graduation when I was six. There were other early performances too, though, unfortunately they were not recorded. At one point, a journalist even came to our home to feature our family in a story for The New Paper.

My harp lessons started when I was four years old

An article by The New Paper (published 7 Nov 2005) discussing my mother's career as a harpist and harp teacher to her children

11 years old was an exciting year for me. My mom had the idea to bring together three other kids and my sister and I to form a mini children’s harp ensemble. We called ourselves Harps Unlimited. She wrote harp ensemble sheet music for us, and we’d gather every weekend to practice in our living room. Over the next two years, we performed at many venues—at mall openings, Christmas events, weddings, school functions, and even in concert halls.

Aside from the children’s harp group, my mom often brought my sister and I to perform at various ad-hoc events, forming a sort of family harp trio.

When I was 13, both my sister and I joined the PL Cherubs, the harp ensemble at my secondary school. My mom was the instructor, so it’s fair to say she roped us in. For the next four years, we trained twice a week and performed regularly.

PL Cherubs performing Theme from Swan Lake for the Symphony Youth Festival Competition in 2011. I am in the back row, far left.

After graduating from secondary school, I went on to study architecture at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I knew a bit of guitar and was hoping to make some friends, so I joined the NP Guitar Ensemble. Eventually, I became the Vice-President of the club, organizing concerts and other ad-hoc performances. For some of the more casual gigs, I began using the harp instead of the guitar—playing the harp felt more intuitive, and its bright tone blended nicely with the warm sound of my friends’ guitars.

A small group of us from NP Guitar Ensemble performed at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital bi-weekly to entertain patients in wards

After graduating from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to continue my education, so I took a gap year. To better prepare for financing my university education, I spent hours each week developing a solo repertoire using harp arrangements written by my mom. When I eventually started university in 2019, I put that repertoire to good use by performing several times a week for afternoon tea at The Fullerton Hotel. It was a lovely gig until Covid-19 hit, leading to a ban on live performances.

Playing Fly Me to The Moon at Fullerton Hotel's afternoon tea

It took over two years for the hospitality industry to bounce back, and eventually, The Fullerton Hotel invited me back to perform with them again. By then, I was in my final year of university and on the hunt for internships (it’s a rite of passage for any graduating university student). I played at The Fullerton Hotel for six months before starting an internship at a political risk consultancy.

Not related to harping; just want to mention that the view Control Risks' Singapore office is unrivalled

After graduating from NUS, I landed a job in management consulting as an analyst at McKinsey & Company, where I worked for just under two years. The firm had a strict no-outside-work policy because of conflict of interest risks so I didn’t get to perform much during that time.

In late 2024, I decided to leave the corporate world altogether in search of a more purposeful career and better work-life balance. No longer with McKinsey, I began playing for afternoon tea at the Raffles Hotel, stepping in as a substitute for the regular harpist several times a month. Playing at Raffles Hotel challenged me to expand my repertoire and build my performance stamina, as the playing hours are four 45-minute sets a day with only a 15-minute break between each set. It was tough at first; when I first started my back would ache and my fingers would blister badly. But over time, the workday became easier.

An amalgamation of Christmas songs performed at Raffles Hotel during Christmas 2024

Starting July 2025, I would be the resident harpist at The St Regis Singapore, performing on weekends for afternoon tea at the newly revamped Tea Room.

As of 2025, I’m 28 years old. Since I started learning the harp at age four, that technically gives me at least 20 years of harping experience—right? A corporate resume would insist so, I think.

Harp Trio performing Rainbow Connection at a wedding in 2011

Harps Unlimited performing Jingle Bells at Shangri-la hotel in 2007

With my fellow consultants at the McKinsey & Company Singapore office