In military music, where every job is unique, Marine Band Harpist Staff Sgt. Taylor Fleshman has a truly rare position. “There are seven of us in the military,” Fleshman said.
“By the time I turned 7, I had been playing piano for two years and many of my friends were starting to play a second instrument,” Fleshman said. She continued, “You see harpists on TV, but rarely in person. On the way home from church one night, my dad asked me if I would like to learn how to play the harp. My parents initially ordered a tiny harp from the internet, technically an adult lap harp, but I was so small that I played it like a full-size instrument!”
Finding a teacher was initially difficult, but Fleshman had a stroke of luck after six months of being guided through an introductory harp book by her piano teacher:
“When I started playing, we lived in Canada because of my mom’s job, but we moved back to the United States, and I was fortunate enough to find a harp teacher who was local. I started taking lessons with her and she introduced me to the world of harp technique and repertoire. Once I got to high school, I started doing more orchestra-based things. I did two youth orchestras, starting my sophomore year, and then my junior year I started participating in my school’s orchestras. By that time, I was at the North Carolina School of the Arts so there were more opportunities for me to participate in their arts program.”
Fleshman decided to pursue a professional career as a harpist early in high school. “My freshman year, before I transferred to School of the Arts, something just clicked. I was also playing sports at the time and was thinking about where I wanted my life to go. I said, ‘what am I doing? I play harp. This is my career,’” Fleshman said. “There aren’t many of us who play, so there are a lot of opportunities for harpists.”
After graduating from high school, Fleshman attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Dr. Gillian Sella, principal harpist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Following her time in Cincinnati, she earned an MA from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, studying with Florence Sitruk.
Fleshman wanted to audition for “The President’s Own” the second she saw the opening advertised, saying “I knew of the harp position with the Marine Band because my predecessor, Master Gunnery Sgt. Karen Grimsey, came to my area in North Carolina when I was around 10 or 11 years old and gave a clinic explaining her job.”
Fleshman was one of 14 harpists who answered the audition announcement at Marine Barracks Washington. Recalling the process, she said “I know 14 isn’t a huge number compared to some of our auditions that can have 100 or more applicants, but there aren’t that many harpists so it was intimidating! I was number 12, and when they called out my number as the winner of the audition it took a moment to process that they were talking about me.”
There is no “normal” week for Fleshman. In less than three years of service, she has already performed across the nation during the Marine Band’s National Concert Tour and at hundreds of events including a baby shower for Naomi Biden, President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and two receptions at the CIA. Many of her engagements are solo performances, so the pressure is always on: “I have to make sure to take really good care of my health. It’s hard to replace a harpist if I get sick,” Fleshman said. “I had a cold during President Carter’s funeral – it took all my effort to keep from sneezing on live TV!”
It isn’t all solo work; Fleshman frequently performs at events with small groups from the Marine Chamber Orchestra and the Marine Band during concerts. “Violin and harp duets, performing with a brass quintet, summer concerts with the full band, I get to do it all!,” Fleshman said. “All of us in the Marine Band are lucky enough to be witnesses to moments in history, but I feel particularly lucky that I get to be there for all of it due to my position. It can be hectic, but the variety of things I get to do in this role are what sets it apart for me.”
In addition to the interesting places she gets to play, Fleshman also enjoys the wide range of music she is able to perform due to the versatility required by the Marine Band’s varied schedule. Her repertoire includes everything from harp standards to concert band pieces to popular music numbers. “I’m always on my toes staying on top of which pieces I need to have ready for the different groups!,” Fleshman said.
The decision seems daunting, but Fleshman says young musicians interested in playing a niche instrument such as harp shouldn’t be discouraged.
“There are opportunities out there for young people to get into this instrument, so take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of you. Nothing will work unless you do. If you do your research on harp teachers, you’ll find there are a lot more teachers out there than people realize. It’s up to you to look for them. The big principle that I’ve always stuck to is to not try to copy somebody else’s path, because yours will not look the same as theirs. People will tell you that you need to be part of a certain symphony, festival or masterclass, and that isn’t always true.”
From a lap harp ordered off the internet to performing for presidents and dignitaries, Fleshman’s path has been anything but conventional. By embracing a unique instrument and forging her own way, she has found not just a career, but a front-row seat to history.
