Elisa Thorn – British Columbia

harpist . vocalist . composer . creator

Nominated for “Jazz Artist of the Year” from 2026 Western Canada Music Awards

Summer. A season to choose…I’ll have to say summer! I am a lizard…put me somewhere hot and humid and I am happy. – Elisa

Like most of us, my harp journey began in the classical music stream, from age 9 until I found myself getting my performance degree at UBC (Vancouver) and realized being a classical musician was quite incompatible with my personality…! From there I became pretty heavily involved in the free improvising community in Vancouver, which was a wonderful way to start finding my voice and get comfortable with experimenting.  I spent the next 10 years heavily involved in writing for and playing in collaborative projects (prog/jazz group Elisa Thorn’s Hue, chamber pop group Gentle Party, math folk duo The GIving Shapes and improvising sextet Like The Mind) but in recent years have been focusing on my solo project, which just released an album, xiik, in November. Generally my interest lies in weaving together elements of intellectual music music that is more accessible, such as folk, pop and jazz.  I have two primary artistic goals: to create music that balances abstraction with accessibility, and sensitivity with boldness. As much as I roll my eyes at the angelic/mythical/feminine reputation the harp has, generosity is important to me in music making. My hope is for the listener to feel held in some way- which means sometimes it does err towards whimsy. That being said…I think the harp can be a total boss 🙂 – Elisa Thorn

Videos

Hue
Gentle Party
The Giving Shapes
Elisa Thorn – solo and trio

I also love bringing the harp to support other people’s contemporary music such as a session musician and performer. Here are a few recent recording collaborations:

Wallgrin
Haley Blais
Van Le Fan
Tianna Esperanza/Rachael Yamagata

Elisa Thorn (pronounced eh-lee-sah) is a versatile harpist, vocalist and composer known for her distinctive and contemporary approach to the harp. Her music weaves together elements of folk, indie, jazz, experimental, and ambient music, and she aims to create music that balances the abstract and accessible, and sensitivity with boldness.

An avid collaborator, she has recently shifted her focus to her solo project, which will be releasing a new album, xiik, in fall 2025. As introspective as it can be energizing, she laughingly classifies it as “experimental indie for the bathtub.” Reflecting on her trajectory from classical to contemporary music, she says “as much as I roll my eyes at the angelic/mythical/feminine reputation the harp has, generosity is important to me in music making. My hope is for the listener to feel held in some way- which means sometimes it does sound magical and dreamy. That being said, I think the harp can be a total boss, and that’s why I love it.”

She is also the leader of many projects including Gentle Party, HUE, and The Giving Shapes, and has contributed to recordings and performances with artists such as Haley Blais, Ora Cogan, Tonye Aganaba, Mother Mother, Loscil, Ora Cogan, Wallgrin, Lief Hall and Mauvey. Her music has received airplay on stations such as CBC and KEXP , and she has performed at festivals such as Jazzotpad (Poland, 2023), Women from Space (Toronto), Campbell Bay Music Festival (Mayne Island), TONE Fest (Toronto), Constellation Festival (Squamish), POP Montreal, Suoni Per Il Poppolo (Montreal), Wonderment (Victoria) and Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

Driven by her community-oriented values, “I’ve ventured into the realms of curation and presentation, focusing on fostering accessibility to challenging and abstract art through deliberate methods of presentation,” says Thorn. She served as an associate for the nonprofit organization Vancouver Improvised Music Society from 2021-2025 and has curated an outdoor house concert series, Woodland Patio Series, since 2014.

---