Other Stuff You Need to Know About the Festival
Getting a Loaner Harp
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Can I Stay?
2019 Staff (back row): Alanna Griffin, Patch Glennan, Nyx Hauth, Laura Enuco, Lucy Cummin, Bob Glennan, (middle row) Grainne Buckley, Kathy DeAngelo (director), Kim Adamson (operations manager), Maureen Buscareno (concert manager); (front row) Eilidh Jackson, Liam Jackson. Not pictured: Dennis Gormley, Emma Gormley, Tracy Beckler (she took this picture), David Eisner, sound tech.
Director, Kathy DeAngelo
Kathy took over management of the Somerset Folk Harp Festival in July 2008 with the retirement of founder/director Gerry Serviente. She performed in the first Somerset and had been part of the festival as concert manager since 2002. Kathy has been playing the harp since 1984 and performing traditional Irish music since 1972. She has been actively engaged in the folk music scene in New Jersey since her Douglass College days, starting the Mine Street Coffeehouse in New Brunswick in 1973 and being the music director at the first New Jersey Folk Festival in 1975. In 2006 she rejoined the New Jersey Folk Festival as its music director, retiring from that position in 2014. Kathy teaches harp and runs You Gotta Have Harp Productions. She organized the annual Harpers Escape Weekend for 24 years, which has now morphed into the Harpers Escape Harp Tour of Ireland. She created and taught at the You Gotta Have Harp Summer Camp with Gloria Galante for some years. When she is not teaching harp or performing with her husband Dennis Gormley in McDermott's Handy or working on the festival, she's a booking agent and concert producer. She and Dennis were inducted into Mid-Atlantic Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame in 2015.
Operations manager, Kim Adamson
Kim Adamson has been a part of Somerset since its inception. From coordinating the set up of the exhibit hall, running the harp tastings, and assisting at the concert stage, Kim is busy making sure that the festival runs smoothly.You'll seldom see her actually sitting down at Somerset. When she's not at Somerset she gigs as a harpist in Marco Island, Florida.
Maureen Buscareno, Concert Manager
Maureen will be making sure that the concerts run smoothly and on time. She has been our concert manager since 2009. She received her MA in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick under the guidance of Micheal O Suilleabhain. She also played in the Delaware Valley Celtic Harp Orchestra and has an MA in Music Education from Columbia University. She now teaches music and directs youth theater in NJ and the Lower Hudson Valley. She plays in local Irish Traditional Music Sessions.
Get to Know Our Staff
Pictured from left: Grainne Buckley, Patch Glennan, Kim Adamson, Laura Enuco, Kathy DeAngelo (standing)
Our hard-working staff work long hours at the festival to make it run smoothly and to give our attendees the best experience possible. They're generally getting the festival booth set up at 8am and work till after the concert and knock off about 10pm. That's a long day!
We get rave reviews about the sound quality at our concerts and it's all due to the expertise and professionalism of our tech crew headed by David Eisner. Dave joined the festival in 2008 when it was in Alexandria, VA.
When he's not doing our festival, Dave is behind the House of Musical Traditions and Institute of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, MD, the center of the folk music world in the metropolitan Washington DC area.
Here are Kathy and Kim after packing up the festival on the Sunday afternoon! This is generally the only time you ever see them sitting down.
Gerry Serviente, Founder
Gerry Serviente founded the Somerset Folk Harp Festival in 2001 and directed this major harp event until 2008. She has been a tireless promoter of the many facets and styles of the folk harp and we're indebted to her for her long years of service.
