About Sherri

I’m a lay leader (Morning Prayer) and liturgical harpist in the Episcopal church. I research, arrange and play Gregorian chant and sacred Medieval vocal music on my three wire-strung harps for Sunday morning services (Rite I) at St. Thomas & Grace Episcopal Church, Brandon, Vermont.

I regularly play Gregorian chant service preludes and Communions from the Roman Catholic Liber Usualis on my Stoney End Esabelle cross-strung wire harp, with pipe organ accompaniment by my husband George Matthew Jr.

My present scholarly interests involve learning to read staffless chant neums of the early Middle Ages (9th century); being able to do so will provide me with a new source of Medieval music, rarely if ever heard, for my harp and church services. Another current project is finding and playing 13th century two-part organum on my harps.

Playing a Sunday service at St. Thomas & Grace on my Triplett Luna wire harp

My undergraduate degree in 2007 from Green Mountain College, VT was in sacred music focusing on pipe organ, with an introduction to Gregorian chant and the harp. Prior to GMC I studied music (classical piano) and business at SUNY Fredonia but did not complete my degree (1987-1991). After graduation from GMC with honors (Summa cum Laude, Alpha Chi), I eventually left the organ and concentrated on playing the harp exclusively, and on arranging Gregorian chant for wire-strung harp. I now have three modern wire-strung harps, one Paraguayan harp, and a recently commissioned cross-strung floor harp on which I hope to arrange and play Baroque music.

I continue to study the Anglican and Roman Catholic liturgies and the histories of both churches. In the spring of 2025 I will be studying for a lay preacher’s license in the Episcopal Church. At least four times a year I do the Morning Prayer service in my church and research a historical/theological topic for my Reflection well in advance, using the academic resources of Middlebury College Davis Library. Some of my past sermons covered: The Church of England’s Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and King Henry VIII and the creation of the Book of Common Prayer, St. Francis’ life and ministry today in the Episcopal Creation Care Season, and the Great O Antiphons (I demonstrated the Gregorian chant melody on my harp), including their Anglican relationship to the familiar Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”.

Insert sheet for Sunday morning prayer bulletin showing page from 1549 Book of Common Prayer. (October 29, 2023)

I began playing the Irish wire-strung harp in 2009 with my then-new Triplett Luna; the previous summer of 2008 I studied Irish harp briefly in Castleconnell, Ireland while my husband George Matthew was on a carillon concert tour in Armagh and Cobh. I played my Triplett Luna on my 2014 CD Vox Celeste and in February 2016 my second wire harp, a chromatic cross-strung, was completed by Stoney End Harps. My third wire harp, a double-strung with a full set of Truitt sharping levers was completed by Dan Speer of Argent Fox Harps in November 2022.

My new harp Rebekah, a cross-strung floor harp with nylon strings is currently being built by Stoney End Harps and will soon be completed in early 2025.

George and I live with our three adopted rescue cats Jasmine, Toni, and Daisy. They are ages 16 and 15. Willow Kitty recently passed away on October 6, 2024 from complications of diabetes and kidney failure… she is loved and missed.