Education
- DMA , Music/ Harp Performance, University of Arizona. Project: THE IMPORTANCE OF HARPIST JOHN THOMAS AS A WELSH NATIONALISTIC COMPOSER AND HIS IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUOSIC HARP REPERTOIRE
- MA, Musicology, University of Utah. Project: WELSH HARPIST JOHN PARRRY AND HIS 1760 COLLECTION OF WELSH, ENGLISH, AND SCOTTISH AIRS.
- BA, Music, University of Utah
- BS, Biology/ Human Physiology, University of Utah
Biography
Cathryn Clayton obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts in Harp Performance
from the University of Arizona. She holds a Masterʼs degree in Musicology
and Bachelorʼs degrees in Music and Biology from the University of Utah.
She also obtained her Registered Respiratory Therapy degree from Weber
State University. During her years of graduate study, Dr. Clayton
researched Welsh harp music and obtained a Doctoral Minor in
Ethnomusicology. She currently teaches Harp Performance, Harp Pedagogy and Literature, World Music, Survey of Jazz, Music Theory and Music History at the University of Utah.
Dr. Clayton presented a paper on her research and Masterʼs thesis, The
Composer John Parry and His “Collection of Welsh English, & Scottish
Airs” (1761), at the Society for Ethnomusicology Regional Conference in
March 2006. Her research on Welsh harpists continued with her doctoral
dissertation, The Importance of Harpist John Thomas as a Welsh
Nationalistic Composer and his Impact on the Development of Virtuosic
Harp Repertoire.
Dr. Clayton has studied with harpists throughout the United States,
including Dr. Carrol McLaughlin (The University of Arizona), Alice Chalifoux
(The Salzedo School), and Eileen Malone (Eastman School of Music). She
co-founded the Arizona Harp Experience Youth Summer Camp with Dr.
Carrol McLaughlin, which has been going strong since 2003. She has
taught private students for over fifteen years. Her students have competed
in regional and national competitions and attended prominent schools
through the U.S. including the Manhattan School of Music and the
University of Arizona.
Dr. Clayton has toured throughout Europe, performing with HarpFusion, the
largest touring harp ensemble in the United States. She has arranged and
recorded several works for harp ensemble, some of which can be heard on
HarpFusion recordings. Dr. Clayton is currently the director of Crimson Harps, the University of Utah Harp Ensemble. The ensemble recently completed a very successful tours of Southern California in 2010 and Central Utah in 2013, and is touring San Diego, California in 2015.
Dr. Clayton has also recorded solo works on the CD Fragile
Tears (2005). She has performed extensively for the Utah Governorʼs
Mansion, the United States Olympic Committee, and currently performs
throughout Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and California.