William Rees

World renowned harp designer, William Rees, is known for his long list of professionals who have chosen his harps above others. William's harps are featured on the 2 time Grammy winning CD with YoYo Ma and Marta Cook, Grammy winning CD with Paul Winters and Carol Thompson and Hollywood movie soundtracks. Rees Harps are also played by All Ireland Harp Champion, Maire Ni Chathasaigh, pedal/lever wizard, Ray Pool, founder of the International Harp Therapy Program, Christina Tourin and a list that continues on and on of huge names in the harp world. You can view more of this list on the Rees Harps site.
From the beginning, William has always had a very specific design philosophy. A biologist by training, William appreciates the natural beauty and voices in woods and instruments while constantly seeking to understand both within a scientific methodology. William tailors his instruments to meet the needs of the customer. William's instruments combine a look of simple elegance with the rare gift of all fine luthiers, the ability to make wood sing.
All that being said..., William is thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to build stringed instruments for a living. Building a harp for each individual customers an aspect of his work which William continues to cherish.
When you can't find William in the shop making sawdust you can surely find him at the park with Eleanor, his Golden Doodle (half golden retreiver, half standard poodle.

Pamela Rees

Though William's business survived from 1972 until 1990 essentially without assistance, by 1990 when he started thinking about going full-time, help on the administrative side was definitely in order. Pamela has a technical background centered mostly around applied optical engineering. After too many years as a Defense contractor and a rude awakening in respect to her health, Pamela got out of optics for good. When introduced by a mutual friend, William and Pamela hit it off both in life and in business. While Pamela and William share goals, principles and some interests, their strengths and weaknesses are almost exactly opposite which (for the most part) is a nearly perfect pairing. As William says, "She does the paper. I do the sawdust." Pamela loves music and concerts, cooking for dinner parties and her house rabbits; Samwise and Madelyn. Many of you may have met two of the long-time office rabbits, Hamilton and Thump. Pamela's Rabbit Crew continues to provide humor and love at home on a daily basis.

Garen Rees

Anyone who has seen the ornamentation on Rees Harps in recent years has seen the incredibly gifted work of Garen Rees, William’s youngest son. Garen started a part-time apprenticeship with his father in 1997, when he was still in high school. He managed to inherit the art chromesome from his father and ended up being able to draw and paint more competently than most adults before he finished elementry school. He also has a sly sense of humor and a contagious giggle and is loved by all he encounters. In 2004, Garen was promoted to Clean-Build Manager, but in 2006 had been pushed to the office to help out with all the web orders and emails. He is now buried in the paperwork of the office, but still finds time to beautifully decorate the harps. Garen also owns a video game business with his older brother, Bryant and in his free time plays music, does beautiful art and designs video games. William plans to pass the family business to him when he retires.

Darlene Walton

If you walk through the doors of our showroom, it is Darlene Walton who will most likely greet you. Darlene is Rees Harps’ showroom manager and our in-house harp teacher. A native of Cincinnati, Darlene has lived on a farm outside of Rising Sun, with her husband, for the past 30 years. When Rees Harps first arrived in Rising Sun, before the moving trucks were unloaded or the electrity was turned on in the building, Darlene, who had heard we were coming, was there to purchase her harp. As a long-time piano teacher and church organist, Darlene picked up the harp as if she had always played it. In addition to taking students, Darlene leads a harp choir of children ages 6 to 16. She also has recorded two harp CD’s, written a book for Mel Bay and written other harp music books. As anyone who spends time with her can tell you, Darlene is a joy and has a special sense of humor. On some days you’ll catch her little white dog, Maggie, joining her at work.

Melissa Irwin

Melissa Irwin was a big find for Rees Harps in 2002. Not only did Melissa have all the skills that allowed her to fall prey to Pamela’s office needs but she also attended art school, making her a perfect apprentice for Garen. In 2006, along with Garen, Melissa was moved to the office to help take over all the overwhelming orders of Rees Harps. She is now most likely the one to answer your questions, comments or concerns in emails or phone calls. If you happen to see her at the store you will see her little dog, Dingo, not far behind. He comes to work with her everyday to play with his best friend, Eleanor. On some days you will even see Melissa’s little office cat, Miss Bartholomew (who Eleanor adores). When Melissa isn’t buried in paperwork she is drawing illustrations and making videos for the company. She loves spending her free time doing art, photography, making jewelry, making videos and creating elaborate costumes, all of which she does with her boyfriend, Garen.

Joann Irwin

The closeness of the Rees Harps family continued to grow, In 2004, Harpsicle® Harps nearly overran Rees Harps Inc. Everyone was working as hard and as fast as they could, but we needed some more help. Darlene recommended her best friend and neighbor, Joann Irwin. Conveniently, Joann is also Melissa’s mother and it is immediately apparent where Melissa gets her beauty and brains. If you visit the store, Joann, is always more than happy to answer the questions of visitors as she works. Joann can be found applying the hardware to the harps and stringing them all. She also does all the packing to make sure your harp arrives safely. Joann is known as the nonstop working machine. Once she starts working there is not stopping her. In her free time she enjoys many making many crafts and is an excellent seamstress. Her favorite passtime however is rehabilitating injured and orphaned wild animals. She has bottled, raised, healed and set free everything from skunks to raccoons, deer to birds, turtles to squirrels and her personal favorite, groundhogs.

Larry Richison

Larry Richison, a previous auto body owner, took a turn to the harp world in 2006. Larry is a great employee. He’s always the first one here and the first to crack a joke. He has been a great help in the shop and is the definition of a handy man. His quick thinking and many skills are always being asked for by the office, for everything from a broken window to a broken heater. You name it, Larry can fix it. We’re so fortunate to have Larry on our team. Larry’s helpful and respectful personality makes everyone love him here at Rees Harps Inc. Not only do the employees love Larry, but Eleanor and Dingo especially love him as he always has doggie treats waiting for them when they arrive. When Larry’s not in the shop he is out riding his motorcycle or enjoying a cigar on the golf course.

Shannon Brown

As time passed, we found ourselves needing more help in the shop to fill all of our Harpsicle® Harp orders. In 2007, Shannon Brown came to the rescue. Shannon moved with his beautiful wife, Rebecca and adorable son, Isaiah, to work for his father-in-law, William Rees. Shannon is a fast learner and is a great addition to the shop. Everyone here at Rees Harps adores Shannon’s fast wit and his contagious positive attitude. He has a knack at making every one laugh and feel good. Shannon is a very talented young man, both musically and artistically. He has started his own clothing line called “Madheart,” which will be in stores soon. In Shannon’s free time he loves to spend time with his son and wife. He recently started a new hobby of designing action figure molds that astound anyone who see them. His attention to fine details and strive for perfection makes him the perfect man to take over the shop when William retires.

Rebecca Rees

To make the Rees family complete, in 2007 Rebecca Brown, William’s daughter joined the crew to help Garen and Melissa in the office. Rebecca is as helpful as she is sweet! She was originally hired to assist in the office, but we quickly found that Rebecca had many talents that was in need for the entire store. About a year after she was hired William found he didn’t have enough time to lever all the harp himself and found she was the perfect candidate for levering the harps. Rebecca learned levering quickly and is now our levering expert should you have any questions. So, Rebecca now works in both the shop world and the office world. If you place an order on our site, you will be in good hands as she will be the one taking care of you. She is also in charge of all the shipments that go out the door, so as you can see she is able to be in all places at once. Rebecca and Shannon moved from California to Indiana with their polite and bright little boy Isaiah and their cat Peanut, who we swear is a dog in disguise. We are thrilled to have her here and have our family grow larger and closer.

Eleanor

Eleanor is William’s loyal and intelligent goldendoodle. If you’ve never heard of a goldendoodle, she is a breed of half golden retriever and half poodle. She may have the elegant poodle legs, but has the grace of a retriever. Eleanor loves coming to the shop everyday and supervising the employees, as well as playing with her best friend Dingo. She may seem timid if you meet her, but she is the sweetest girl in the world. She spends her free time playing at parks, going on hikes, swimming and showing people her wonderful toys.

Dingo

Melissa’s pride and joy, Dingo, comes to work with her everyday. Dingo loves laying on the stringing table while Joann strings the harps and laying in the sun in the office. Dingo was rescued from a shelter and has a leg shorter than the rest, but that doesn’t slow him down, he outruns all the other dogs at the park. If you stop in the store, don’t be surprised if Dingo attempts to sit on your lap, that is his way of saying “I like you.” Dingo’s favorite hobbies are wading in the river, riding in the car, running and giving snuggles.

Maggie

Maggie is Darlene’s tiny companion. If you’re lucky you will come in the store while she is there. Maggie is a tiny little thing, with lots of personality. You can often find her wearing an outfit from a dress to a bathing suit to a skunk suit. Maggie has a brother, Rascal. Rascal, a jack russell terrier, visits the store on rare occasions as well. Maggie’s favorite things are food, her squirrel toy, food, food and more food.

Miss BartholoMew

Miss BartholoMew, Mew for short, was an orphaned kitten that was bottled and raised by Joann. Melissa instantly fell in love with little Mew and started taking her to work to be the office kitten. Mew has a purr louder than a freight train and is extremely loving and loves to snuggle. Her favorite place to sleep is on Melissa or Garen’s shoulders while they sit at their desks. Eleanor is extremely fond of Miss BartholoMew and gets very excited when she is in the office. When Mew is not at work she is enjoying her favorite things; snuggles and jingle balls.