Vale Andrew Thom, harp maker.
In September 2024, Tasmanian harp maker Andrew Thom passed away. Designer of the carbon fibre soundboard harp with the unbreakable aluminium frame, leather-covered aluminium box painted on the interior with a NASA-developed rubber that converted extra electro-acoustic resonance into heat; designer of the all-in-one carbon fibre harp; choose your colour from car paint lists. Designer of crazy and wild and beautiful otherworldy harps. Truly unique, in a league of his own. Unmistakeably, Andrew Thom.
He made my dream harp for me, literally.
Hannah Burnett
Mr Thom was a creative and engineer, who profoundly impacted the harp community, especially in Australia with his innovative carbon fibre harps. Mr Thom's harps are masterpieces of art, with beautiful colours, and fluid shapes, a lightness and durability allowed by carbon fibre yet a warm and resonant sound that is almost otherworldly. I had the great privilege and pleasure of visiting Mr Thom at his Tasmanian workshop a few years ago, and to play the harp for him. While he was not a musician, his dedication to the craft and to constant innovation was incredible, he was constantly improving and redesigning his harps and had a wonderful passion for the harp community. Mr Thom and his workmanship will be sorely missed in the harp community.
To hear of the passing of Andrew Thom, harp-maker extraordinaire, was sad news indeed.
He made my dream harp for me, literally.
Vale maestro and thank you for the magic you made.
Naomi Jean
For many years, I knew about Andrew's craftsmanship via hearing the 'Thom harp' of dear friend and colleague, Natalia Mann. I fantasised that one day I might have one myself, but it seemed a bit of a pipe dream as I had never actually played harp, I just loved them.
About seven years back I woke in the middle of the night to see a midnight blue harp floating momentarily in the air above me. It was such a rush! I knew it was ‘my’ harp and it gave me hope that one day I would find her.
When I decided to go ahead some years later, I scoured the internet for the one I had seen but none were quite the same. Of course, I checked Andrew Thom’s website first, but the pictures featured were nothing like my vision. Natalia encouraged me to give him a call and when I did we had a long conversation. He was very generous with me, telling me all about his work even though he was very busy at the time. He told me the website images were out of date and when he sent photos of his recent harps, I got excited because they were exactly the right shape.
At one point I asked if he made ’travel-sized’ harps as I was on the move a lot. He told me he had been experimenting with smaller harps but couldn’t bear the compromise of the resonance in the lower notes. He was ferociously passionate about the quality of sound and had destroyed the molds of the inferior models. He said if I wanted to go for a lesser quality I should look elsewhere. It was borderline rude and I couldn’t help laughing. I loved that he cared about it so much that it didn’t matter at all to him what I thought of his abrupt tone.
I decided to go ahead with the Elf model and over several conversations, we settled on the details and I finally found the right shade of blue. We then discussed the colouring of the sounding board. It had to be galactic and he was right on board, taking so much interest and clearly approving of the direction. Five or six months later, my harp was hand-delivered by my favourite harpist, Natalia — an auspicious beginning — and she was just right. Resonant, bold, and agile; a sparkling indigo swan with a cosmic soundboard. A truly beautiful instrument. I am deeply grateful for the knowledge, expertise, and care Andrew lavished on his creations.
Vale maestro and thank you for the magic you made.
Andrew Thom, the rose gold harp, and Loni.
A great man with true talent.
Loni Fitzpatrick
I came to know about the renowned "Thom Harp" when I relocated to Far North Queensland a few years ago. I had the pleasure of testing out his creations through fellow harpists and was blown away by the sound, particularly the rich and resonant bass register on a lever harp, not to mention how light it was to pick up and the funky colours. It really didn't take me much time or much thinking before I sent my introduction email to Mr Thom enquiring about one of his lovely harps to be built and to call my own. I won't deny Mr Thom was a funny character to deal with. A little like a mad scientist whose brain was completely brilliant but hard to understand at times, only to be truly appreciated through the work he produced (in the form of magnificent lever harps). How does a non-harpist come to be such an incredible harp maker?
During a trip to Tasmania for my birthday, I reached out to Mr Thom and paid him a visit. I was so excited. My harp wasn't quite finished and so I was going to see it for the first time, along with the harp maker himself! The whole interaction was so inspiring and completely bewildering. His little work shed was chockers with harp parts, templates and paints and he ran me through his processes of harp making. His house had a room filled with almost finished harps of all different colours, including my own rose gold, and a kitchen table sprawled with blueprints of the most magnificent concept I believe he had yet, a carbon fibre pedal harp! We spent almost the whole time discussing the mechanics of this crazy pedal harp idea and I was so excited to see what would come of an idea drawn out on a piece of paper. I look back at that experience fondly and am pleased to have shared time with him. I see so many of Mr Thom's harps around Australia, all different colours, all different characters.
He did himself a favour making harps that would outlive him and their owners, to be appreciated for (hopefully) generations to come. My utmost respect and appreciation to a great man with true talent.
Vale, Mr Andrew Thom.
A beautiful gift to the world.
Natalia Mann
To me, Mr Thom was a genius. Who else on Earth has created such a rainbow of organically created harps? Constantly evolving, his designs launched the harp into the 20th century arguably more than any other single maker. I just loved his inimitable combination of organic forms, stiletto, rocket and galactic. I learned of his harps through Xanya Mamunya, who ordered a fuschia pink tall fairy harp, the wildest harp I’d ever seen, that had the loveliest sound.
The tone, the feel, the design and the durability of Andrew Thom’s harps made them an essential and irreplaceable instrument for me. I played his harps for two decades, and on hearing my harps, I know that many other people have chosen Thom harps. I enjoyed having a good yarn with Andrew, finding him always frank, generous, and appreciative of the humanity in any interaction.
And so, Mr Thom, thank you for all that you gave to us. We honour you and your family greatly. We wish you had at least one more decade to realise your grand dream. Thank you so much for all you’ve done in providing harpists around the world with your magical creations. We love them and will treasure them. What a beautiful gift to the world.
Go well, Mr Thom.