"You have a really cool sound" Wynton Marsalis
“I’ve listened to your music and enjoyed it so very much” Dave Brubeck
" Uncommonly creative and thoroughly enjoyable" Jazz Times
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Award winning harpist, Cindy Horstman, has been performing, recording, writing, and arranging for harp for the past four decades. Classically trained, she received her Bachelor of Music in Theory / Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the first recipient of a Master of Music degree in Harp Performance from the University of Texas and a prize winner in the Lyon & Healy International Jazz Harp Competition.
Horstman’s love of jazz inspired her to write a Jazz Theory Workbook for harpists that has been a best seller on many harp retail websites. Her extensive list of 38 jazz-oriented compositions and arrangements for solo harp and harp ensembles are very popular with harpists both nationally and internationally and her award - winning compositions include prizes from the American Harp Society chapters in both Dallas and Los Angeles. Some of Cindy’s original works have been added to the Texas University Interscholastic Leagues’s Prescribed Music List for Solo Harp and Harp Ensemble and her works are performed by many national harp ensembles including the Midwest Harp Festival Ensemble and the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble.
As a teacher and clinician, Cindy released a Youtube Channel in 2025 “Exploring Creativity on the Harp” that has “Play along with Cindy” videos to encourage harpists to Have Fun with Improvising in the Jazz Style. She also creative a lesson series calle, Arranging for the Harp, for the international organization, Harp Column Academy. She has also been invited to give workshops and perform for several American Harp Society Chapters including the Nashville and San Diego Chapters as well as national conferences including
many American Harp Society's National Conventions and The Harp in Worship Conference.
Cindy co-founded the jazz duo, “2tone”, with bassist Michael Medina, the producer of 2tone's 10 CDs. 2tone has toured nationally and their recordings have received critical acclaim on Amazon.com and CD Baby. Their recordings include guest artists such as
“Blue” Lou Marini ( the Blues Brothers ), Gregg Bissonette ( drummer for Ringo Starr ), Keith Carlock ( drummer for Sting ) and Andy Timmons ( solo artist/guitarist).
Cindy is the founder, director, composer, and arranger for The Dallas Jazz Harp Ensemble and the 12 member Brookhaven College Harp Ensemble in Dallas, Texas. In both ensembles, she emphasizes arranging and improvising within the jazz idiom.
