Harpy Harps® is an American manufacturing company based in Miami, FL. Harpy Harps® was founded by worldwide famous harpist Kiki Bello along with her father and business partner Jaime Bello.
In November of 1996, Jaime Alberto Bello, a Colombian architect, started a sculpture business that involved glass fiber, wood and metal. Mr. Bello applied all his sculptural knowledge and started experimenting with the making of traditional instruments from the eastern plains of Colombia such as harps, cuatros, maracas, etc. Mr. Bello’s ambition to create unique looks and designs, helped the development of the Harpy® that we all enjoy today (See Jaime Bello’s bio).
Harpy® offers free online videos designed for self-teaching. Students can play the harp by learning simple songs.
HISTORY
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Kiki Bello spent several years researching and acquiring knowledge about harp making. In May of 2015, after getting a bachelor’s degree in Music Business, Kiki started the creation of Harpy. A unique harp that has the “rock star” look. Kiki came to the realization that the best option was an Electro Acoustic Harp, which can be played with or without a sound system. Since 2013, Kiki Bello had been mastering the performing of the electric harp as well as the acoustic harp and that’s how she came about the idea of Harpy.
Throughout the years of developing Harpy’s creation, Kiki Bello contacted the most prestigious harp manufacturers in the world to consider the possibility of collaborating in the making of Harpy. Without any luck, Kiki decides to create her own manufacturing company to make the Harp of her dreams: Harpy! A harp that anyone can afford and enjoy. A harp that will touch the hearts of millions of people.
In December of 2017, after experimenting with different drawings and ideas, Kiki and Jaime Bello created the final design of Harpy®. Jaime along with computer scientists Raine Yeh and Pedro Bello-Maldonado from university of Illinois, developed a mathematical formula to create the perfect curve of Harpy’s neck. While working on the mathematical process that would make the look of Harpy®, Kiki made some semi-final adjustments on the “point” design of the Harp, which gave the look of Kiki’s personality.
In March of 2019 Jaime Bello and business entrepreneur Lily Scandiuzzi brought a capital investment to the company allowing machinery acquisitions for the manufacturing process. Soon after, the first official model of Harpy® was made. Kiki ran some recording tests and gave the final approval to start the massive production of Harpys. The instrument was ready to hit the industry of harp making.
Harpy was officially released on July 12th of 2019 with an Instagram post by famous Dominican singer Elvis Martinez. In a few hours the video reached more than 50,000 views. Harpy will continue to develop its look, sound and design to fulfill the needs of both amateurs and professional harpists all around the world.
If you are interested on getting a Harpy® send us an email to: harpyusa@gmail.com