Camille Kitt

Camille Kitt — American harpist — is part of Harp Twins, the duo she formed with her twin sister Kennerly, devoted to performing rock and metal repertoire on concert harps. The proposition is more serious than the concept suggests. The harp is a diatonically tuned instrument, with a pedal mechanism for chromatic alterations — which means reproducing material written for guitar, with minor scales, chromaticism and fast harmonic changes, requires real adaptation and arrangement work, not merely transposition. The duo built a significant audience performing versions of Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and film scores, among many others. The result reveals something about the repertoire itself: melodies that work without distortion, weight or drums are melodies that stand on their own. It is work crossing the border between art and popular music without treating either with condescension — which is rare in projects making that kind of crossing.