William (Bill) Mahan is an architect by profession who has lived and practiced in Santa Barbara for over forty years. He is also a watercolorist and has exhibited his work in several of the local galleries. A music education was not available for him when he was growing up in Iowa, but he did play the ukelele and guitar in high school and in the army, where he served for two years during the Korean War. In college he tried piano lessons, but didn’t have the time along with his architectural studies. In 1992 he saw a beautiful 33-string harp in the Folk Mote window and purchased it. He tried for six months to learn to play it by ear but was unsuccessful, so began lessons with Barbara Hilaire. Almost at once songs began to spring from the harp, first introductions and endings to his lesson songs, and then complete works. His eighth composition, “The Windows of Paris”, was published in the Folk Harp Journal for which he received wide acclaim from many harpers. It remains his favorite along with “Adagio” and “An Iowa Winter”.
Sketches of Spain – An Iowa Winter – Colors of Italy – French Impressions – The Montecito Suite – Dreams of Ireland – The Sanata Barbara Suite – Harps & Friends – The Frog and the Leprechaun – All the Seasons of Spring – The Iowa Rivers Suite – The Harp Constellation – Monarchs of Music – Paris Once Again