Owners
Kristina Finch & Dannel Espinoza
Dr. Kristina Finch and Dr. Dannel Espinoza are a wife-and-husband team of professional musicians committed to building strong, supportive musical communities. Kristina is a harpist whose work spans performance and teaching, helping players of all ages feel confident, creative, and connected to their instrument. Dannel is a saxophonist and chamber musician with a long history of collaborative projects, outreach, and arts-focused entrepreneurship.
Together, they share a passion for creating spaces where musicians—especially harpists—feel welcomed, encouraged, and inspired. Their vision for the Virginia Harp Center, Atlanta Harp Center, and Virginia Harp Center – New Jersey is shaped by that philosophy: honoring the past while fostering growth, accessibility, and a vibrant future for harpists everywhere.
Staff
Katie Cook
Manager
Katherine Cook is a graduate of Kennesaw State University where she studied clarinet performance. She has performed internationally in China and South Korea and studied abroad at Hanyang University in South Korea with clarinetist Changhee Lee from the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
A resident of Metro-Atlanta, Katherine has taught clarinet lessons in the Forsyth County area and enjoys arranging classical works for clarinet ensemble in her free time. She is excited to continue her journey on the harp and to share her passion for music in all its forms.
David Paul Raaen
Assistant Manager
A native of Georgia, David began his musical studies on the piano at age 4. He then began playing the harp at age 13, and studied with Calista Koch, Nella Rigell and Ellen Heinicke Foster. In 2002, David spent time in Russia working in orphanages and playing the harp. An avid teacher, David has produced a number of performing harpists over the years from his studio. In addition to solo recitals, he has also performed for numerous weddings, church services and with orchestral ensembles.
Rhett Barnwell
Composer-in-Residence
Rhett Barnwell is a composer, arranger and performer, and the founder of Seraphim Music, which publishes sacred, classical and meditative music for lever and pedal harp. He has concertized extensively in the United States and in Rome, Venice, and Florence, Italy, and Ireland. A specialist in classical and sacred music for the lever harp, he has been in demand as a presenter and performer at conferences such as the Southeastern Harp Conference, Somerset Folk Harp Festival, Harp Journeys, Beginning in the Middle, Harp Gathering and others. He has organized biannual Liturgical Harp Conferences since 2007. He has given workshops and concerts for American Harp Society Chapters in Washington, D. C., Minneapolis, Nashville and New Orleans, and is regularly commissioned to write new works. Mr. Barnwell earned a Master of Music degree from St. Louis Conservatory and did post-graduate Doctoral study at the University of Georgia. In addition to the harp, he also plays the cello, French horn, and organ, and has performed with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife, AIMS Festival Orchestra in Austria, South Carolina Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, and other orchestras. He has served as a Director of Music and Organist for churches in the Southeastern U. S. since 1983.
Julie Koenig
Harpist-in-Residence
According to legend, Julie Koenig was the Atlanta Harp Center's first customer. These days she works part-time at the store filling orders for strings and music, tuning showroom harps, restringing consignments, and recording audio clips.
Julie is an Atlanta-based harpist with repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary music. An Ohio native, she began playing professionally with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra as a teenager. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Harp Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. After freelancing in Miami, she moved to Atlanta and became principal harpist with the Georgia Symphony, DeKalb Symphony and Gwinnett Symphony orchestras, and is a regular sub for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Julie has also played the harp in Rome, Vienna and Paris. She performs with several Atlanta area choral groups and has played for thousands of weddings.
In her spare time, Julie can usually be found attending an Atlanta Braves game or rooting for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Why buy from us?
The Atlanta Harp Center takes great pride in offering personal assistance to our customers. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff is dedicated to keeping our customers happy with excellent service. We offer the following services to make your harp buying experience an enjoyable one:
- A wide selection of harps to choose from
- Generous trade-in values
- A trade up for any lever harp purchased from AHC to any new pedal harp we carry
- Free regulation on new pedal harps
- Many different financing options
- A large lever harp rental selection
- A rental credit towards purchase policy