Cass Tech Harp and Vocal Ensemble
Velma Froude was born July 7, 1912. Her love affair with music began when her mother, Florence signed her up for piano lessons at age seven. By age 11, she was teaching piano and was performing at local schools by 14. When she enrolled at Cass Technical High School in 1926, Velma was introduced to the harp, a new instrument to the school. In a year, the harp became her first love. She played harp in an all-state and a national high school orchestra. At 17 she played at Carnegie Hall. She was so outstanding that she was asked to return to Cass as harp teacher following her graduation.
In addition to teaching classes during the day at Cass Tech, she taught at Cass evening school and worked into the night practicing and arranging music. She also eventually found the time to graduate from Wayne State University, and from 1947 until her retirement, she also devoted weekends and summers to teaching harp at Michigan State University. Cass Techs renowned Harp and Vocal Ensemble, a unique blending of female voices and harps, became known around the country because of Velmas rigorous leadership.
Patricia Terry-Ross began her harp studies with Velma Froude at Cass Technical High School. She attended the University of Michigan where she received both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. While there, she studied harp with Ruth Dean Clark and voicewith Rosemary Russell. She did additional graduate work with renowned harpist Lucile Lawerence at Tanglewood Professor of Harp at Wayne State University and Principal Harpist for Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra. On numerous occasions she has preformed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She was Detroit Public Schools Teacher of the year and a finalist of Michigan Teacher of the year for the 1992-1993 school year.
Lydia Cleaver is a harpist. She was introduced to the harp at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan where she studied with Patricia Terry-Ross. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education, Master of Music and Specialist degrees in Harp Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Lynne Aspnes. Lydia has performed with many orchestras and choral ensembles throughout the Midwest region of the United States. Additionally, she has performed with Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Eartha Kitt and Micky Rooney in the stage production of the Wizard of Oz, Mannheim Steamroller and others. Lydia has been a featured soloist for Vocal Essence of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Livonia Symphony and Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony orchestras, as well as the American Harp Society, performing William Grant Still’s Ennanga. Lydia is listed in Marquis Who’s Who of American Women and has been granted the King, Chavez, Parks visiting professorship from the University of Michigan. In 2007 she took over the harp program at Cass Technical High School.