A love story

Harp·E is a labour of love of London-based multi-award winning Dutch designer Joris Beets.

A harpist himself, Joris has already taken the harp world by storm by developing the electric DELTA Harp. This super sleek and award-winning instrument is now being played by both classical and experimental musicians on the world’s biggest stages. It is produced and sold by the harp industry giant SALVI Harps.

While DELTA has achieved many things - from adding a superior bass range to shifting the instrument's reputation - the issue of unaffordable high quality lever harps still remained. Something needed to be done about the most expensive elements of the instrument - the levers. A full set of quality levers comprises of hundreds of intricate metal parts, making the instrument inaccessible for many.

The idea was simple - to reinvent the mechanism and frame construction completely while using the finest quality strings and a state of the art pickup system. These elements make Harp·E a stage ready instrument for a fraction of the price.

In partnership with the Dutch Harp Festival and "Het Leerorkest", an Amsterdam-based NGO providing musical instruments to underprivileged children, Joris' Harp·E team spent months researching the needs of pro musicians, students, harp teachers, schools, and harp technicians.

The challenge was to come up with solutions for the main pain points of traditional harps - they’re expensive, fragile, huge, heavy, inconvenient, and a nightmare to amplify - among many others.

The result - an affordable, flat-packed, self-assembly, electro-acoustic harp that is both extremely durable and lightweight without compromising sound quality or string tension. Harp·E is here for anyone to explore the fun and the magic of the harp.

the team behind the story

  • Joris

    Founder of Joris Beets Design, creator of first the Delta Harp and now Harp·E. A multi-instrumental musician and multi-award winning inventor, with a cum laude MSc in Industrial Design Engineering and two decades of experience in Product & Service Design for global blue chip brands. On an ongoing mission to innovate the harp and shape its future as an instrument of choice for generations to come.

  • Sofia

    Operations Lead and Studio Manager since 2025. A composer, poet and luthier, Sofia oversees logistics and production across Harp·E and manages our London assembly studio. With a background in instrument-making and a PhD in Music Composition, she ensures every detail meets the highest standard and that the Harp·E ship sails smoothly.

  • Elise

    Assembly and Stringing Lead at Harp·E since 2022. Elise is a harpist and started at Harp·E by leading an army of volunteers assembling hundreds of Harp·Es for charity and knows the instrument inside and out. She has a background in marketing and IT, but her real passion is harp building for many years now. Her experience and expertise assure that every Harp·E is assembled and strung to perfection.

  • GENIA

    Head of Strategic Comms at Joris Beets Design. Genia is also founder of BEEN London - a social enterprise named “One of the most innovative fashion companies in the world” by British VOGUE, she's also a Swiss Design Council judge, and former journalist at the BBC. Genia looks after anything marketing, comms and branding related across Joris Beets Design and Harp·E.

  • Paul

    Builder at Harp·E since 2023. Paul has a long history in woodworking, furniture building, and instrument-making, and is crucial to our research & development. He also ran his own comms company for decades and acts a consigliere to everyone in the wider team.

  • Rahaf

    Designer and Logistics Coordinator at Harp·E since 2024. Inspired by her ever-growing interest in harp experimentation, she fulfills both her passions in Harp·E - graphic design and professional harp-playing. Rahaf takes care of all our visual design needs, ensures harps are shipped, and heads up our Middle Eastern base.

  • Nick

    Creative Media & Engagement Associate at Harp·E since 2024. Nick is a lifelong guitarist from the US who joined us with the goals of learning the harp and fulfilling Harp·E's mission of increasing accessibility to music. Nick focuses on content creation and customer service. 

  • LONNEKE

    Builder at Harp·E since 2025. Lonneke is not only a graphic designer but an all-rounder at pretty much anything. She has for instance just built her own house from scratch. Among many things, Lonneke ensures smooth operations in our Utrecht assembly studio.

  • Reinier

    Builder at Harp·E since 2025. Handy and brainy, as seems to be the standard at Harp·E, Reinier runs a woodworking company, but also holds a PhD in Mathematics. He focuses on sanding and coating in our Utrecht assembly studio.

  • Nati

    Builder at Harp·E since 2025. Natalia is a Chilean award winning poet and she is yet another team member at Harp·E with a PhD, in this case in Literature. She also works as a translator in both modern and ancient Greek. At our London assembly studio she focuses on sanding, coating and stringing, plus UK educational outreach.

  • Olav

    Industrial Designer at Joris Beets Design. Olav joined in 2019 as an Industrial Design Engineering graduation intern from TU Delft, developing the first working prototype of the Harp·E. He graduated his MSc "cum laude" with us and ever since his design engineering skills are absolutely central to the quality of the Harp·E.

  • Wider contributors

    First and foremost: Marco de Souza and Remy van Kesteren were at the very genesis of the Harp·E project, alongside Joris for the crucial first steps. Providing their charisma, networks, leadership and design input.

    Then followed a group of enthusiasts like the Leerorkest technicians (Jeffry, Rodney, Ron, Stan, Michael), teachers (Iris, Juan and many others), students, their parents, and other staff. All providing their input and enthusiasm.

    David L'Huillery added his amazing design eye to the aesthtetic design of both the Delta Harp and Harp·E, making them true objects of desire.

    Andy, electronics guru at Joris Beets Design, perfected first the DELTA and then the Harp·E electronics.

    The rest is history.

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The Leerorkest story

social & sustainable enterprise


Minimal footprint:
We’ve reduced packaging to the absolute minimum. Harp·Es are packaged in a recycled & recyclable box. We do not use styrofoam. The harp is packaged in a way that ensures all parts are well protected inside the carrier bag and box. Plastic sleeves are re-used. For self-assembly projects with charities and schools, we deliver the individual parts in bulk on pallets in the most efficient way.


High quality, locally produced parts:
Except for the bolts and batteries, all parts are manufactured locally in Europe. The electronics come from London, the strings from Italy, and everything else from the Netherlands. Harp·Es are hand-assembled, packed, and shipped from our studio in Utrecht, Netherlands. We use wood sourced from Ukraine whenever possible to support them in these difficult times.

Social impact:
We assist schools and charities in setting up crowd funding campaigns to train volunteers for DIY assembly. This is so they can afford larger quantities of harps than they could ever imagine!