Apr 6, 2022 2 min read

For 47 years, Melanie Sandrock has enjoyed a memorable teaching career in the Ringgold School District. She is a music instructor and choir director at the middle school.

An academic spring fair few decades ago, however, provided the impetus for a whole new adventure. She discovered the harp.

“At these academic fairs, the entire school turned into the theme. Many times the theme had to do with the world,” she said.

One year, the choir room was turned into Scotland. Some years, Sandrock said, there were Scottish sheep in the hallway. There were also weavers, spinners, bag pipers and dancers.

“People were playing the Celtic harp,” Sandrock said. “I thought that was wonderful.”

So Sandrock “befriended” the performers and joined their group, attending their monthly gatherings.

“I didn’t have a harp, but I didn’t think about it. They just had wonderful snacks and wonderful tea. They would play and I would be sitting there enjoying their company, tea and a sweet.”

The summer when her father passed away, Sandrock fell into a deep funk. Her husband bought her a harp, hoping to raise her spirits.

She learned to play. She even trained at the Scottish Arts School in Ohio.

When a student asked Sandrock to teach her how to play the harp, a new avenue of education opened. Her class grew from that one musician to seven when then-principal Dr. Jeff Matty suggested she teach a harp class at school.

“He didn’t have to twist my arm. I said ‘yes,'” she said.

At one point, there were 42 students playing the harp. Once they started attending high school, an ensemble group was formed. Today, students as well as adults joined the group.

Today, Sandrock directs both the string band and the harp group. While two separate entities, they combine for events such as Sunday’s Tartan Day celebration at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Bethel Park, where the Ringgold Harp and String Ensemble kicked off festivities.

“Tartan Day is an awesome day,” said Sandrock, whose grandmother was born in Kilmarnock. “It’s when people get to come and celebrate the traditions of Scotland, their heritage, the food, the music. I think besides Americans, the best people are Scottish people.