Camille and Kennerly Kitt

Biography

The twins began playing piano as children, followed by the harp in junior high school. They earned money for their first harp by taking on jobs such as babysitting and dog-walking in order to show their mom they were serious about playing the harp. Their first harp was a pre-owned lever harp.

Both sisters hold a Bachelor of Music degree in Harp Performance and graduated with highest honors at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music; however, although they were trained classically, the Kitt twins' true musical passion is arranging and performing contemporary music for harp duets. They are also third-degree black belts in Taekwondo, and former Taekwondo instructors. While sparring, Kennerly broke two of her fingers, whereas Camille required stitches in her face as the result of a puncture wound sustained while holding a board that Kennerly was breaking; these incidents made them decide to stop practicing martial arts, focusing on the harp instead.

Musical career

Camille and Kennerly comprise an internationally performing rock harp duo, commonly referred to as the Harp Twins; they are best known for their duet arrangements of contemporary songs from artists including Iron Maiden, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Rihanna, Guns N' Roses, U2, Coldplay, and Journey, as well as music scored for video games, films, and television. The Harp Twins have posted 69 music videos on YouTube totaling over 25 million views with over 200,000 subscribers as of July 2015. Their cover of "Stairway to Heaven" alone garnered nearly two million YouTube hits as of August 2013 and their version of "Fear of the Dark" received over 2.5 million views as of July 2015.

Bailey Johnson, writing at the CBS News "Feed Blog", described their arrangement of The Cranberries' "Zombie" as an "elegant, wistful and an excellent tribute". Huffington Post arts reporter Mallika Rao said of their Game of Thrones theme arrangement: "Yes, there have been other attempts to cover Ramin Djawadi's haunting tune before, but this one is now the only one." Megan Bledsoe, in her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Harp Performance dissertation remarks that while groups like Harptallica and the Harp Twins provide a new perspective on previous instrumentation choices within these genres, she notes that "the resulting sound of these ensembles, which very closely resembles any harp duet throughout history ... ultimately perpetuates the angelic, calm, feminine stereotypes of the instrument." However, United Kingdom-based heavy metal music magazine Metal Hammer has an alternative assessment of the Harp Twins. In a "Hot New Band" feature on the Harp Twins entitled "Harp Attack", Metal Hammer remarks: "Rather than turn their attention to obvious, classically grounded territory, The Harp Twins have made a name for themselves covering the likes of Iron Maiden, offering classics like Fear of the Dark a fascinating new lease on life."

In October 2014, the Kitt sisters performed and represented the United States at the 8th annual World Harp Festival, in Asunción, Paraguay, which brought together more than 30 national and international artists.

Camille and Kennerly perform on Venus “Classic” Concert Grand pedal harps and Lyon & Healy “Silhouette” Electric lever harps.

Acting

Camille and Kennerly portrayed "The Merry Christians" in the film Politics of Love, directed by William Dear, and "The Marcelli Twins" in the dark teen comedy blacktino, produced by Elizabeth Avellan. Camille and Kennerly can be seen in the trailer for blacktino. Additionally, the Harp Twins had minor roles in Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn.

Albums

Single Releases

The Kitts have released several of their harp duet arrangements online.

Filmography