​HarpBeat is the collaborative creation of percussionist Fabio Pirozzolo and harpist Shelley Otis. Their music blends the soft sounds of the lever harp with the lively rhythms created by hand percussion. The Peruvian cajon, the African djembe and the Southern Italian tamburello find their home in the sweet and haunting sound of the harp. The duo merges elements of pop and world music into a dynamic and entertaining musical act.  

A multi-year award winner on the Knot, Wedding Wire, and Gigmasters, harpist Shelley Otis plays for more than 100 weddings and private events per year. She has been featured in concerts both as a soloist and with the Celtic band Ulster Landing. As a composer and arranger for the harp, she has traveled in Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador, interviewing and collaborating with harpists from the arpa llanera tradition. 

Fabio Pirozzolo is an Italian drummer, multi-percussionist and singer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from Terracina, Italy, he started his career as a folk percussionist, playing Italian frame drums tamburello and tammorra, in one of the most famous folk groups in his area. This experience gave him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, playing concerts and giving lectures on regional Italian frame drum techniques. A summa cum laude graduate from Berklee College of Music, he performs in virtually any genre of music from jazz to world music to rock. He’s the co-founder of the world music ensemble Grand Fatilla and Italian folk music ensemble Newpoli where he plays percussion and sings. Highly in demand both as a drummer and as percussionist, he’s currently the drummer for The Guruganesha Band, Vanessa Trien and The Jumping Monkeys and the Union United Methodist Church Band; and the percussionist for Revma Greek Ensemble, Musaner, Cesni Trio, Saawari, and Arev Armenian Folk ensemble. His experiences have led him to drum for Herb Reed’s Platters, Mario Frangoulis, George Perris, Jon Butcher and Petroloukas Halkias among other world class performers. He also collaborates with Berklee College world-class teachers Skip Hadden and Casey Scheuerell. Fabio has taught master classes at Berklee, Harvard and Tufts University and has worked at Emerson College and Boston Conservatory as an accompanist for dance classes. He’s the author of the drum transcriptions for Skip Hadden’s drum book "Profiles in Jazz Drumming" and "Broken Eight’s Time Feel". His transcriptions are also featured on the Italian drum magazine "Batteria e Percussioni", "Batteria", "Percussionista" and on Polish drum magazine "Top Drummer".

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