Barbara Chapman, Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s principal harpist, will perform at Lake Prince Woods retirement community at 7 p.m. Jan. 27. The concert is free and open to the public.

Beginning with the music of the 16th-century Spanish Masters and ending with fun and creative music by living composers, Chapman will take listeners on a 500-year journey to hear music composed specifically for the concert harp.

The program will include information about the evolution of the instrument, as well as a demonstration of the mechanics of the 20th-century concert grand harp. The concert will feature selections by Cabezon, Handel, CPE Bach, Glinka and Grandjany.

Chapman holds the position of principal harp for the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Opera and the Virginia Chamber Players. An active recitalist, she has performed often on the Chamber Music and Organ Swell series of the Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Wesleyan and Old Dominion University Recital series, Vocal Arts and Music Festival of Virginia Tech and as guest artist with the Virginia Chorale and the Virginia Children’s Chorus.

Chapman has held the position of principal harp with the Glimmerglass Opera of New York, New York Grand Opera and toured the United States with the American Harp Society’s Concert Artist Program.

She has performed with numerous musical theatre productions in the New York metropolitan area and was harpist for the long-running original New York production of “The Fantasticks.”

With flutist Debra Wendells Cross, she has presented numerous concerts, recorded four compact discs, and has been broadcast nationally on NPR’s “Performance Today.”

Chapman maintains a small private teaching studio. She has served on the faculty of The College of William and Mary and has led workshops at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the Eastman School of Music, New York.

A graduate of St. Olaf College in her home state of Minnesota, Chapman studied with Anne Adams in San Francisco and Kathleen Bride in New York City. She lives in Norfolk with her husband, Jonathan Miller.