GTS Professor Releases New Harp Album Exploring the Intersection of Music and Spiritual Inquiry
NEW YORK, October 10, 2026 - The General Theological Seminary (GTS) is excited to announce the release of Aphelion, a new album by the Rev. Dr. April Stace, Associate Professor of Practical Theology, exploring the intersection of music and spiritual inquiry.
Aphelion, which takes its title from the term for the point in an orbit farthest from the sun, explores the space that opens up when familiar structures fall away. The album combines original harp compositions, poetry, storytelling, and visual art to create an immersive experience that walks the line between concert and contemplative retreat.
Dr. Stace composed the album during a season of profound transition that included her only child going to college and a solo journey through New Mexico. The project explores what can emerge when the life we know disappears and we find ourselves somewhere unfamiliar.
Musically, Aphelion moves between contemporary classical, ambient, and experimental influences, pairing the harp’s ancient resonance with an expansive, modern sound. Across her work as an artist, writer and practical theologian, Dr. Stace is drawn to questions of attention, wonder, grief, beauty, and the gifts of solitude.
Dr. Stace said: “My work at GTS has always been rooted in the idea that theology often begins before we have words for it, in the feeling that something – beauty, grief, an encounter with another person – matters before we understand why. Aphelion is my attempt to do theology in sound and image, and to stay with those experiences long enough to see what they might reveal.”
Recorded with Grammy-award-winning sound engineer Will Russell, Aphelion is being launched with a series of concerts in New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, and continuing onto the west coast in early 2027. During these performances, Dr. Stace will weave live harp, poetry, storytelling, and projected imagery together, extending her practice of theology beyond the written and spoken word and into sound, image, silence, and shared space.
A lifelong musician, Dr. Stace began playing the harp at the age of seven and holds a degree in harp performance and composition from the University of Maryland. She has spent more than two decades working in ministry, teaching, and the arts.
Aphelion can be streamed on all major streaming platforms or purchased at www.aprilstace.com. Music videos and poetry can be streamed at https://www.youtube.com/@AprilHarp/videos.
Concert Details:
Saturday, October 10, 7:00 p.m. Official CD Release Concert Church of the Epiphany Trumansburg, NY
Wednesday, October 21, 7:00 p.m. The Crossing 1127 University Ave. Madison, WI
Saturday, October 24, 7:00 p.m. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 131 E. Ridge St. Marquette, MI
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00 p.m. Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago 416 S. Cornell Ave., Fourth Floor Chicago, IL https://lstc.edu/event/october-chapel-queer-artist-in-residence-the-rev-dr-april-stace/
Notes to editors:
For media enquiries, please contact Nicky Burridge, Senior Vice President for Communications and Institutional Advancement at GTS. Tel: (703) 461-1782 Mobile: (703) 300-2876 Email: nburridge@gts.edu
Photo caption: The Rev. Dr. April Stace, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at The General Theological Seminary.
About The General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of The Episcopal Church was founded in 1817. It is the oldest seminary of The Episcopal Church and has educated and formed leaders for the church in a changing world for more than 200 years. The Seminary was chartered by an act of The Episcopal Church’s General Convention and its name was chosen to reflect its founders’ vision that it be a seminary to serve the whole church. Today, General forms leaders for ordained ministry through theological education in the Anglican tradition, bringing together students from across the nation through online learning, residential intensives, and faculty-guided mentor groups.