HarmonicaUK (formerly the National Harmonica League) is a UK-based organisation for

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

players and enthusiasts of all styles of harmonica – chromatic, diatonic, tremolo, chord, bass – and music – traditional, blues, popular, jazz and classical. It has been active since 1935. HarmonicaUK is a registered Charity (England & Wales), and its current President is Paul Jones. Previous Presidents include

Larry Adler Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. ...

and

Ronald Chesney Ronald Chesney (born René Lucien Cadier; 4 May 1920 – 12 April 2018) and Ronald Wolfe (born Harvey Ronald Wolfe-Luberoff; 8 August 1922 – 18 December 2011) were British television comedy scriptwriters, best known for their 1960s and 1970s si ...

. The current Chair is Barry Elms. Previous Chairs include Pete Hewitt, Ben Hewlett, Roger Trobridge, Colin Mort and John Walton. The Charity changed its name to HarmonicaUK at the AGM in Nov 2020. HarmonicaUK is based in Great Britain, but has members and contributors from around the world, and membership is open to anyone. It welcomes players of all levels, including beginners, and it can help with questions about getting started or improving your playing ability. It organises festivals, events and tuition meetings. The festival includes workshops, concerts and a harmonica contest which has been won by many players who went on to play professionally, including

Philip Achille Philip Achille is a British harmonica player who attended Solihull School, a British private school in the West Midlands. He is currently studying chromatic harmonica at the Royal College of Music. Achille is also able to play the bass and the s ...

. The Saturday Evening Festival Concert features top artists from around the world – including Joe Filisko,

Brendan Power Brendan Power is a New Zealand harmonica player, composer and inventor, living in Britain. Born in Mombasa, Kenya, Power's family moved to New Zealand in 1965 where he later attended Canterbury University at Christchurch, gaining a Bachelor of Ar ...

, Willi Berger, Greg Zlap, Lee Oskar, Will Galison, and Donald Black. Other festivals are held throughout the year. The main annual festival was held in The Bristol Folk House until 2018, and the 2019 Festival was held in Gloucester. The 2020 and 2021 virtual festivals were held online because of social distancing requirements; the virtual festivals enabled us to bring top artists from around the world to perform for our members and the wider public on a voluntary donation basis where proceeds went to the artists. The 2022 festival returned as a live event in Rednal, Birminham. As experience with conferencing software like Zoom spread to most of our members, other online events such as the weekly free "Lockdown" tuition sessions (now Saturday Sessions) and a weekly "Friday Coffee Morning" where members meet socially and chat. HarmonicaUK publishes a members' magazine, ''Harmonica World'', four times a year. The magazine is in A5 format, and contains articles covering tuition, harmonica history, artists, members' experiences and technical reviews and news of events, recordings and new products.

For information on membership, the magazine and events visit the HarmonicaUK website -

1935 establishments in the United Kingdom Music organisations based in the United Kingdom Harmonica Organizations established in 1935 {{music-org-stub