The American Harp Society is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1962. With over three thousand members and ninety chapters in the United States and Canada, it is the largest organization of harpists in the world. The current president of the society is Lucy Clark Scandrett. The idea for a society of harpists first came from Pierre Jamet of France in 1959 while at the First International Harp Contest in Israel. Marcel Grandjany was intrigued and decided to look into the idea and eventually chaired a committee of leading harpists. Three years later, in 1962, he had the Founding Committee meet in his apartment and the American Harp Society was born. The main goal of the American Harp Society is "to promote and foster the appreciation of the harp as a musical instrument, to encourage the composition of music for the harp and to improve the quality of performance of harpists." Every two years, the society holds a conference with lectures, workshops, masterclasses, and performances. In the off-years between conferences, they hold a summer institute for student harpists. This allows the students to work with some of the world's most renowned harpists and teachers and compete in the competitions put on by the society for monetary prizes. In addition, the American Harp Society publishes the American Harp Journal on a bi-annual basis. The journal features articles about various harpists, bibliographies, educational content and all things relating to the harp.