Calvin Arsenia Bio
Gaining widespread recognition for his soulful vocals and virtuosic classical-harp playing, Calvin Arsenia is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to his solo work, Arsenia has collaborated with a variety of artists across different media, including film and television, and has performed at numerous festivals and venues around the world. He is known for his heartfelt and introspective lyrics that often touch on themes of love, loss, and personal growth. Arsenia's music has been described as a blend of folk, pop, and R&B, and he continues to use his gift of music to draw bridges between communities separated by race, class, gender, sex, and/or religious beliefs.
Since 2023, Arsenia has been the director of an intimate concert venue and community space in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, called Greenwood Social Hall - the location he filmed his award-winning music video featuring his cover of Britney Spears's Toxic.
Alongside his best friend and co-host New York based comedian Justin Randall, Arsenia explores the ups and downs of being a queer person raised in the Evangelical Church in the 2020-2021 podcast We Were Christian Kids.
In 2021, Arsenia released a book of poems and short stories called Every Good Boy Does Fine; Both a journey of individual healing and a call for action, these poems show that, with a little love and acceptance, anyone can flourish.
Calvin Arsenia Recorded Works
Calvin Arsenia Projects
Calvin Arsenia Contact
PRESS
Feb 22 2026 “Valentine's Day with Calvin Arsenia & Friends” 90.9 The Bridge
Dec 7 2024 “KC harpist defies the instrument’s ‘girly’ reputation, plays to transcend audience” Kansas City Star
Jul 24 2024 “Calvin Arsenia Enchants in Northeast Arts KC’s Summer Dusk Concert Series” Northeast News
Jul 1 2024 “Calvin Arsenia is in a good place—literally.” In Kanas City Magazine
Jun 24, 2022 College View Elementary students to march in Denver Pride Parade with mentor (Calvin Arsenia). Denver 7 News
Aug 24, 2021 Black Voices: WATCH: Calvin Arsenia + Ramy Essam, "Toward the Sunأخر العتمه نور” The Bluegrass Situation
Aug 11, 2021 “He glides onto stage with a cheeky elegance and, from the tip of his rose-crowned head, through the pillar of his Rainbow Acoustic Electric harp, to the souls of his sometimes bare feet, Calvin tells stories.” AnotherSlice.life
Jan 25, 2020 "In this episode of Healing Masculine, Calvin and I play ourselves through a conversation on the freedom and confines of musicality, and how that relates to masculinity." Healing Masculine
Jan 24, 2020 "It’s easy to get trapped in the mindset of thinking about the harp as a part of his sound, but there is so much more about the artist." Crazeology
Jan 23, 2020 "A recent Calvin Arsenia album is a milestone in his professional and personal growth." NPR
Jun 10 2015 “We're proud of you and thankful you have made the Library a part of your life.” Johnson County Library
“ What may seem like genre-hopping in his latest album, Cantaloupe, is actually Arsenia looking past the boundaries of his gospel background and classical training to find the most direct line of expression to inform our common struggles.”
“Arsenia’s music is highly conceptual and genre-elusive, so the show was equal parts opera, symphony, musical theater, rock show, all built around its creator: a charismatic 6-foot-7-inch harpist with natural stage command and knack for gilding gold and painting lilies.” - Tim Finn
“In his dark, orchestral-driven cover, Arsenia weaves in and out of the melody with Eurythmics-style dreaminess. The strings pulsate along tight, vibrating lines vacillate between reality and surrealism.”
— Popdust
“Arsenia blends his classically-trained voice with jazz and electronic influences, creating a melody that lulls you into his own dimension. Then when you hear his Celtic harp solo, you realize this artist is playing by his rules alone.”
