Western Early Keyboard Association

About WEKA

Since 1998 WEKA has served the early keyboard community in the western United States. WEKA welcomes harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano, and organ enthusiasts, both professional and amateur. WEKA seeks to promote mutual interests, foster communication, and share resources and expertise.

In 1997, several of our colleagues in Berkeley, led by founding president, Elaine Thornburgh, conceived the vision of an early keyboard society for the western states, similar to the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society and the Midwestern Historical Keyboard Society (these societies merged in 2012 to become Historical Keyboard Society of North America or HKSNA). The new  Western Early Keyboard Association was born as an Institutional Member of MusicSources (established by Laurette Goldberg) in order to offer annual conferences. 

In 2009, Barb King of Anacortes and Jillon Dupree of Seattle established WEKA as an independent non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Washington. Soirees, workshops and recitals were offered in Washington and California locations.

In 2015, Leta Huang, Lynn Hanson and Paul Irvin settled WEKA in Portland at Reed College with its Early Keyboard Collection established by Bonnie Garrett. The collection has made it possible to offer several solo keyboard recitals each year featuring national and international performers, as well as those from the western states. In Portland, WEKA has gained 501(c)(3) status, initiated an electronic newsletter and presence on Facebook, and now offers video recordings of our live programs free on YouTube. Our membership and social media subscribers continue to increase and broaden. And in 2025, WEKA continued our original tradition of the annual conference by co-sponsoring a HKSNA regional meeting.

See All Events for a list of all known WEKA events, beginning with the inaugural concert in 1998. If you know of events that we’ve missed in this list, please let us know. 

WEKA Board of Directors

• President, Treasurer, Publicity – Lynn Hanson, Toledo, WA

• Vice President – Paul Irvin, Portland, OR

• Secretary – Carol lei Breckenridge, Milwaukie, OR

• Video Producer – Paul Hanau, Portland, OR

• Director – Barbara Baird, Eugene, OR

• Director – Angeline Case-Stott, Nashville, TN (formerly of Camas, WA)

• Director – Sonia Lee, Pasadena, CA

WEKA Past Board Members