HARPIST ZOE
Zoe is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University, where she received her Master of Music degree in Harp Performance and Pedagogy. Zoe is active as a freelance harpist and pianist, and music teacher. She has maintained a large studio of piano and harp students for many years and is the harp instructor at University of Mary Washington and the Washington DC Youth Orchestra Program. Zoe’s beginner harp curriculum, Happy Harps, has been featured on Harp Column’s “Back to School” podcast and a session of Harp Teachers Gathering, and is available from a variety of respected harp music distributors!
As a harpist, Zoe has had solo performances throughout the Baltimore/Washington area. She has played at the Kennedy Center with the In Series, Avanti Orchestra, the DC Youth Orchestra, and the Washington Chamber Orchestra, and performed with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, Washington Opera Society, Washington Harp Ensemble, Shakespeare Opera Theatre, Londontowne Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, the Alexandria Symphony, the Fairfax City Band, the McLean Symphony, and the Salisbury Symphony. Zoe regularly plays for High Tea at the Mandarin Oriental and Willard InterContinental hotels. A recent performance included collaborations with Denyce Graves, Jennifer Nettles, and Joshua Bell.
During her time at Peabody, Zoe played principal harp with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, collaborated with chamber groups, and performed for both the Thursday Noon and Road Scholar series concerts. Zoe was also deeply involved with the Harp Adventures program, which provides low-cost lessons and ensemble opportunities to students in the Baltimore area.
Zoe also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. While at Skidmore, Zoe studied a range of subjects, chaired the Traditions Committee for two years, gave two full-length solo recitals, and received a number of awards, including the Filene Fellow award and Periclean Award nomination for distinguished senior project. Zoe had long desired to study the harp, but first got the chance to do so as a sophomore at Skidmore. Soon, she was performing with the Skidmore Orchestra and Vocal Chamber Ensemble. Zoe spent a semester studying music abroad in Vienna, Austria, where she also taught English at a local elementary school. Following her graduation from Skidmore, Zoe moved to Guangdong Province, China, to teach English at the prestigious Sun Yat-sen University.
Zoe has studied with wonderful and supportive instructors, including Dr. Ruth K. Inglefield (harp), Ms. Elizabeth Huntley (harp), Dr. Pola Baytelman (piano), and Dr. Richard Hihn (piano). She has received supplemental instruction from a number of pianists and composers from the New York-based Ensemble ACJW, and has performed in masterclasses by harpists Dan Yu and Bridget Kibbey, and pianists Arnaldo Cohen and Andre-Michel Schub. Zoe is a member of the Friday Morning Music Club and the American Harp Society.