Elaine Christy is an American harpist. She has performed at high-profile concert halls including Steinway Hall, Carnegie's Weill Hall, and with the CBS Orchestra on the television show ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

''. In 2012, she is an instructor of harp at Princeton University.

Career

Beginnings

Christy attended William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa. During these years, she studied with notable harpists including Margaret Ling, Jane Weidensaul, and Kathleen Bride. She worked as an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

teacher while continuing her education and training in Kansas. In 1981, she was a finalist in the professional division of the American Harp Society National Competition, and won a ''Lorraine Close Award'' during the contest. In 1984, she was placed first in the ''American Harp Society National Competition'', and won three top awards at this competition in 1984. In addition, she won the ''Ruth Lorraine Close'' award a second time. She earned a Ph.D. from the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. Christy was an instructor of

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

at the University of Kansas and

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. Since 2001, she has taught harp at Princeton University. Her publications about harp and playing methodology have been cited by other scholars.

Performances and teaching

Christy has performed as a soloist in numerous venues. She performed at the World Harp Congress in Seattle-Tacoma in 1999 and in Geneva, Switzerland in 2002. She traveled to Israel to premier a work sponsored by Zamir Bavel. She has given numerous concerts and recitals in the New York metropolitan area, including at the

Unitarian Church in Summit Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") congregation in Summit, New Jersey, formally organized in 1908 as The Unitarian Church in Summit. It is active in social justice initiatives and received the U ...

in New Jersey. In addition, she has performed with numerous musical artists, including violists Marjorie Selden and Jessica Thompson, and with numerous flautists including Lucian Rinando, Jill Crawford and Judith Pearce. She was a founding member of the ''Venus Trio'' which was a winner of the Artists International Competition. She has performed with the ''North Jersey Harp Ensemble'' including Kimberly DeRosa, Robbin Gordon-Cartier, Elizabeth Khoury, Diane Michaels and Kelly Rafferty. She recorded at least two music CDs. Reviewer Carol Swanson described her music as "mesmerizing". She plays with an ensemble of Princeton faculty called the ''Richardson Chamber Players''. Christy has served on the board of the American Harp Society. In addition, as a professor of

, she has been published in the ''

American Harp Journal The American Harp Society, Inc. (AHS) is a non-profit organization. Founded in 1962, the AHS is an organization of harpists with more than 3,000 members from all 50 states and 20 countries. The organization is currently led by President Lynne Aspnes ...

'' and the '' World Harp Congress Review''. She has taught numerous students, including harpist Allison Cheung.

Recordings

* ''Celestial Sounds of Christmas'', Twinz Records * ''Enchanted Love'', with Patricia Davila (flute)

References

External links

Elaine Christy plays Dulcis Amor with the Rutgers Glee Club
see 1:18, 6:58 on the video {{DEFAULTSORT:Christy, Elaine Living people William Penn University alumni University of Kansas alumni Kansas State University alumni Manhattan School of Music alumni Princeton University faculty American classical harpists Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century American women musicians American women academics