Franziska Huhn (born 1977 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany) is a German

harpist 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 orc ...

. Currently, she lives in the United States.

Early life and education

Franziska Huhn was born in Berlin, Germany in 1977. She began with harp playing at the age of nine. When she was 14, she won the German prize ''

Jugend musiziert ''Jugend musiziert'' is a music competition for children and adolescents in Germany on regional, federal and national level. ''Jugend musiziert'' in Germany In Germany, the nationwide competition refers to young adults up to 20 years and for the ...

''. On a fellowship, she studied at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

with

Lucile Lawrence Lucile Lawrence (February 7, 1907 in New Orleans – July 8, 2004 in Englewood, New Jersey) was a leader among American harpists. At the end of her life, she was actively teaching as a faculty member of Boston University and the Manhattan School o ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree. She continued her studies with

Ann Hobson Pilot Ann Hobson Pilot (born November 6, 1943) is an American musician and the former principal harpist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and as a solois ...

at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

and earned a master's degree in harp performance. In 2005, she was awarded the Artist's Diploma as the first ever harpist by the conservatory.

Orchestra and Ensembles

Franziska Huhn has participated in many orchestras and festivals including

Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO) is a youth orchestra based in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1986 by conductor Claudio Abbado, and named after Gustav Mahler. It is an associated member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras. ...

, the

Pacific Music Festival The Pacific Music Festival (パシフィック・ミュージック・フェスティバル) is an international classical music festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan. It was founded in 1990 by Leonard Bernstein, along with the London Symphony Or ...

in Japan and the

Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and T ...

. A Fromm Player since 2003, she returned to Tanglewood to perform contemporary music. Huhn is also active in and around the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area performing as a substitute harpist with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

and playing regularly with chamber music ensembles such as the Walden Chamber Players, the Callithumpian Consort, and Sound Icon. Her reputation for contemporary music is such that composers such as

Lior Navok Lior Navok (born September 6, 1971) (Hebrew: ליאור נבוק) is an Israeli classical composer, conductor and pianist. He was born in Tel Aviv. His music has been performed internationally by orchestras and ensembles including the Oper Frankf ...

have composed pieces for her to perform. She has given numerous solo recitals throughout the United States as well as in Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Syria, Pakistan and Germany. She was featured in a recital on WGBH in "Live from Studio 1." In 2007, her album Harp Solo was released.

Teaching

Since 2003, Huhn has been the Assistant Director of the Harp Seminar at

Boston University Tanglewood Institute The Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is a summer music training program for students age 10 to 20 in Lenox, Massachusetts, under the auspices of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. History BUTI was envisioned in 1965 when E ...

. In 2012, she joined the faculty of the summer camp Connecticut Valley Harp Intensive. Huhn serves as harp faculty at the

, directs the Harp Department at the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New E ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, and recently joined the faculty at Boston University College of Fine Arts.

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huhn, Franziska 1977 births Musicians from Berlin German harpists Classical harpists Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni New England Conservatory alumni Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg alumni Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty German music educators German expatriates in the United States Living people