She is a harpist born in Long Island, New York who staarted learning the piano when she was 4 years old and moved to the harp when she was about eight. She received the Naumberg Award and studied at Juilliard School for her bachelors and masters degrees in music.
In 1981 she became Principal Harp with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and in 1987 she was appointed Principal Harp with the New York Philharmonic by Zubin Mehta. She remained with the orchestra for 10 years.
In 1997 Daniel Barenboim appointed Sarah as Principal Harp of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, often performing as a soloist, where she remained until her retirement in September 2021 after 24 year’s service and completing more than 20 international tours. On her retirement the orchestra’s music director Riccardo Muti presented her with the CSO’s Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service.
Receiving many accolades she was named by Harp Column magazine as “one of the foremost harpists of the 20th century”.
Recordings she has performed on include her own The Essential Harp along with Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3 and the film soundtrack of Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Jeanne Baxtresser: Principal Flute of the New York Philharmonic and Lullaby by John Roberts.
Her work as an author has seen her publishing the best-selling two volume Principal Harp: A Guidebook for the Orchestral Harpist. She has co-authored Anthology of Harp Duets Volume One.
In the field of musical education she has lectured and judged, as well as performing as a soloist and chamber musician, at the USA International Harp Competition, the World Harp Congress and many American Harp Society conferences. She has taught numerous master classes nationally and internationally and once served as chairperson of the Manhattan School of Music’s Harp Department. She served on the faculty of DePaul University and Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts as a professor of harp. She has also run her own private studio.
Sources:
- https://cso.org/media/pmpac1np/cso-principal-harp-sarah-bullen-to-retire-after-24-years_08-12-21.pdf
- https://cso.org/experience/article/1309/principal-harp-sarah-bullen-serves-as-an-amba
- https://slippedisc.com/2021/08/chicago-symphonys-harp-retires/
- https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/4/21/18393073/harpist-sarah-bullen-chicago-symphony-orchestra-shine-in-debussy-s-dances
- https://www.theharpstudio.co.uk/ourshop/prod_3925005-Principal-Harp-Book-One-by-Sarah-Bullen.html
- https://harpcolumn.com/academy/sarah-bullen-3/
- https://www.facebook.com/harpcolumn/posts/chicago-symphony-orchestra-principal-harpist-sarah-bullen-is-joining-the-faculty/2464012327040750/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sarah-bullen-mn0001647840/credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4003884-Sarah-Bullen