She is a harpist born in Toledo, Ohio who began studying the violin and piano from the time she was four and moving to the harp when she was 10 years old. She performed as a concerto soloist with the Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra when she was fourteen and went on to study and earn two degrees in performance and a performance certificate at the Indiana University School of Music. She won the silver medal at the First USA International Harp Competition along with awards at the Chicago Symphony Civic Orchestra and American String Teachers Association competitions.
She served as Principal Harp of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington D.C. before becoming Principal Harp of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1994.
As a soloist she has been a featured performer with many orchestras and ensembles that include the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Anchorage Symphony, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Bulgaria National Radio Orchestra, Camerata Ducale, the Camerata Orchestra (Indiana), the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Iris Orchestra, the Kennedy Centre Orchestra, Mexico State Symphony, the Mozart Society of Philadelphia, the Northwest Sinfonietta, Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional de Columbia, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
As a chamber and new music musician she is a member of the Syrinx Trio and has commissioned works that include the world premiere of Pan Journal with the Juilliard String Quartet for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. The Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned for her Nu Shu: Secret Songs of Women by Tan Dun, which she premiered in the 2014-15 season. A participant in many music festivals she has performed at the Cartagena, Grant Tetons, Marlboro music festivals among others and at the World Harp Congress. A musician in several concert series she has performed nationally and internationally in series of the Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Embassy of France in Washington D.C. and Shanghai Arts Festival along with several others.
Recordings she has featured on include her own Home, Les Amis, Harp Concertos, Elizabeth Hainen Harp and Music for Solo Harp along with String Quartet; Starscape; Sonata; Four Songs After Rexroth by Jan Krzywicki, Music for Diffusing Sleepy Environment – Chapter Harp by Daisuke Matsusaka, Dream Journal by Network for New Music, Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Classical Chill 1 – The Ultimate Collection by various artists.
In the field of musical education she founded the Saratoga Harp Colony in 2004 and provides outreach to school children in Philadelphia through her non- profit foundation The Lyra Society. She has been a faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music since 2005 and also teaches at Temple University’s Boyer School of Music and Dance.
Sources:
- https://www.elizabethhainen.com/biography
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/elizabeth-hainen/
- https://www.elizabethhainen.com/syrinx
- https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/about/artists/strings/elizabeth-hainen/
- https://www.naxos.com/person/Elizabeth_Hainen/2104.htm
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/elizabeth-hainen-mn0001655740/biography
- https://irisorchestra.org/elizabeth-hainen-harp/
- https://www.elizabethhainen.com/albums
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4625571-Elizabeth-Hainen?type=Credits&filter_anv=0
- https://www.curtis.edu/person/elizabeth-hainen/
- https://lyrasociety.org/staff