Elizabeth Hainen

Born in Toledo, Ohio, harpist Elizabeth Hainen started taking violin and piano lessons at age four and harp lessons at ten, later making her debut with the Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra at 14. She attended Indiana University School of Music, where she studied with Susann McDonald, and she received a performance certificate in 1987; by 1991, she had earned two performance degrees. She was the first prize winner of the American String Teachers Association Competition in 1988, the winner of the silver medal at the USA International Harp Competition in 1989, and the winner of the Chicago Symphony Civic Orchestra Competition in 1990. Hainen was the principal harpist of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., before becoming the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal harpist in 1994. She has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, the Mozart Society of Philadelphia, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico State Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, the City of London Sinfonia, the Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Hainen is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and, as part of Curtis Summerfest, she heads the Elizabeth Hainen Harp Colony. She has recorded for Naxos, Avie, and Lyon & Healy's Egan label.
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