Background
The daughter of a public school music teacher in the Carmel, New York district, she won numerous international competitions starting at a young age.
The daughter of a public school music teacher in the Carmel, New York district, she won numerous international competitions starting at a young age.
Juilliard School; Yale University.
Since 1999 she has been the Principal Harpist of the New York Philharmonic, playing under music director and conductor Lorin Maazel, and in her 20-year teaching career has trained many successful students as well as serving concurrently as head of the harp departments at the Juilliard School (where she received her bachelor"s and master"s degrees) and Aspen Music Festival and School. She was formerly the head of the harp department at the Yale School of Music. She has made numerous recordings (one nominated for a Grammy Award) and has performed solo concerts for thirty years.
Her sister Barbara Allen is the principal harpist for the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra and the Greenwich Symphony.
Her sister Jane Allen is the principal harpist for the Eugene Symphony.