Houston based harpist Emily Klein is the Principal Harpist with Opera in the Heights and is the Artist in Residence with the Houston Methodist Hospital. Ms. Klein regularly performs with the Houston Symphony and in March 2018, joined the orchestra for their European Tour. From 2012-2015, Emily was a member of the Young Artist Program at Da Camera of Houston where she developed the Holocaust Music Project and performed at the Wortham Theater Center, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Rothko Chapel, and for Houston Independent School District middle and high school students. Emily was awarded an American Harp Society (AHS) Grant to continue the Holocaust Music Project in the Alief Independent School District from 2015-2016.

In addition to her diverse performance career, Ms. Klein serves as the President for the Greater Houston Chapter of the American Harp Society and teaches the harp at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and The Kinkaid School.  Ms. Klein received her high school diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy and obtained her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she was a student of Paula Page, the former Houston Symphony Principal Harpist.

Emily’s concept for Harpisphere grew from her studies as a young harpist in Philadelphia to her college days studying at summer music festivals both in the US and in Europe. Her years of growing up performing with a dedicated harp ensemble in Philadelphia under the tutelage of Kimberly Rowe, studying at Interlochen Arts Camp with the mentorship of Joan Raeburn Holland, and learning at Rice University from Paula Page, a student of the Salzedo school, shaped the creation for Harpisphere’s inaugural workshop.

Joan Raeburn Holland is Resident Instructor of Harp for the Interlochen Arts
Academy and Interlochen Arts Camp, and Associate Professor of Harp for the School
of Music, Theatre and Dance of the University of Michigan. In addition to her strong
commitment to teaching, she maintains an active career in solo, chamber, concerto
performances and orchestral performing. She is currently principal harpist for the
Midland (MI) Symphony Orchestra, co-principal of the Traverse Symphony
Orchestra, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and is substitute harpist for other
Michigan orchestras. Before joining the faculty at Interlochen, she was principal
harp for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Ballet Orchestra. She
has performed as substitute harpist for the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh
Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Ohio Chamber Orchestra.
From the age of twelve and continuing through college, Ms. Raeburn Holland was a
student of Alice Chalifoux, earning a Bachelor’s in Harp Performance from the
Cleveland Institute of Music. Her early years of harp were with Eieen Malone in the
preparatory department of the Eastman School of Music.
Joan and her husband David Holland, professional violist and conductor, have two
children, Jennifer and her family, and John, both actively involved in music and
visual arts.

Paula Page, born in Odessa, Texas and raised in Philadelphia, served as Principal Harpist of the Houston Symphony from 1984 until her retirement from the orchestra in 2014. Prior to her Houston appointment, she was a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony in the dual positions of harpist and keyboard artist.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Miss Page began her career as Principal Harpist of the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra. She has been guest harpist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, and is Principal Harpist of the Grand Teton Music Festival. Miss Page is a frequent participant in various chamber music series in Houston and has been featured at several national conferences of the American Harp Society and at two meetings of the World Harp Congress. She has served as a judge for numerous competitions including the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) and the Corpus Christi International competition. In 2006 Miss Page was honored to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Always eager to combine performance and pedagogy, she has served on the faculties of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, University of Oklahoma, Temple University Institute, Carnegie-Mellon University, Interlochen Arts Camp and is currently Associate Professor of Harp at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. During the summer she is a member of the faculty at the Texas Music Festival and the International Festival-Institute at Round Top.

Following in the pattern of her primary mentor, Alice Chalifoux, Paula Page combines her performance career as Principal Harp of the Houston Symphony and teaching experience at several universities and music festivals. Her experience is an invaluable resource to her students. Graduates of The Shepherd School Harp Studio are assuming various posts with orchestra and chamber music ensembles as well as with notable educational institutions.

Miss Page comes from a highly successful musical family. Her father is Robert Page, conductor and her mother, Glynn Page, recently retired from the Department of Drama at Carnegie-Mellon University. Her sister, soprano Carolann Page, is an established artist in opera, Broadway and recital.

Allegra Lilly was appointed Principal Harp of the Houston Symphony in February of 2023. She previously held the Principal Harp position with the St. Louis Symphony from 2013 to 2023. She has appeared as Guest Principal Harp with the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Charlotte Symphony, and has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and All-Star Orchestra.

Since making her solo debut at the age of twelve with the Detroit Symphony, Lilly has performed as soloist with the Lexington Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, International Symphony, Camerata Notturna, and numerous ensembles in New York and her home state of Michigan. During her ten seasons with the St. Louis Symphony, she appeared as soloist three times, performing Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane, Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp with flutist Mark Sparks, and Ginastera’s Harp Concerto. Her festival appearances have included Brevard Music Center, Grand Teton Music Festival, Arizona Musicfest, Tanglewood Music Center, Artosphere Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, National Repertory Orchestra, and Castleton Festival. Lilly is a dedicated chamber musician and has performed as a featured guest artist with the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, Missouri Chamber Music Festival, Innsbrook Institute Music Festival, Missouri River Festival of the Arts, Argento New Music Project, and Carnegie Hall’s EnsembleConnect.

In addition to holding the harp faculty position at Brevard Music Center since 2017, Lilly is the current Harp Artist-in-Residence for the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. She has also given masterclasses at many of the top conservatories and universities in the United States and has coached orchestral and chamber music for NYO-USA, NYO2, New World Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center, and the preparatory divisions of The Juilliard School and New England Conservatory. Born in Detroit, Lilly began her study of the harp with Ruth Myers at age seven. She was also a competitive pianist as a child, winning numerous state and local awards before electing to focus exclusively on the harp in college. She went on to join the studio of New York Philharmonic Principal Harpist Nancy Allen at The Juilliard School, where she earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees.

Naomi Hoffmeyer is a freelance artist and educator based in Houston. She has been the Principal Harpist of both the California and Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestras since 2013, and has performed as a guest musician with ensembles including the Houston Symphony and Ballet, as well as the San Francisco Symphony and Ballet. As an educator, Naomi maintains a private studio and is a co-director of the Houston Youth Harp Ensemble.

Naomi received her Master of Music and Artist Diploma Degrees with Paula Page at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. She also trained under Douglas Rioth and Ann Hobson Pilot at the San Francisco and New England Conservatories. In addition to her conservatory studies, she credits much of her musical and personal development to her time spent at the Interlochen Arts Academy.

While maintaining an active musical schedule, Naomi is an enthusiast of the culinary arts and holds a degree in Pâtisserie and Baking from the California Culinary Academy. She grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, and spends her spare time walking, reading, and helping her pets Rosy and Henry live their best lives.

Dr. Brandon Bell is the general manager at DACAMERA, where he was formerly the education director and artistic administrator. He has served in administrative roles at AFA (American Festival for the Arts) in Houston and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Dr. Bell was in the 2017 cohort of the League of American Orchestra’s Essentials of Orchestra Management program and was a fellow in the 2019 National Arts Strategies Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. He has curated, produced, and performed in many artistic initiatives. He currently serves on the boards of Houston Theater District and the Monarch Chamber Players. A classically trained percussionist, he received a B.M. from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

​Flutist Izumi Miyahara is a freelance artist and educator based in Houston,
Texas.  She is a frequent guest musician with the Houston Symphony, Houston
Grand Opera, and Houston Ballet orchestras, and holds positions with the
Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont, TX, and the Corpus Christi
Symphony Orchestra. Additional engagements include the San Antonio,
Sarasota (FL), Louisiana, New World (Miami), and Breckenridge (CO) Music
Festival Orchestras. 
 
A recipient of the 2018 “Let Creativity Happen!” Express Grant from the City of
Houston and Houston Arts Alliance, Izumi maintains a private flute studio and is
an artist-faculty member of Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual
Arts, American Festival of the Arts, and Lone Star College-Cy-Fair. In addition to her musical activities, she is a 200 RYT certified yoga instructor in the Pralaya Yoga System. She is a
graduate of the Juilliard School Pre-College Program, and holds a Bachelor of
Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a
Master of Music from Rice University.

Pam Blaine is a leader in the arts education and community engagement field, having directed programs in a variety of orchestras throughout the US.  As a classically trained harpist, she has built a career that merges her passion for music with a desire to bridge the gap between arts providers and the needs of their communities. In her most recent position as Chief of Education and Community Engagement at the Houston Symphony, she developed the nationally recognized Community-Embedded Musicians role and training program, annually serving over 100,000 Houston residents through musical performance and interactive musical experiences through partnerships with schools, dementia centers, hospitals and juvenile probation centers.  

Prior to her tenure in Houston, Blaine served as Vice President of Education and Community Engagement at the Pacific Symphony in Orange County, CA, and led education departments at the Baltimore, Utah and Grand Rapids symphonies.  She served on the League of American Orchestras Education & Community Engagement Leadership Team for 13 years, including most recently as Chair of the group.  

Blaine is a certified yoga and meditation instructor and specializes in teaching accessible classes to people of all walks of life and experience levels.  She attended Southern Methodist University where she earned a Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Art in Arts Administration, and Bachelors of Music in harp performance.  She’s also a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy.