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.

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.

Dr. Mallory McHenry is the current Lecturer in Harp at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Ausin. Previously, Mallory served on the Texas Christian University School of Music faculty as the Harp Instructor and Professor in the department of Theory and Composition. Mallory is a certified Suzuki harp teacher and a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas as well as a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. She is a member of the American Harp Society and previously sat on the Board of Directors for the Dallas Chapter of the AHS, and now serves the Austin Chapter.  Offering masterclasses in harp performance and composition, Mallory has appeared as a lecturer and guest artist at Andrews University, The University of Northwestern St. Paul, The University of Minnesota, The University of Texas, Oakwood University, The University of Toronto, The Glenn Gould School, Texas Christian University and several academies across the United States.

As an avid performer, Mallory has made appearances with the Austin Civic Orchestra, the Laredo Philharmonic, the Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Dallas Winds. Most recently, Mallory appeared as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Mallory also recently presented recital programs and lectures with the American Harp Society Southern Region as well as the American Harp Society in Dallas in collaboration with the Mu Phi Epsilon Dallas Public Library concert series. Mallory was named a Young Artist in Residence with American Public Media and YourClassical’s program, Performance Today. She was the first harpist to air on the show. The program was recorded at Minnesota Public Radio and aired on local National Public Radio stations. Mallory returned to MPR as a founding member of the chamber group, e(L)ement for the academic school years 2020-2023 as a concert artist with their Class Notes series.

A man whose music is described as “infectious , loud, and fun” (Gramophone Magazine), and “fascinatingly strange” (BBC Music Magazine), Arthur Gottschalk is Professor of Music Composition at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He is regularly performed domestically and overseas, with over 45 recordings on such labels as Navona, Crystal, Naxos, Amirani (Italy), and Delage (France). His orchestral works have been performed by the symphony orchestras of Charleston, New Jersey, Vienna, Bratislava, Galicia (Spain), Fargo-Moorehead, Indianapolis, Houston, Pacific, Atlanta, London, Bangkok, Moscow, Guangxi (China), and St. Petersburg, among others. He has worked in diverse areas of music, including music for feature films and television, music publishing, and as an expert in music copyright cases. Among others, he’s won the First Prize of the VVX Concorso Internazionale di Composizione Originale (Corciano, Italy), and the 2017 Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra Composition Award. He was awarded a Bogliasco Fellowship for work in Italy, residencies at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and was Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2016. The Association of Rice Alumni honored him with their 2016 Meritorious Service Award, in 2018 he was awarded a residency at The MacDowell Colony, and was a featured composer at the 2019 China-ASEAN Music Festival. In 2023 he received the Presidential Award for Mentoring from Rice University, and The International Clarinet Association named him their Composer of the Year.

Janet Rarick is a graduate of the Houston School for the Alexander Technique and is certified to teach through Alexander Technique International. Her long-time interest and study of the Technique has included extensive work with nationally and internationally noted teachers. A musician and professor at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, she teaches courses in the Alexander Technique for Rice University undergraduates and Shepherd School of Music students. 

She has taught workshops and classes in the Alexander Technique throughout the Greater Houston Area and Texas. In the summers, she teaches the Alexander Technique for the one-week Intensives at the  Interlochen Center for the Arts, as well as the Music Academy in Santa Barbara, California. As Associate Professor of Music Career Development at The Shepherd School of Music, Ms. Rarick coaches chamber music, serves as program manager for professional development classes, and directs outreach activities.