Concert Artist Program

The winner of the Young Professional division of the National Competition serves as the AHS Concert Artist. 

The Concert Artist program provides resources to assist chapters in sponsoring the Concert Artist in performances, classes and/or workshops that benefit local harp communities.  Contact the Concert Artist program Director Karen Lindquist for further information, or to schedule 2025-2027 Concert Artist Renée Murphy.  

2025-2027 Concert Artist Renée Murphy

Harpist Renée Murphy is the First Prize laureate of the 30th Soka-Nippon International Harp Competition, the American Harp Society’s National Competition Young Professional and Advanced Divisions, and a recipient of the 2024 Lyon & Healy Awards. She currently serves as the 2025-2027 American Harp Society Concert Artist and received Fifth Prize and the Mario Falcao Prize at the 13th USA International Harp Competition.

As a featured recitalist, Renée has performed on international stages including the 13th World Harp Congress (Hong Kong), the 60th Soka-Nippon International Music Festival (Japan), the Stars of Tomorrow Concert Series of the 9th and 11th USA International Harp Competitions, and the American Harp Society's 44th National Conference. Renée is an alumna of the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she was the 2023-2024 Aspen Chamber Symphony Principal Harp Fellow and winner of the 2024 Aspen Harp Concerto Competition. She has performed as a guest soloist with the Aspen Percussion Ensemble and has appeared as a guest musician with the New York Philharmonic and on Broadway in Wicked. Renée is committed to expanding the harp repertoire and has a particular interest in representing music reflecting her Japanese and African American heritage. She premiered Ryota Ishikawa’s Reaching for the Drinking Gourd and Stars (2022) for solo harp at the residency of Consulate General Mikio Mori of Japan in New York in June 2023.

Renée earned a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, where she studied under Nancy Allen as a recipient of the Kovner Fellowship and 2024 John Erskine Prize in recognition of exceptional scholastic and artistic achievement. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at Juilliard. Renée’s previous teachers include Professor Florence Sitruk, Professor Elżbieta Szmyt, and Dr. Alicia McQuay. A native of Bloomington, Indiana, she has collaborated with her large, musical family in performances and projects across the United States and abroad in Japan. Renée is a Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant recipient.

Past Concert Artists*