CAREER HISTORY
Education and Training
Jan 1989-2006
CLASSICAL TRAINING
Erin Newton has been playing the harp since she was nine years old. She studied with many notable harpists, including Penny Beavers, Felice Swados, Susan Allen, and Courtney Hershey Bress. In her 15 years in Colorado, she has been the principal harpist with the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra, and she has played with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, the Arapahoe Philharmonic, the Broomfield Symphony, the University of Colorado Opera, and the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra. She has also played with percussion, brass and wind ensembles. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at Mount Holyoke College and her Master of Science from University of Otago, New Zealand.
Jan 2000-present
PERFORMANCE
Though she works primarily as a classical harpist, she plays a wide variety of music, including jazz, Celtic, popular standards, and hip-hop. She has performed with Kanye West, the Denver Brass, The Colorado Wind Ensemble, and percussion groups. In addition to playing as a soloist, she plays in duos, trios, quartets, and quintets (with any combination of harp, flute, violin, viola, and cello). Likewise, she has performed at a range of iconic venues including the Brown Palace Hotel, the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, the Denver Art Museum, The Gates Theater at Denver University’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, library concert series across the Front Range, the Boulder Theater, and scores of stunning wedding locales across Colorado, from Aspen to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Aug 2004-present
INSTRUCTION
Having studied harp in private lessons starting at 9 years old through college and engaged in continuing education online, workshops, and masterclasses in person and through the Harp Column Academy, Erin has learned over the years that we all have different learning styles, things we appreciate about music, and ways we connect with learning a new instrument. She focuses on sight reading, technique, rhythm, and delivery. She makes opportunities for her students to perform periodically, but performance is not required. She learns first what goals each student has and focuses on helping them achieve those goals.