Emily Gerard, harp instructor, has been on the faculty of MacPhail since 2005. She has been teaching for more than 14 years, working with young children who are just beginning to learn harp, as well as older children who are playing a pedal harp.
As an instructor, Emily enjoys getting to know all of her students on a personal level, keeping harp lessons fun and light, while still balancing the importance of technique and theory. She especially enjoys when her students are polishing music and she can help them find their own interpretation and ownership of a piece.
Emily began her own harp lessons at a young age. At age 16 she played in Tacoma, Wash. for the Sixth World Harp Congress at a concert featuring 30 young Suzuki harpists from the United States. She was awarded a performing arts scholarship at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, and was a two-time soloist in the annual Augsburg Concerto and Aria competition. As a senior she was awarded the Hognander Scholarship, a full tuition scholarship awarded to one music performance major at Augsburg College.
Emily received her Bachelor of Music degree and a minor in communication at Augsburg and a Master of Music in harp performance from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
