Emily Stone, Harpist

Harpist Emily Stone distinguishes herself as an award-winning ensemble, chamber, and solo musician based in Chicago, IL. Ms. Stone has performed with numerous ensembles across the United States. She frequently performs as an extra musician with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, substitute principal harpist with the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra, and substitute harpist with the Des Moines Metro Opera, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, and Peoria Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Stone is an Associate Member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and a substitute harpist with the New World Symphony Orchestra.  Her most recent engagements include performances with the New World Symphony conducted by Edwin Outwater. Ms. Stone served as the Harp Fellow for the 2023 National Orchestral Institute + Festival performing under conductors such as Marin Alsop, David Alan Miller, David Neely, John Morris Russel, and Joseph Young. In 2022, she toured with Il Volo on their Il Volo Sings Morricone & More Tour and Josh Groban on his Harmony Tour.

An avid chamber musician, she is a founding member of Duo D’Or (Flute and Harp) and Sospirare Trio (Flute, Viola, and Harp). An advocate of new music, she is the Principal Harpist and a featured artist of the New Earth Ensemble in Chicago, IL. This prestigious group is dedicated to performing works that explore topics related to environmentalism, and their mission is to perform existing eco-choral works, commission new compositions, and engage in innovative interdisciplinary collaborations. From 2019-2021, she served as the Principal Harpist of the OSSIA New Music Ensemble in Rochester, NY and was a featured artist on multiple recordings.

In 2022, Ms. Stone won Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity’s Dorothy E. Morris Memorial Award. In 2022 and 2020, she was a Grand Finalist in the American Harp Foundation’s Anne Adams Awards.

A distinguished and passionate pedagogue, Ms. Stone teaches both harp and piano. She is member of the faculty at Music Conservatory of Illinois, Logos School of Music, Stevenson High School, and serves as a Harp Coach for the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. A licensed Pre-K-12 music educator, she taught both elementary and high school string orchestra in the Webster School District and the Rochester City School District in upstate New York.

A native of Nashville, TN, Ms. Stone began her piano studies at age five and her harp studies at age eleven. A student of Kathleen Bride, Ms. Stone earned her B.M. degrees in Harp Performance and Music Education with a minor in French and Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music.  She continued her graduate studies at Northwestern University where she earned her M.M. degree in Harp Performance under the tutelage of Marguerite Lynn Williams. Currently, she is pursuing an Artist Diploma in Orchestral Studies at OAcademy Music Conservatory (Orchestra of the Americas) in the studio of Elizabeth Hainen. This coming fall, she will pursue her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Harp Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Gillian Benet Sella. She is an active member of the American Harp Society and Sigma Alpha Iota and is the President of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Harp Society.