Christina Brier, harp

Equally at home on the concert stage, in front of a classroom, or at a board meeting, Christina Brier performs harp as a soloist, orchestra member, and chamber musician throughout the coastal Carolina region and beyond.

Ms. Brier frequently appears in concert as a member of the internationally award-winning contemporary harp duo Lilac 94 (with harpist Kathryn Sloat). Lilac 94 has performed in a wide variety of venues including the Milwaukee Art Museum (WI),  Fishtank Theater (MO), MISE-EN-Place (Brooklyn), Fringe Arts (PA), Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (NY), Wilson Center (NC) and Satosphère at Société des arts technologiques (Montréal). Recent highlights included performances in Philadelphia in a full production of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s KLANG: The 24 Hours of the Day presented by Analog Arts and producer Elizabeth Huston and capturing Third Prize at the International Harp Competition in Saluzzo, Italy (2018). 

Christina’s latest chamber music endeavor has been the launch of the Brierwood Ensemble. The Brierwood Ensemble– violinist Linda Estep, violist/violinist Clark Spencer, bassoonist Helena Kopchick Spencer, and harpist Christina Brier – is a local chamber ensemble based in Wilmington, North Carolina. A hallmark of Brierwood Ensemble concerts is the inclusion of informal program notes from the stage, with the performers themselves offering insights into the historical and cultural context of the musical selections. The ensemble regularly seeks opportunities to pair music with visual art and literature. Most recently the Brierwood Ensemble performed a multimedia program based on the beloved children’s story The Secret Garden as part of the Seahawk FAM (Family Arts Matinee) series at UNC Wilmington and then again in 2019 in educational performances at select New Hanover County Schools.

As an orchestral musician, Ms. Brier performs as principal harpist with the Carolina Philharmonic and Opera Wilmington Orchestra in North Carolina. Her orchestral engagements have included the North Carolina Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Charleston Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Fayetteville Symphony, Long Bay Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, Wilmington City Ballet Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia, and the Pierre Monteux Summer Festival Orchestra. She has been featured as a soloist in orchestral concerto appearances with the Wilmington Symphony, Tallis Chamber Orchestra, Menomonee Falls Symphony Orchestra, and Maranatha Symphony.
 
As noted by Star News, Christina "loves to do outreach for her instrument." In 2018 she co-founded the Brooklyn Arts Music Academy with violinist Linda Estep in the Brooklyn Arts District of Wilmington, North Carolina where she teaches harp and operates as Executive Director. She works as a harp instructor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. A passionate harp educator, she has been asked to present harp-related workshops and masterclasses (both with Lilac 94 and individually) for various harp camps, ensembles, and college programs such as the Connecticut Valley Harp Intensive, Christopher Newport University, Virginia Commonwealth University, GreenSpring International Academy of Music (Richmond, VA), South Carolina Music Educators Association (Columbia, SC), and Urban Youth Harp Ensemble (Atlanta, GA). 

In 2014, Christina spent 6 months touring India performing as a solo harpist and in a duo with Bulgarian flutist Petya Vasileva. Based in Mumbai, the duo performed Bollywood music throughout India, including the major cities of Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore as well as Muscat, Oman.
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Christina holds a Master's degree in Harp Performance from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Kathleen Bride. At Eastman, she earned a certification in Community Music Teaching and was awarded the Willow Hall Press Award for Harp.

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