Biography

Professional harpist Melanie Mashner is passionate about bringing joy to the people around her through music. Melanie is the Principal Harpist of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra, the resident orchestra at the Palladium in Carmel, Indiana, as well as the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. She also serves as Personnel Manager for the CSO and maintains a private harp, cello, and piano studio in northern Indianapolis. As the Graduate Assistant Instructor in Harp for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music from 2018-2020, Melanie worked and studied with renowned international concert artists Florence Sitruk, Susann McDonald, Elizabeth Hainen, Emile Naumouff, and many others. Melanie lived in Vienna, Austria for six months where she worked with Vienna Philharmonic Harpist, Anneleen Lenaerts, as the Global Leader Award recipient from the National Society of Leadership and Success, and was also a scholarship recipient at the 2018 Bowdoin International Music Festival with renowned harpist June Han. 

 

Melanie has won numerous awards for the harp and performs frequently as a chamber artist, orchestral harpist, and soloist throughout the midwest and northeastern United States. Recent performances include as a featured soloist and Principal Harpist of the 2022 & 2021 Endless Mountain Music Festival in Mansfield, PA, a premiere of Juan Pablo Contreras’ concerto for harp and chamber orchestra, Ángel Mestizo, with Arca Sonica in Ann Arbor, MI, and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez as the IU Harp Department Concerto Competition Winner. Melanie was also selected as a featured performer in the Orchestral Audition Showcase of the 2022 World Harp Congress in Cardiff, Wales.​ 

​

Melanie enjoys collaborating with local musicians and composers, as well as with her sister, flutist Melissa Mashner, as a member of the Angelus Duo. As the program coordinator of the 2019 11th USA International Harp Competition, Melanie was thrilled to bring harp music and education to over 1800 children and adults across Indiana as the head of their educational outreach program, Harp Start. She holds her MM, BM, and Performer’s Certificate from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.