Julie Albertson, Harpist

About Julie

Julie Albertson has been a professional harpist since 1980. An Ohio native, she played seven seasons with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati.

Her teachers were Joan Seymour, founder of the twenty-member Dayton Area Harp Ensemble, and Linda Wellbaum, harpist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for over thirty years. Julie also studied for a series of private lessons and workshops with the legendary Mildred Dilling, teacher of Harpo Marx.

While living in Miami, Julie played for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida and the Palm Beach Opera and free-lanced extensively throughout South Florida.

Since coming to Atlanta in 1990 she has been appointed principal harpist of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra. Julie has performed frequently with the Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Pops, Atlanta Ballet, and Atlanta Opera orchestras, as well as the Gwinnett Philharmonic Orchestra.

She has backed several artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Natalie Cole, Itzhak Perlman, Henry Mancini, Trisha Yearwood, and Ray Charles.

Julie has played harp for multitudes of wedding ceremonies, receptions, dinners, and special occasions, and has performed on European tours in Rome, Italy and Vienna, Austria. She also appears on several compact disc releases.

Julie and her husband reside with their golden retriever in Alpharetta, Georgia.

About Sonoma Jazz Group

Julie is also a member of Sonoma Jazz Group in which she sings and plays jazz harp. Her husband plays keyboards and they are joined by a guitarist. Their sophisticated repertoire includes a wide range of tunes by Gershwin, Jobim, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, Norah Jones, Sting, and many others. For more information, please visit www.robalbertson.com.

About Julie's harps

Julie has three acoustic-electric harps she chooses from for weddings and concert performances. These harps are truly acoustic instruments, but are permanently fitted with transducer pick-ups to amplify as necessary. This creates the best of both worlds: providing music for everything from an intimate setting to a packed convention hall.

Venus Diplomat - a concert grand pedal harp with 47 strings and 6 1/2 octaves. It has a dark walnut finish and was built in 1981 with spruce and maple hardwoods cut from forests on Mount St. Helens in Washington State (before the volcanic eruption in 1980!!). The builder is W&W Musical Instrument Company in Chicago, Illinois.

Venus Protege - a semi-grand concert pedal harp with 46 strings and 6 1/2 octaves. Julie had this harp custom-built in 2001 by W&W and its column and base are covered with ornate carvings. It has an ebony finish with bronze highlights.

Troubadour IV - a Celtic lever harp with 36 strings and 5 octaves. It has a natural maple finish and was built in 1999 by Lyon & Healy Harps, also located in Chicago.

For further information or to request a complimentary demo CD please contact Julie at harp@mindspring.com.