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 in Harp Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.  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 lessons with the legendary Mildred Dilling, teacher of Harpo Marx.  While living in Miami, Julie played for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida and Palm Beach Opera and free-lanced extensively throughout Florida.

Julie came to Atlanta in 1990 to continue her free-lance work and was appointed principal harpist of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in 1994.  She has performed frequently with the Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Pops, Atlanta Ballet, and Atlanta Opera orchestras, as well as with the Georgia Philharmonic and Gwinnett Philharmonic orchestras.  Julie has backed several artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Natalie Cole, Henry Mancini, Trisha Yearwood, and Ray Charles.  She has also provided music at private events for Jimmy Carter, Tom Glavine, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, BellSouth, and Widespread Panic.

Julie has played harp for multitudes of wedding ceremonies, receptions, dinners, recitals, orchestral and choral performances, and many other special occasions.  She has performed on European tours in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria, and appears on several CD recordings.

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

Julie chooses from two harps for weddings and concert performances.  These harps are acoustic instruments, but are fitted with transducer pick-ups to amplify as necessary.  This creates the best of both worlds:  providing music ranging from an intimate setting to a crowded ballroom.

Venus Aria - a concert grand pedal harp with 47 strings, ranging nearly seven octaves.  It has a natural blonde maple finish with Art Nouveau carvings on the column and base, depicting irises, lilies-of-the-valley, berries, and reed leaves.  This harp was built in 2000 by the W&W Musical Instrument Company in Chicago.

Venus Diplomat - another concert grand pedal harp with a dark red walnut finish and fluted

column, built in 1981 by W&W in Chicago.  Its spruce and maple hardwoods were cut from

forests on Mount St. Helens in Washington...before the 1980 volcanic eruption!

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