Biography
Chaela Franck received her Master's from the Carnegie Mellon School of Music, and received her Bachelor's from the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford. Having started the harp at age 15, she has played as a concerto soloist with the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra after having only four years of harp study. She has won numerous national and international competitions, such as the Hartford Music Teacher’s Alliance Concerto Competition, the American Protege International Piano and Strings Competition, the Basel International Harp Competition, the American Harp Foundation Anne Adams Awards, and the New York International Music Competition. She has played solo and with local orchestras and ensembles around Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. Ensembles include the Cheshire Symphony Orchestra, Capitol Symphonic Winds, the Hartt Orchestra, the Salt March Opera, the All University Orchestra, and the CMU Philharmonic. She has participated in masterclasses led by Parker Ramsay, Rita Costanzi, Heidi Bearcroft, Gillian Benet Sella and Mariko Anraku. She has studied and taken lessons with renowned harpists such as Susan Knapp Thomas, Gretchen Van Hoesen, Nancy Allen, and Isabelle Moretti. She made her Carnegie Hall debut on December 17, 2023, and is currently the secretary of the CT Chapter of the American Harp Society. She has worked as a Teaching Assistant at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and has been giving private harp lessons since 2019.