Two harpists who have studied at the University of Illinois, alumna Mary Duplantier and graduate student Jonathan Schneider, have won principal harp auditions this fall. Duplantier is the new principal harpist of both the Akron Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and the Peoria Symphony Orchestra in Illinois. Schneider won the principal harp position at the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in Michigan.
Duplantier has performed with the Alabama Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony, Kentucky Opera, and other orchestras. She also held a faculty position as Harp Orchestra Fellow at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Duplantier received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a student of Ann Yeung. Duplantier holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she is currently an Artist Diploma candidate in harp performance, studying with Gillian Benet Sella.
Schneider has performed with ensembles and orchestras such as the Arturo Somohano Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orfeón San Juan Bautista. He is now pursuing his Master of Music degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under the direction of Ann Yeung. Schneider received his baccalaureate, summa cum laude, in harp performance from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Elisa Torres.
