The Minnesota Orchestra has appointed Cheryl Losey Feder principal harpist. Feder begins performing in her new role in the 2024–2025 season. “It is a tremendous honor to be joining the Minnesota Orchestra, an ensemble with an outstanding musical legacy and a lineage of fine harpists,” Feder says. “As I have gotten to know the orchestra through the audition process and as a guest principal, I have been struck by their artistic integrity. My new colleagues play for each other each and every day, coming to rehearsal with a thorough knowledge of the score as well as bringing focus and artistry to every performance. It is truly inspiring! On a personal note, our family—my husband Abe and our two little boys—is thrilled to be moving to such a vibrant city with spectacular natural beauty.”
Feder has performed as guest principal harpist with several major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Feder has held the position of principal harp with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Sarasota Orchestra. Feder’s teaching appointments include Assistant Professor of Harp at Michigan State University, and faculty at the summer festivals National Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, PRISMA Music Festival, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
As a solo artist, top prizes Feder has received include the Alice Rosner Prize at the Munich ARD International Competition; first prize and Grandjany Prize in the American Harp Society’s National Competition; and first prize in the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition. Feder has performed in over twenty countries and six continents, in venues from the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall, to the townships of Soweto, South Africa, and orphanages of Kingston, Jamaica. She also performs in the Feder Duo with her husband, cellist Abraham Feder (Assistant Principal Cello, Detroit Symphony), focusing on never-recorded and rarely played works for harp and cello, as well as new transcriptions by the Feder Duo.
Feder received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of soloist and recording artist Yolanda Kondonassis. She had additional study with Nancy Allen as harp fellow at the Aspen Music Festival.
Learn more on Feder’s website. Hear her tips on standards from the harp repertoire on Harp Column Academy.
