Grace Browning — Harp
Praised for her “superb technical acumen and sensitive musicality” (South Florida Classical Review), Grace Browning has established herself as a versatile ensemble harpist, dynamic soloist, and passionate teaching artist. Equally at home with both symphonic and operatic repertoire, she was appointed Principal Harpist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (2017) and the Santa Fe Opera (2015). She can be heard on both ensembles’ GRAMMY Award-winning albums: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and American Rapture. A dedicated chamber musician, she is also co-founder of the Browning-Krug Duo, performing alongside her husband, cellist Benjamin Krug.
Browning’s love for opera began in 2014, when she won her first position as Principal Harpist of The Dallas Opera. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2018 in productions of Puccini’s Tosca, Bizet’s Carmen, and Wagner’s Siegfried. She has also performed with the Dallas Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and served as Guest Principal with the Houston Symphony on their 2018 European Tour. Festival appearances include Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Aspen Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra.
As a soloist, Browning has appeared with the Omaha Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, and the New World Symphony, where she was Harp Fellow from 2011–2014. Following her fellowship, she returned to perform and coach, and was featured at Michael Tilson Thomas’s 70th Birthday Gala. She is also active as a chamber musician, with performances at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chatter ABQ, The Society for Chamber Music in Rochester, and her own innovative series, Chamber Music at San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe.
A dedicated teacher, Browning has joined the faculties of the Eastman Community Music School and the Kanack School of Musical Artistry in Rochester, New York. She previously taught at the Suzuki Music Institute of Dallas and served as Harp Professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music (2020–2021). She has given masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Arizona, UNC School of the Arts, and other institutions. A Suzuki-trained educator and performance psychology coach, she is also a leading advocate for mental health, writing regularly for Harp Column magazine and leading workshops on performance anxiety.
Originally from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Browning earned her Master of Music from The Juilliard School (2011), following undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music. Away from the harp, she is a certified Ashtanga yoga instructor, soprano in the Third Presbyterian Church choir, and a devoted caretaker to her rescue animals, Annie and Pippa.