Grace Nielsen
Grace was 10 the first time she saw a harp. It was Christmas time and her family was out shopping for some last-minute gifts when they stumbled upon a woman playing the harp in front of a department store. Grace was mesmerized! The music was so beautiful, so different from anything she had heard before. She was hooked and have been playing ever since. Growing up in Kansas, Grace studied with Wesley Kelly, principal harpist of the Kansas City Ballet
and Lyric Opera. During her undergraduate career at BYU, she studied harp with Jessica Wood and then went on to earn a Master of Music in harp performance from the University of Utah in 2017, studying with Dr. Cathy Clayton.
Grace has called Utah home since 2008. She is currently the principal harpist of the Salt Lake Symphony and enjoy writing arrangements for and performing with harp ensembles and flute and harp duets. Away from the harp, she enjoys cooking, polishing her French skills (her bachelor’s and first master’s degree are in French Studies!), and teaching fitness classes.
