| Ashley Jackson |
| Monday, 26 February 2007 | |
Ashley Jennifer Jackson, harpist and resident of Far Hills, New Jersey, is a junior in Timothy Dwight College of Yale University. Ashley began her musical studies at the age of five on the piano. At age seven, she began music lessons on both the violin and the harp, and by age 11 (?), she was admitted to the Juilliard Pre-College program on all three instruments. Ashley focused her Juilliard studies on the harp upon entering high school, continuing to study with Emily Oppenheimer. She has participated in the Aspen Summer Music Festival in 2003 where she studied with Nancy Allen of the Juilliard School of Music, and the Brevard Music Festival in the summer of 2005, studying with Katie Buckley of the Iceland Symphony. She currently studies with June Han of the Yale School of Music. In her career as a harpist, Ashley was a three time state (NJ) gold medalist in the instrumental classical category of the NAACP ACT-SO competitions in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and she was a national NAACP ACT-SO gold medalist in the instrumental classical category in 2002. Ashley is also a 2003-04 ARTS (Arts Recognition and Talent Search sponsored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts) Merit winner in the music/instrumental category, as well as the recipient of the 2004 NJ Governor’s Award in the Arts. In 2003, she attended the American Harp Society conference in Salt Lake City, Utah as a semi-finalist in the 2003 American Harp Society Competition intermediate advanced division. Also in 2003, Ashley received the prestigious achievement award from the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for her outstanding musical achievements. As a junior, Ashley is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. She is the principal harpist of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, as well as a member of the Berkeley Orchestra and the Saybrook Orchestra. For the school year 2004-2005, the Afro-American Cultural Center presented her with an award for her outstanding musical achievements. In the fall of 2005, Ashley was chosen as one of the winners of the Berkeley Concerto competition, and in the spring of 2006, Ashley was selected as one of the winners for the Yale Symphony Orchestra’s William Waite Concerto Competition. Most recently, she was selected as part of a duet with the Yale Symphony Orchestra’s principal bassoonist Elizabeth Schurgin as one of the winners of Yale University’s Friends of Music competition. As winner of the 2000 Juilliard Pre-College Chamber Orchestra (PCCO) concerto competition, Ashley performed “Serenade for Flute, Harp, and Strings, Op. 35” by Howard Hanson in the Juilliard Theatre in New York, New York. She has given solo performances in Morse Hall of the Juilliard School, Sudler Hall of Yale University, and most recently at Congregational Church of South Glastonbury, CT. As winner of the 2005 Berkeley Concerto competition, Ashley performed Debussy’s “Danses Sacré et Profane” for harp and strings on December 11 of 2006. Her future performances include a recital of French music for harp, bassoon, and flute as winner of the Friends of Music Competition, and as one of the winners of the William Waite Concerto Competition, Ashley will perform the Ginastera Harp Concerto with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in Woolsey Hall on April 14 of 2007. |
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Ashley Jennifer Jackson, harpist and resident of Far Hills, New Jersey, is a junior in Timothy Dwight College of Yale University.