Hannah Harnest, “excellent” (Concerto.net, Harry Rolnick), has played as both a soloist with orchestras in Europe, under Marzio Conti and Daniel Grossmann, and as a chamber musician and vocal accompanist, appearing at the ‘Gasteig’ Philharmonic Hall (Munich), Wigmore Hall (London), Center for Jewish History and National Sawdust (New York), Harris Concert Hall (Aspen), and the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson). Performing at Songfest Los Angeles (2019), Aspen Music Festival (2018), Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts (2016), and Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander (2015) – Hannah Harnest was a semi-finalist at both ‘Das Lied’ (Heidelberg), and the international ‘Wigmore Hall Song Competition’ (London).

Her interest in contemporary music has been fuelled by the collaboration with composers, such as Libby Larsen, Lera Auerbach, Andy Akiho, Benoît Menut, and Nico Sauer, in addition to her work as a fellow at Bard College under the guidance of soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Kayo Iwama.

Upcoming engagements include an exploration of Holocaust-era songs by Karl Weigl and Viktor Ullmann with soprano Alexandra Flood at the Tenri Cultural Institute, and an evening of songs by Olivier Messiaen and Billie Holiday, with soprano Charlotte Mundy at Spectrum. Most recently, she curated and performed at the “Strange Scenes Festival,” dedicated to the music of Wolfgang Rihm, at New York’s DiMenna Center.

Hannah’s artistry has been lastingly shaped by Marilyn Nonken, Olivier Gardon, Michael Dussek, Malcolm Martineau, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Yonty Solomon, and Gerhard Oppitz. She was educated at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, and both the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music in London. Hannah also trained as a journalist at Columbia University, and has written for The Jewish Weekly (London) and The Times of Israel (Jerusalem). In Fall 2019, she came to pursue an Advanced Certificate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at New York University, where she became a member of the Adjunct Faculty in Piano Studies and joined the Contemporary Music Ensemble.