Biography * About Nichole

As a harpist,

I strive to bring the beauty of music into the world.

Thanks for visiting my site.

~Nichole Luchs

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination, and life to everything."
~Plato

"In a world of peace and love, music would be the universal language."

~Henry David Thoreau

Early Beginnings

My interest in harp started in the fourth grade when  the local junior high school orchestra came to my elementary school.  They played a concert and demonstrated all the instruments as a way of recruiting future music students.  The town that I grew up in ( Freeport, IL) is very unique in that the school district owns seven harps!  Each week, a professional harpist came to the schools to teach any interested students.  The moment that I saw the harp, it was love at first sight!  I came home from school that afternoon and begged my parents to sign me up for harp lessons, which they were excited to do!

Education

I continued to play the harp from fifth grade until twelfth grade,  studying with harpist Nanette Felix.  My senior year of high school, I realized that I couldn't live without playing the harp and I decided to make it my career.   I went on to study with Liz Cifani ( the Principal Harpist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago) and earned a Bachelors degree in Music Performance from Northern Illinois University  in 2002 and a Masters degree in Performance from Northwestern University in 2004.  During my studies, I was the recipient of the Eckstein Scholarship and the Keefer Award.

Experience

Since 1998, I have performed for numerous events throughout Northern Illinois and the Chicago Area: including weddings, grand openings, orchestras, and chamber events.  In 2002, I performed two duets with world-renowned Steel-pan artist, Liam Teague, on his Christmas recording  "A Christmas Gift"  produced by Sack Records and I also performed on the debut recording of modern composer Dexter Morrill entitled  "Dexter Morrill: Three Concertos"  produced by Centaur Records, Inc.  In 2003, I was a featured artist at the first annual Viroqua Fine Arts Festival and in 2005 for the Dubuque Symphony Chamber Musicians Series.  In 2007, I was a featured performer in the Paidiea Project, a documentary on the music of ancient Greece.   Currently, I am the principal harpist with the Peoria Symphony and I am the harp instructor at the Fox River Academy of Music and Art in Oswego, IL.

 I have performed as Principal Harpist

 with the following orchestras:

Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, Dupage Symphony, Illinois Valley Symphony,  Evanston Symphony,  Skokie Symphony, 

Kishwaukee Symphony, Peoria Symphony,  Rockford Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic,  Fox Valley Symphony,

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, NIU Philharmonic.

 Some of the Venues where I have performed:

Art Institute of Chicago,  Field Museum, The Drake Hotel, American Girl Place, Oscar Swan Inn, Ellwood House, Eaglebrook Country Club, Deer Valley Country Club, Morton Arboretum, White Pines Inn.