Lyra Harada

Born in New York City, Lyra is a rising musicologist and musician. She graduated Cum Laude from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam in May 2017 with a Bachelor's degree in Musical Studies, where she studied with Professor Emeritus John Lindsey and with Assistant Violin Professor and member of "A Far Cry" Liesl Doty. Lyra is also an alumna of Hoff-Barthelson Music School where she studied with co-concertmaster of the Grammy-winning conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Eriko Sato. Her piano teachers include former adjunct professor at Teachers College at Columbia University and renowned jazz pianist, Haruko Nara, and current mentor, David Oei. Her chamber coaches include Gary Kosloski, Yuri Vodovoz, and her mentor, David Oei. 
 
Over the course of her musical career, she has been turning pages for esteemed pianists in the Tri-State area, most notably at Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, where she made her professional page-turning debut in 2013 with members of Festival Chamber Music; she has also turned pages for legendary pianist Ann Schein. Her career at Crane included playing in various performances with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, and in Crane's Opera Orchestra during the first annual Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize in 2014 premiering three operas. With Crane Symphony Orchestra, she performed in Crane's annual Candlelight Concert in December, and in Crane's annual spring finale concert during the Lougheed-Kofoed Festival led by various esteemed Maestros including Larry Rachleff, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Duain Wolfe. In May 2016, she made her orchestral Carnegie Hall debut with the Crane Symphony Orchestra at the Stern Hall, Perelman Stage under the baton of Grammy-winning Maestro Duain Wolfe featuring Gabriel Faure's Requiem. Lyra has also participated in the Vianden Music Festival at Vianden, Luxembourg with her former violin professor, John Lindsey, during the summer of 2014. She served on a panel on diversity in music and music education during Crane's "Untold Legacies of Black Composers" residency during Spring 2017. Her senior project for her Musical Studies major was focused on cultural appropriation and nationalism within the famous "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto; she presented this project to the public on May 3rd, 2017, and titled her topic "Cultural Appropriation and Nationalistic Identities: How to Overcome Them in a Borderless Universe (As Told in "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto)".
 
After graduating from SUNY Potsdam, Lyra performed in a six-hand piano piece composed by Ionel Petroi with her mentor and his piano partner at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York. She also returned to her collegiate alma mater to perform with the Orchestra of Northern New York for their Summer Pops concert. She also interned at the ARChive of Contemporary Music in the Tribeca and was formerly at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation in White Plains as its Children's Music Director and Educator. She continues to perform on the violin through various opportunities from Alaria Chamber Ensemble Program.

When she's not making music, she is working as a Special Events Associate and Receptionist at Hoff-Barthelson Music School. She can also be found with her computer working on various websites and graphic design projects including for cellist Kate Dillingham, for String Serenade, for David Oei Classical Salon, and for the Violoncello Society of New York.