Diana Marie Gibbs, Harpist Harpist from Alexandria, VA

A broken arm led me to the harp. Back when I was two years old, I was tinkering around on the family piano and fell off the piano bench. Blaming the piano for my cumbersome cast and itchy misery, I declared that the instrument was not for me. Instead, I gravitated towards the harp. My mother is a harpist, and there were harps "lying around" the house. I began studying the harp at the age of five. As a former student of Jeanne Chalifoux, I am proud to be part of a distinctive lineage begun by the worldclass harpist, composer, and teacher, Carlos Salzedo. The Salzedo method of harp playing emphasizes the importance of musicality, technical proficiency, aesthetics, and performance. My participation for four summers in the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine under the instruction of the late Alice Chalifoux enhanced these hallmarks in my approach to the harp. I was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where I have performed for thousands of engagements since 1995. In the recent past, I was the featured harpist for Macy's Cherry Blossom Celebration of Music Show, the GW Masonic Memorial's George Washington Birthday Gala, the Global Child Nutrition Foundation's "A Possible Dream" Gala, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Cherry Blossom exhibition opening. Well-versed in official event protocol, I have performed for a host of guests, including Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Clarice Smith, David Rubenstein, Christine Lagarde, Thurgood Marshall Jr., Members of Congress, ambassadors, and directors of cultural institutions. I was honored to have set the stage for a 56th Presidential Inauguration celebration held in the National Archives' Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. My music was also heard during the grand opening of the Archives' Treaty of Paris exhibit, as well as for art openings at the Embassy of Russia and the Meridian International Center. I was recently engaged for a series of events held at designer Max Mara stores in Tysons Galleria and Chevy Chase, and have shared the harp abroad, having performed for audiences in South Korea and Wales. My music speaks to a broad range of audiences, from young children and local brides to Warren Buffet, Melinda Gates, Barron Hilton, and other esteemed members of The Giving Pledge, for whom I was thrilled to perform. Cultivated during 28 years of dedication to the harp, my dynamic music library is in tune with the diverse interests of audiences. From Bach to Led Zeppelin, my repertoire is legitimately expansive. I earned my Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, and my Master of Arts in Museum Studies, also from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to my work as a harpist, I am an employee of the Library of Congress.