About Lauren
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Solo, chamber, and orchestral harpist Lauren Swain has studied for seven years with Nashville-based Professor Carol McClure, Artistic Director of The Harp School, Inc., as well as having learned in masterclass performance and private lessons with Catherine Michel, Elinor Bennett, Isabelle Moretti, Judy Loman, Elizabeth Hainen, and Parker Ramsay.
Lauren has won prizes in national and international competitions, including the Young Artists’ Harp Competition, the Hong Kong Harp Competition, Midwest Harp Festival Competition, the Great Composers International Competition, and the International Grande Music Competition. Lauren was selected as a national prize winner in harp by YoungArts National Competition, 2021, as well as winning (with her duet partner) First Prize in the United States International Duo Piano Competition (Colorado Springs). In 2022, Lauren competed in and won First Prize in the Lyon and Healy Awards Competition (Chicago). In April of 2023, Lauren was awarded Second Prize in the Wales International Harp Competition (Chief Musician) in Caernarfon, Wales.
In January of 2024, Lauren made her debut in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as a First Prize-winner in the Crescendo International Music Competition.
Lauren holds the Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM) with Distinction, the Diploma of the Royal Schools of Music (DipABRSM) with Distinction, and the Licentiate of the Royals Schools of Music (LRSM) with Distinction. In June of 2024, Lauren presented a solo recital and defended her dissertation, “A Performer’s Perspective: Works by Four Twentieth Century Female Composers That Merit Inclusion in Mainstream Harp Performance Repertoire,” for the awarding of the FRSM (Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music) which she received in August.