Kirsten Agresta Copely

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KIRSTEN AGRESTA COPELY is a GRAMMY® Award Nominated, international award-winning harpist and composer based in New York City. Her prolific career has taken her throughout the United States, Europe, South America, Israel, Japan, and the South Pacific; she has performed for heads of state, in blockbuster movie soundtracks, alongside Billboard 100 artists, on late night television, and on some of the most recognized arena stages in the world. Kirsten’s most recent album, Aquamarine was nominated in the 66th GRAMMY® Awards for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album. Her music has over 10 million streams on Spotify, steady airplay on the Sirius XM Spa Channel, and has recent features in the New York Post, Hollywood Soapbox, and Crain’s Business New York.

Steeped in rigorous classical training, Copely’s performance career began at an early age: by fourteen, she performed a full solo tour of the British Isles, and continued to gain attention in the classical world by winning Bronze Medal in the 1st USA International Harp Competition. She debuted as concerto soloist at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, and also presented three separate solo recitals at Weill Concert Hall. In 2019, Kirsten performed the World Premiere of Dinos Constantinides’ Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra at Lincoln Center David Geffen Hall. Her long tenure of worldwide classical performances include audiences in Dublin, Peru, Prague, and Amsterdam, among others.

Following a feature in PEOPLE Magazine’s “Up & Coming” column, her performances grew increasingly illustrious, culminating in a performance with Beyoncé at the Second Official White House State Dinner for President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Recent performance highlights include the 2023 MET Gala, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and the Billboard Music Awards with Florence + The Machine. Other notable shows include Yoshiki Classical 10th Anniversary at Carnegie Hall, Christmas at the MET with Kristin Chenoweth, a benefit concert with Jay Z at Carnegie Hall, and Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best is Yet to Come at Radio City Music Hall, which aired on NBC.

Copely’s charismatic, telegenic presence on stage has also allowed her to share a prominent spotlight in a variety of pop-culture settings: she has performed on a full slate of late night and morning show television programming, including Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, and The Today Show. Performing live, she has played a gamut of the world’s biggest stages, from Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl to Live8 and Lollapalooza alongside Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Enya, Florence + The Machine, Michael Bublé, k.d. Lang, Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, The Who, Adam Levine, John Legend, and The Roots.

In the recording studio, Kirsten has also become the industry’s go-to harpist: album features include Kitt Wakeley’s Grammy® award-winning album, “An Adoption Story” (Best Classical Compendium.) Other notable collaborations include Kacey Musgraves, Kristin Chenoweth, a feature on Erykah Badu’s album: New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh (“Incense”) and recordings with The Mavericks, Evanescence, Lionel Richie, Alison Krauss, Bonobo, Johnny Mathis, Mandy Barnett, Norwegian soprano Sissel, and Jamie Lidell. Furthermore, she can be heard on numerous video game, TV and movie soundtracks, including Iron Mike (Hulu), That Girl Lay Lay (Nickelodeon), Boom Boom (Apple TV+), Outlander, Sex and the City 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, The Tempest, Disney’s The Music of Pixar Live!, My Little Pony: The Movie and the JD Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye. 

As a composer, her discography includes three solo performance albums: the GRAMMY® Nominated Aquamarine (2023), Around The Sun (2020), and a classical collection, Dream World (2001). Copely’s album Aquamarine received glowing praise: “This unique voyage into the deep blue sea feels significant, timeless, and heartfelt” (New Age Music Guide), “a brilliant music tribute” (Classical Crossover Magazine) and “a spirit caressing, free-flowing straight through immersion” (The JW Vibe). Her albums have also won the Silver Medal in the Global Music Awards, Outstanding New Age Performance in the 2023 Grand Prix Music Awards (New Age Music Planet), and Listeners’ Choice in the New Age Music Guide Top 10 Albums of 2020. Other notable awards include: LIT Talent Platinum Award, 1st Raighes Factory Awards (Beloved Contemporary Instrumental) and One World Music Awards (Best Acoustic Single). Her music has been described as “spacious and lush, deep and intense” (Christopher Tin, Grammy© Award-Winning Composer) and is enjoyed by millions of listeners across the globe seeking peace and relaxation.

Kirsten Agresta Copely served as the Associate Professor of Harp at Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music from 2017-2021. She expresses deep gratitude to her pedagogues, Nancy Allen and Susann McDonald, the latter of whom mentored her for over a decade. She holds degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (B.M. & M.M.), where she was awarded the Performer’s Certificate for outstanding musical performance. Ms. Copely is on the World Harp Congress Board of Directors, a Voting Member of The Recording Academy (NARAS), and a member of ASCAP.