Ellen Foster
Part-time Instructor Harp School of Music- Biography
Ellen Heinicke Foster is a harpist and teacher in Atlanta, GA where she plays 2nd Harp for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Foster has a Bachelor of Music, Cum Laude, in Harp and Music Education from The Eastman School of Music. After teaching K-6 Music in Lawrence, KS public schools, she continued her harp studies, receiving a Master of Music in Harp Performance from University of British Columbia and an Artist Diploma from Yale University. Her teachers include, Nancy Allen, Rita Costanzi and Eileen Malone.
While a graduate student, she won the Concerto Competition at University of British Columbia and was Runner Up in the Concerto Competition during a summer at the Aspen Music Festival.
Foster has performed throughout America, Canada and Europe as a soloist, accompanist and orchestra member. She has performed with the Vancouver Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Connecticut Opera, Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Opera, Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Boy Choir and the Georgia Boy Choir, as well numerous orchestras and choruses in the Southeast. She also performs regularly as part of the Feiner Musicke Duo with her husband, tenor, Mel Foster.As an educator, Foster has been a teacher and mentor to many students in the Southeast. Currently, she is an Artist Affiliate at Georgia State University, Adjunct Professor of Harp at Truett McConnell University and was Adjunct Professor of Harp at Southern Adventist University for 10 years. Foster has been a teacher for the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, taught at The Carver Schools and is the Director of the Feiner Musicke Adult Harp Ensemble which performs regularly in the Atlanta area. She has been an active member of the American Harp Society and has served 3 terms as President for the Georgia Chapter.
In addition, Foster and her husband have published three volumes of works for Voice and Harp. Two of the sets are songs of Claude Debussy and one is songs of Gabriel Faure. The Feiner Musicke Duo continues to transcribe and perform music not originally written for voice and harp. The Duo has been featured on numerous occasions at the Madeleine Cathedral in Salt Lake City and the Chelan Bach Festival in Chelan, WA. They also have a CD entitled Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal. She can also be heard on recordings with the Atlanta Symphony, Macon Symphony, Atlanta Boy Choir and the Georgia Boy Choir.
Foster is also a Certified Therapeutic Harp Practitioner, earning her certification from the International Harp Therapy Program. Being a CTHP allows her to provide sound and music to individual patients in hospitals, rehabilitation and hospice facilities. She is currently a Live Therapeutic Musician at Northeast Georgia Health Systems.