Kathryn Sloat

Kathryn Sloat, “whose harp playing evoked the angels (Brooklyn Discovery),” is known for her work in opera and contemporary chamber music in New York City and throughout the United States. She is a member of the contemporary harp duo Lilac 94 with whom she won third place at the 8th International Harp Contest in Italy in 2018. Kathryn has worked with a number of composers in bringing their music alive through initial readings and concert performances with thingNY, the New York Composers Circle, and Secret Opera. As an orchestral harpist, Kathryn has performed in a variety of festivals with conductors such as Keith Lockhart, JoAnn Falletta, Leon Botstein, Larry Rachleff, and Tan Dun. Kathryn has played in pit orchestras for Off-Broadway and regional theater productions of Once Upon a Mattress, The Fantasticks,  A Light in the Piazza, The Beast in the Jungle, and others. She has worked with various independent opera companies in New York City and the surrounding area for performances such as The Rape of Lucretia (New Camerata Opera) and Carmen (Tri Cities Opera).

In recent years Kathryn has begun to create her own music and art. During the global coronavirus pandemic she created a Patreon account in order to support her online performing activities, which include a weekly improvisation video. She also attended an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, conducted by acclaimed percussionist and improviser Billy Martin. As a member of a group of associate artists, she studied improvisation, rhythm, graphic scores, and non-western musical histories. She also creates both visual and audio collage pieces from found sounds and materials. 

Kathryn has a special interest in performing the works of composer Benjamin Britten. First hooked in college when she played her first Britten opera, Albert Herring, and then again with her first performance of The Ceremony of Carols, she has since played numerous Britten operas and put on her own production of his chamber works for harp entitled “A Birthday Hansel for Benjamin Britten.” Kathryn pursues as many opportunities as possible to play this composer’s music.

In addition to her performance work, Kathryn is a dedicated harp teacher. For the last six years he has taught individual and group lessons as a faculty member at the Diller-Quaile School of Music, the Dwight School, and Mannes Prep in New York City. She has taught at summer programs like the Connecticut Valley Harp Intensive, the Luzerne Music Center, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. In the fall of 2017 she returned to her alma mater the Crane School of Music for a semester-long sabbatical replacement for her former harp professor Dr. Jessica Suchy-Pilalis. Kathryn regularly gives educational performances and workshops as a soloist and as a member of her harp duo Lilac 94. 

Kathryn Sloat holds degrees in harp performance from the Crane School of Music, Eastman School of Music, and Mannes College of Music. While she maintains a rigorous schedule of performance and travel, she does manage to fit in some free time to knit, read, hike, and spend time with her cat Wolfgang.