“The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself.”

— Over a dance studio doorway in the Juilliard School

“The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself.” — Over a dance studio doorway in the Juilliard School

Meet Kerstin

A woman with short blonde hair, wearing a green shirt and black pants, kneeling next to a large harp on a black mat outdoors, with a colorful mosaic wall and greenery in the background.

Kerstin Allvin pursued her harp studies at Indiana University with Susann McDonald, graduating with a Performer’s Certificate and a Bachelor of Music with Distinction. Subsequently, Kerstin earned a Master of Music in Harp Performance from the University of Michigan, studying with Lynne Aspnes. Her post-graduate work took place in Paris and Nice, studying with Jacqueline Borot, Honorary Professor of the Paris Superior Conservatory. Allvin has toured the globe, performing concerts in Japan, China, Europe and from California to Carnegie Hall in New York. She was Principal Harpist with Detroit Symphony Orchestra for their latest European Tour. Kerstin played Harp II, Assistant Principal and Principal Harp with the Detroit Symphony for more than 40 years beginning in her early teens, performing all the major orchestral repertoire with harp under the baton of some of the worlds greatest conductors. Since moving to California 7 years ago, she continues to play with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera as an extra, Folsom Lake Symphony, Auburn Symphony and other valley and Bay Area orchestra organizations. She is frequently a featured artist with the Chamber Music Society of Sacramento. 

Ms. Allvin has several classical recordings under the Naxos label and under her own record label, High Heel Records. In this era of new directions in all forms of music she released a CD of original jazz/new age works entitled “Origins” receiving national airplay and securing the position of #5 in JAZZIZ Magazine. She released a CD of her husband, James Hartway’s music for harp, “An Affair of the Harp” for which they won Best New Release in the Detroit Music Awards. Her most recent release, “Detours” is with acclaimed saxophonist Christopher Collins, President of the Detroit Jazz Festival and head of the jazz program at Wayne State University, Detroit. All of her recordings can be found online at cdbaby.com and all popular streaming services. 

Kerstin is equally comfortable in a recording studio with Stevie Wonder, Oleta Adams, and R. Kelly, or “in the pit” playing Broadway musicals and shows. Kerstin continues to advocate for new music written for her instrument, recording and performing works of many talented contemporary composers of harp. She has been sharing her craft with countless young harpists either teaching privately or through visiting professorships at grade schools, high schools and at prestigious universities here and abroad. Currently, she is adjunct faculty and lecturer at California State University Sacramento and University of California Davis. She is Founder and Director of the Sacramento School of Harp and the Sacramento Harp Ensemble.