About

“As the harp is our national emblem, it is always an instrument that should feature prominently in orchestrations of our music, and it has always been an essential component of the music we perform. It is always the instrument that, for me, can make or break a performance, given that it is to be heard at all the important moments and lends a texture and warmth and rhythm which is always a reassuring backbone of support for a singer. 

[Anna’s] own natural musicianship and skill has been a joy to listen to, lending exceptional definition, clarity and enthusiasm to every single piece of music, majestic or delicate as the score may require.”

— Finbar Wright, The Irish Tenors

Dr. Anastasia Pike

Performer • Educator • Writer • Visionary Arts Leader

Dr. Anastasia Pike is a performer, educator, writer, and administrator whose career embodies the versatility and dynamism of the 21st-century musician. A faculty member at Teachers College, Columbia University, she is also the founder and director of the Hampton Roads Harp Festival and Competition.

A performer of extraordinary range, Anna has enchanted audiences that include European royalty, heads of state, the President and First Lady of the United States, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, and celebrities. Her performances have been broadcast nationally and internationally, with appearances in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Lyon & Healy Hall, and across the National Capital Region at the Kennedy Center, National Cathedral, Smithsonian Institution, Arlington National Cemetery, US Department of State, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and The White House.

Anna’s artistic collaborations span the globe. She has performed alongside colleagues from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Europa Galante, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, L’Orchestre des Champs-Élysées and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, among others. Her versatility has led to performances with a wide range of artists, including LeVar Burton, David Chan, Kristin Chenoweth, Sandeep Das, Franc d’Ambrosio, Ben Davis, James Ehnes, Renée Fleming, Ryan Speedo Green, Dave Grohl, Mickey Guyton, Herbie Hancock, Katja Herbers, Frank Huang, Gregory Alan Isakov, Morgan James, Capathia Jenkins, Aimee Mann, Alli Mauzey, Hugh Panaro, Itzhak Perlman, Simone Porter, Rakim, Dee Roscioli, Arturo Sandoval, Rick Steves, and the Irish Tenors

As an orchestral musician, Anna serves as principal harpist of the Fredericksburg Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with Bach in Baltimore, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Barclay Brass, National Cathedral Choristers, Smithsonian Chamber Players, Washington Opera Society, and The Washington Chorus. She has served as guest principal harpist of the American Pops and Apollo Orchestras, National Philharmonic, and the Annapolis, Baltimore, Columbia, Fairfax, Harrisburg, Mid-Atlantic, Northern Neck, Richmond, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras.

For two years, Anna performed extensively as acting principal harpist with Virginia Symphony Orchestra, including a wide range of performances from chamber music and symphonic literature to live radio broadcasts with Ryan Speedo Green and featured performances of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with violinist Simone Porter.

An award-winning pianist as well as harpist, Anna has appeared on multiple recordings and performed as a pianist with ensembles including Barclay Brass and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate advocate for arts education, Anna was an invited guest speaker at The Juilliard School, and served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University for 14 years, where she was also honored with the Georgie Award. She has also conducted international research and interviewed luminaries including Pierre Boulez, Alice Chalifoux, JoAnn Falletta, Evgeny Kissin, and Leonard Slatkin. Her writing has appeared in the American Harp Journal, Journal of Global Awareness, and various Salem Press encyclopedias. Anna has also served on the faculties of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Academy and the Crested Butte Music Festival.

Anna was the Event Director and lead panelist for the College Music Society’s 2016 Pre-Conference Workshop in Santa Fe, and has presented academic work at the Global Awareness Society International Conference in Heredia, Costa Rica, and Seoul, South Korea, the the American Harp Society and College Music Society National Conferences, and the World Harp Congress in Cardiff, Wales.

Her leadership and scholarship have earned broad recognition: Anna was featured as a recitalist for Lyon & Healy Harps’ Harptacular and was one of ten global presenters at the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education conference. She was one of only 50 active-duty military spouses, selected from a pool of more than two million, to complete a fully-funded leadership certificate at Harvard University.

Recent highlights include a recital at the 2022 World Harp Congress in Cardiff, Wales; a 2023 performance at the launch of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative hosted by Secretary Antony Blinken; a 2024 anniversary performance of Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane with the Island Symphony Orchestra, and masterclasses in Europe. In 2025, her article on music and medicine was published, and she gave a recital Lyon & Healy Hall in Chicago.

Upcoming highlights include the 10th anniversary of the Hampton Roads Harp Festival and Competition, and a lecture-recital at One Harp World — the joint World Harp Congress and American Harp Society National Conference in Toronto in 2026.

Anna earned her doctorate from Columbia University and holds master’s degrees from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University (harp/piano), the University of Maryland (musicology), and Pensacola Theological Seminary (church music: piano). She pursued additional studies at Harvard University, The Juilliard School, and the Salzedo School by personal invitation.

She began Celtic harp studies with Sue Richards and continued under the legendary Alice Chalifoux; her principal piano teachers include Victor Shklyar and Corey McVicar.

A recipient of the U.S. Navy’s CMC Award for volunteer service providing therapeutic music to wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Anna remains devoted to exploring the intersection of music and medicine. She continues her volunteer work at the Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center’s Murtha Cancer Center.

Anna currently serves as President of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the American Harp Society. She divides her time between New York City and the National Capital Region, where she continues to inspire audiences, students, and colleagues through her artistry and leadership.