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 is a performer, educator, writer, and administrator whose multifaceted career reflects the versatility and dynamism of the 21st-century musician.

She serves on the faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University; is Executive Director of the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar; and is the founder and director of the Hampton Roads Harp Festival and Competition.

Anna has delighted audiences that include European royalty, heads of state, the President and First Lady of the United States, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, legislators, and celebrities. She has performed on national and international television and in iconic venues such as N ew York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Chicago’s Lyon & Healy Hall, and the National Capital Region’s Arlington National Cemetery, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Kennedy Center, National Cathedral, Smithsonian Institution, US Air Force Memorial, US Department of State, US Naval Academy, US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the White House.

She has collaborated with international colleagues from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, English Philharmonic, Europa Galante, London Mozart Players, L’Orchestra des Champs-Élysées, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Anna has shared the stage with artists including Franc d’Ambrosio, LeVar Burton, Kristin Chenoweth, Sandeep Das, Ben Davis, James Ehnes, Renée Fleming, Ryan Speedo Green, Dave Grohl, Mickey Guyton, Herbie Hancock, Katja Herbers, 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. Regionally, she has appeared with Bach in Baltimore, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Barclay Brass, National Cathedral Choristers, Smithsonian Chamber Players, and Washington Opera Society.

Anna has performed extensively as acting principal harpist with both the Annapolis and Virginia Symphony Orchestras. Notable engagements include the world premiere of Nicky Sohn’s Symphony No. 1 with the Annapolis Symphony—slated for commercial release—and a wide range of performances with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, from chamber music and symphonic literature to live radio broadcasts and featured performances of Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with violinist Simone Porter.

In addition to her career as a concert harpist, Anna is an award-winning pianist. She has appeared on multiple recordings in both capacities and has performed as a pianist with ensembles including Barclay Brass and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra.

As an arts educator, Anna has conducted international research and interviewed leading artists such as Pierre Boulez, Alice Chalifoux, JoAnn Falletta, Evgeny Kissin, and Leonard Slatkin. She has contributed articles to the American Harp Journal and the Journal of Global Awareness, as well as entries for several encyclopedias published by Salem Press.

Anna has presented at the World Harp Congress and is a regular presenter at both the American Harp Society and College Music Society (CMS) national conferences. She was the Event Director and lead panelist for CMS’s day-long 2016 Pre-Conference Workshop in Santa Fe, and was an invited guest speaker at The Juilliard School. She has also presented academic work at the Global Awareness Society International Conference in both Heredia, Costa Rica and Seoul, South Korea.

In 2021, Anna was a faculty recipient of the Peabody CARES Georgie Award by the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, a featured recitalist for Lyon & Healy Harps’ Harptacular, and one of ten global presenters invited to the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education’s annual conference. That same year, she was selected as one of 50 active-duty military spouses from over two million eligible candidates to complete a fully-funded leadership certificate program at Harvard University.

In 2022, Anna gave a solo recital featuring her own transcriptions at the World Harp Congress in Cardiff, Wales. In 2023, she performed at the launch of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In 2024, she gave a 120th anniversary performance of Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane with the Island Symphony Orchestra in Long Island, presented on music and medicine at the GASI Conference in Seoul, Korea, and gave masterclasses in Europe. Highlights from 2025 include the publication of an article on music and medicine and a performance at Lyon & Healy Hall in Chicago.

Anna earned her doctorate from Columbia University and holds master’s degrees from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University (major: harp; minor: piano), the University of Maryland (musicology), and Pensacola Theological Seminary (church music: piano). She completed additional studies at Harvard University, The Juilliard School, the MasterWorks Festival – London, and upon person invitation to the Salzedo School.

Anna began studying Celtic harp at age 12 with Sue Richards; her primary pedal harp teacher was the legendary Alice Chalifoux. Her principal piano teachers were Victor Shklyar and Corey McVicar.

Anna was honored with the U.S. Navy’s CMC Award for her volunteer work providing therapeutic music to wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and remains deeply committed to exploring the intersection of music and medicine.

Anna currently serves as President of the Washington, DC Chapter of the American Harp Society. She divides her time between the National Capital Region and New York City.