Heidi's Bio

From one of the "guinea pigs" listed in Sylvia's Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book, to Sylvia's back house mailroom, to the Glendale Harp Center showroom, Heidi has been with Sylvia for a very, very VERY long time.

Before settling in with Sylvia, Heidi held varied positions, from painting backgrounds for animation, a managerial title with a local Credit Union and even custom beadwork for costume designer, Bob Mackie. It was perchance, during a lesson with her harp teacher, Deborah Friou, that the suggestion of working with Sylvia came up. She began at The Harp Center in 1989 while receiving her fine arts degree from California State University, Northridge, and then attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA.

Having seen more insides of a pedal harp than most, Heidi's pedal harp studies are fairly new. Paul Baker, her wonderful-fabulous-patient teacher, is her guide through the great big beautiful world of pedal harp repertoire.

Heidi is the proud owner of a killer sounding Dusty Strings FH32 walnut folk harp. She also owns a Lyon & Healy Style 15, which has blossomed into an incredible instrument with the aid of Harp Doctor extraordinaire, Peter Wiley, and the many wonderful students, who play it during their lessons at the Harp Center.

Besides harp, Heidi continues her painting & visual artwork, some of which may be found in Sylvia’s books! Heidi is also involved with the Colburn School of Performing Arts Outreach Program, in which she performs with the group The Colburn Kids Tap! Primarily performing to lower-income school communities, The Colburn Kids Tap! has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with local jazz greats The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

A native Californian (born in Hollywood!), Heidi makes her home in Pasadena, California and the Lorraine region of France, where she resides with her husband, Michel, near the city of Thionville.