New York native Caroline Bembia is the principal harpist of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, based in Guadalajara, Mexico. She has been commended by the New York Times for her “fine work” as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral harpist. In November 2012 she had her Alice Tully Hall debut performing the U.S. premier of Hilda Paredes’ Demente Cuerda for harp and orchestra. Caroline was a finalist in the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition with her improvisation chamber group, The Illustrators, and she won third prize in the 2017 Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Competition.
Caroline frequently performs with professional orchestras such as the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Charleston Symphony. In addition, Caroline has attended summer music festivals such as the BRAVO! Vail Music Festival, Artosphere Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Music Festival USA, Pacific Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. As a Juilliard student she appeared with Juilliard’s renowned AXIOM ensemble, conducted by Alan Gilbert, in a highly publicized production of Heinz Karl Gruber’s opera “Gloria” as a featured performance of the 2013 New York Philharmonic Biennial Concert Series.
Caroline is an alumna of the Juilliard Pre-College program; after studying in the program for 6 years with Emily Oppenheimer and Bridget Kibbey, she continued her harp studies with Judy Loman at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Caroline received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School in the studio of Nancy Allen. She also received a Professional Studies certificate from the Manhattan School of Music in the studio of Mariko Anraku.