About

With over a decade of performance experience behind her, Heather Hills enjoys a reputation as one of Raleigh, NC’s most sought-after event harpists. She performs regularly for weddings and other private events and can often be found performing at The Umstead Hotel and Spa during afternoon tea. Her performances have taken her all over North Carolina, back to her native New Jersey, and even to Holland, where she participated as a semi-finalist in the 2016 Dutch Harp Competition.

Heather has been studying music since the age of 8 when her mother began teaching her piano. Five years of dedicated piano practice later, her mother finally gave in to her repeated pleas for harp lessons and permitted her to add harp to her studies. Within two years, Heather had joined the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County, winning their concerto competition a year later. She continued her piano studies during this time as well, earning a performance at Carnegie Hall through the American Fine Arts Festival Auditions. In 2011, she was accepted as a harp major to the prestigious music program at Indiana University Bloomington.

At IU, Heather studied with the world-class teachers and performers Elzbieta Szmyt, Susann McDonald, and Maria Luisa Rayan. She collaborated with other performers and student composers, performed with IU’s top orchestras, and presented solo recitals annually. In December 2014, she graduated with her BM in harp performance with highest distinction.

After relocating from her native town of Lambertville, New Jersey, to Raleigh, North Carolina, she began working as a church pianist, building a private studio, and performing at local events. Continued music studies have led her to purse voice in addition to her other two instruments, and she has grown to love both classical and Broadway repertoire.

Heather now maintains an active studio of piano, harp, and voice students in addition to her busy performing schedule. She is an active member of the Raleigh Piano Teachers’ Association and a Nationally Certified Teacher of piano. After five years as a church musician, she is now teaching music part-time at The Franciscan School in North Raleigh. She continues performing classical concerts but has also become an expert in covering pop songs not originally written for harp. In addition, Heather has published several of her own pop arrangements for harp and periodically records new videos for her YouTube Channel.