Bio

I’m an interdisciplinary harpist, educator, and performer-composer-improviser operating out of Los Angeles, CA and Albany, NY. My passion lies in new music, experimental music, and theater, but my first love is the harp and everything it has been and could be.

Leila plays an Harp-E electric lever harp silhouetted against the sun setting over the Pacific at Leo Carillo State Park. To their left is a harmonium. In the foreground, there's tall grass. The sunset is red and orange.

I’ve played a huge variety of gigs from experimental to traditional, in venues ranging from seedy dive bars to grand concert halls. To each performance, I bring passion, dedication, and a relentless drive to continue expanding what it means to be a harpist. I’ve appeared onstage with Sarah Brightman, the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra, Ron Athey, and the Ventura College Symphony Orchestra.

Leila, a white femme, sits on a cast iron bench against a turquoise wall. They have shoulder length blonde hair, black cat eye eyeliner, and red nails, and are wearing a sleeveless collared shirt with silver collar cuffs.

I’m a fierce advocate for music as a tool of community building and social change. My teaching studio is built using a sliding scale fee system to increase accessibility, and when able, I donate performances to nonprofits who might not be able to afford live music otherwise.

Leila, out of frame, plays harp at Art Share LA. We see their right hand and harp strings silhouetted against brightly lit sheet music. In the background, an ensemble performs in purple light.

I studied with Alison Bjorkedal at the California Institute of the Arts and with André Tarantiles at Rutgers University. I continue to hone my artistic practice by regularly attending conferences, masterclasses, and festivals, including but not limited to the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy, nief norf, and the AHS conferences.

Leila, a white femme in a bodycon black dress, stands and plays a Lyon & Healy Silhouette electric lever harp at the Troubadour. They are singing into a microphone on a boom stand. There's a guitarist in the background and the light is all pink.
Leila, a femme with short blonde hair wearing a sequin cardigan, bows a Harp-E electric lever harp with one hand and adjusts a table-height pedal board with the other. They are surrounded by harps on all sides at One On One Recording.
Leila, a white femme with short blonde hair in a black N95 mask, plays harp outside against a glass wall at the LA LGBT Center. Mirrored in the glass is a bright red word art installation.
Leila, a white femme with blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing, sits on a couch and is almost completely obscured by a cow cat with green eyes. The cat looks relaxed and is laying on his back own top of Leila with his back feet in the air.

Away from the harp

When I’m not playing music (and sometimes when I am, too), I can be found hanging out with my cat Kiwi, cooking, hiking, and playing tabletop role playing games with my friends.