Jessica Wilbee

Biography

Jessica Wilder Hart Wilbee began playing the harp at age 8 in Salt Lake City, Utah, studying under Julie G. Keyes (Orchestra at Temple Square).

While under Keyes’ direction, she participated in many competitions and festivals, including the Utah State Fair and the American Harp Society Utah Chapter Festival held at Brigham Young University, where she continuously placed highly and earned high marks. Wilbee performed with the Utah Youth Symphony under the direction of Barbara Scowcroft (Utah Symphony) and held the position of principal harpist for the Murray Symphony while in middle and high school. As a junior in high school, Wilbee began studying under Louise Vickerman (Utah Symphony).  While studying with Vickerman, she placed first at the Utah State Fair and won the title of Regional Music Sterling Scholar in 2009.

After high school, Wilbee was accepted into the harp program at the Eastman School of Music. There she studied under the direction of Kathleen Bride. While at Eastman, she was awarded a performer’s certificate in 2014. In addition to her harp performance degree at Eastman (B.M.), Wilbee earned a degree in epidemiology from the University of Rochester (B.A.) and graduated with both degrees in 2015. 

Post-graduation, Wilbee held the position of principal harpist for orchestras including the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the Endless Mountain Music Festival in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, from 2014-21. She has performed as harpist with orchestras, chamber groups and music festivals from all over the New York and Pennsylvania area, including Symphoria in Syracuse, New York; Ithaca College and Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Erie Chamber Orchestra in Erie, Pennsylvania; Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes in Corning, New York; Binghamton Philharmonic and Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, New York; and the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York.

Wilbee also frequently performs as a soloist and is an active member of the B Sharp Music Club in Utica, New York. She has recently started the duo Convergence Harp Duo with her fellow harpist and sister Brittany Hart DeYoung (Lansing Symphony Orchestra).  

Wilbee loves to teach and has been teaching young harp lovers since 2008. She has a full private studio of both beginning and intermediate level harpists. Wilbee has accepted teaching positions at Cornell University (Fall 2021), Hamilton College (Spring 2022) and Syracuse University.

Wilbee currently resides in New Hartford, New York, with her husband, three young children and a boxer-lab mix named Reesie.

Education

• B.M., Performer’s Certificate, Eastman School of Music