Cheryl Losey Feder

Cheryl Losey Feder was appointed principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2024. Winner of the Alice Rosner Prize at the Munich ARD International Competition, Feder is one of the leading harpists of her generation. She has performed as guest principal harpist with some the world’s premiere orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit symphony orchestras; and has held the position of principal harp with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Sarasota Orchestra.

Feder’s love of sharing music has led to performances in over twenty countries and six continents, in venues from the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall, to the townships of Soweto, South Africa, and orphanages of Kingston, Jamaica. As a solo artist, top prizes she has received include the Alice Rosner Prize at the Munich ARD International Competition; First Prize and Grandjany Prize in the American Harp Society’s National Solo Competition; and First Prize in the American String Teacher’s Association National Solo Competition. As an orchestral harpist, she has performed with major orchestras under conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Valery Gergiev, Jaap van Zweden, Gustavo Dudamel, Franz Welser-Möst and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Festival performances include the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Tanglewood, Spoleto and Aspen music festivals, the Santa Fe Opera, Strings Music Festival, and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Feder has performed as concerto soloist with the Sarasota Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Orchard Park Symphony and Artosphere Festival Orchestra, among others.

Dedicated to mentoring the next generation of musicians, Feder’s teaching appointments include assistant professor of harp at Michigan State University and faculty at the summer festivals National Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, PRISMA Music Festival and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She has presented masterclasses at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Roosevelt University, University of Denver, University of Southern Maine and University of Michigan. 

Seeking to expand the capabilities and repertoire of the harp, Feder and her husband, cellist Abraham Feder (assistant principal cello, Detroit Symphony), recently gave their debut recital for WFMT Chicago and the International Music Society. The Feder Duo is bringing to life never-recorded and rarely-performed works for cello and harp, and is adding to the repertoire with their own transcriptions. Ms. Feder has been a featured artist on the classical music stations WCLV Cleveland, WUSF Florida and in the PBS documentary Harp Dreams. She was honored to receive the John Ringling Towers Performing Artist Award in support of her debut solo album, A Story. 

Feder received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of soloist and recording artist Yolanda Kondonassis. She had additional study with Nancy Allen as harp fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. Feder is a native of Harpswell, Maine, where she began study of the harp at age five with Jara Goodrich. Feder is also a proud mother of two young boys and Ernie Banks—the dog.